A disadvantage in bilingual sentence production modulated by syntactic frequency and similarity across languages

Abstract

Bilingual speakers access individual words less fluently, quickly, and accurately than monolinguals, particularly when accessing low-frequency words. Here we examined whether the bilingual speech production disadvantage would (a) extend to full sentences above and beyond single word retrieval and whether it would be modulated by (b) structural frequency and (c) syntactic properties of the bilingual speakers’ other language. English monolinguals, Spanish-English bilinguals and Mandarin-English bilinguals were tested in a sentence production task conducted exclusively in English. Response times were modulated by bilingualism, structural frequency, and structural similarity across the bilingual speakers’ two languages. These results refine our knowledge regarding the scope of the bilingual disadvantage, demonstrate that frequency effects apply to syntactic structures, and also suggest that syntax is partially shared across bilinguals’ two languages.

Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain

“…For example, in immersion contexts, L2 speakers experience reduced access to the L1 (Linck et al 2009) and extensive contact with an L2, which can affect both L1 naming performance of common objects (Malt & Sloman 2003) and L1 phonology (e.g., Flege 1987, Flege & Eefting 1987). These findings confirm that a bilingual is not two monolinguals in one brain (Grosjean 1989) and that the seemingly stable L1 system is open to influence once individuals become proficient in the L2 (e.g., Gollan et al 2008, Ivanova & Costa 2008, Runnqvist et al 2013). Given this scenario, one might expect that experience in a second-language environment should also produce changes in syntactic processing in the native language.…”

L1 and L2 processing in the bilingual brain: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies

“…(2), continuous interaction of L1 and L2 which leads to linguistic transfer from L2 to L1 (Malt, Li, Pavlenko, Zhu, & Ameel, 2015;Pavlenko & Malt, 2011;Runnqvist, Gollan, Costa, & Ferreira, 2013); (3) the need to constantly control and monitor two languages (Green, 1998;Kroll, Bobb, Misra, & Guo, 2008). Recent neuroimaging evidence also suggests that L1 is more permeable than previously thought, in the sense that after L2 is acquired, it is possible for L1 processing to evoke either stronger (Jones et al, 2011;Mei et al, 2015) or weaker (Mei et al, 2014) activation than before.…”

The role of mother tongue literacy in language learning and mathematical learning: is there a multilingual benefit for both?

“…In contrast with evidence of an overall advantage, there are research studies that associate bilingualism with some disadvantages in learning. These studies suggest that the presumed benefits are more limited and circumstantial than initially thought (Folke, Ouzia, Bright, De Martino, & Filippi, 2016;Runnqvist, Gollan, Costa, & Ferreira, 2013). There are also scholars who openly argue against the entire existence of a bilingual advantage for individuals, dismissing it as a myth and describing it as an 'insufferable mixture of excessive claims and weak evidence' (Morton, 2014, p. 929).…”