Are the Effects of Variation in Quantity of Daily Bilingual Exposure and Socioeconomic Status on Language and Cognitive Abilities Independent in Preschool Children?

Abstract

Bilingual exposure (BE) and socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with children’s development, but their specific and unique effects are still unclear. This study analyzed the influence of these environmental factors on a set of cognitive and linguistic abilities in preschoolers to disentangle their effects. One hundred-eleven Italian-speaking preschool children (mean age = 61 months; SD = 6.8) growing in a monolingual or multilingual context completed an assessment of cognitive (theory of mind, inhibition, attention shifting and working memory) and linguistic abilities (vocabulary, grammar, narrative comprehension, lexical access). The results of hierarchical regressions with predictors variation in BE (both Length and Daily exposure) and SES on each ability, shown a specific contribution of variation in SES, after controlling for BE, in vocabulary, grammar, and working memory (WM), and a specific contribution of variation in BE, over and above effect of SES, in vocabulary, narrative comprehension and WM. In addition, we found an interaction between these factors in predicting the performance of the theory of mind task (ToM). To conclude, variations in BE and SES are related independently to individual differences in linguistic and cognitive skills of children in preschool.

Measures of Bilingual Cognition – From Infancy to Adolescence

“…EF was measured in 25 experiments within 21 articles, making it the most frequently tested cognitive ability in this age group ( Aktan-Erciyes, 2020 , Studies 1 and 2; Bain & Yu, 1980, Studies 1 and 2 ; Barac, Moreno, & Bialystok, 2016 ; Bialystok, 1999 ; Bialystok & Martin, 2004, Studies 1, 2, and 3 ; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008 ; Crespo & Kaushanskaya, 2021 ; Diaz & Farrar, 2018a ; Diaz & Farrar, 2018b ; Dicataldo & Roch, 2020 ; Gathercole et al, 2016 ; Goldman, Negen, & Sarnecka, 2014 ; Haft et al, 2019 ; Leikin & Tovli, 2014 ; Mehrani & Zabihi, 2017 ; Namazi & Thordardottir, 2010 ; Nguyen & Astington, 2014 ; Tran, Arredondo, & Yoshida, 2015 ; Tran, Arredondo, & Yoshida, 2019 ; Yoshida, Tran, Benitez, & Kuwabara, 2010 ; Yoshida, Tran, Benitez, & Kuwabara, 2011 ).…”

Measures of bilingual cognition – from infancy to adolescence

“…One of these articles tested both preschool-aged and adolescent participants (Gathercole, Thomas, Viñas Guasch, Kennedy, Prys, Young, et al, 2016), and is also discussed in the adolescent section of our Results. As summarized in Barac, Moreno, & Bialystok, 2016;Bialystok, 1999;Bialystok & Martin, 2004, Studies 1, 2, and 3; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008;Diaz & Farrar, 2018a;Diaz & Farrar, 2018b;Dicataldo & Roch, 2020;Gathercole et al, 2016;Goldman, Negen, & Sarnecka, 2014;Haft et al, 2019;Leikin & Tovli, 2014;Mehrani & Zabihi, 2017;Namazi & Thordardottir, 2010;Nguyen & Astington, 2014;Tran, Arredondo, & Yoshida, 2015;Tran, Arredondo, & Yoshida, 2019;Yoshida, Tran, Benitez, & Kuwabara, 2010;Yoshida, Tran, Benitez, & Kuwabara, 2011).…”

“…Inhibitory control and response inhibition were assessed in 14 experiments using the child ANT (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), a visually cued recall task (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), the Kansas Reflection/Impulsivity Scale (KRISP; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), the Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (C-TONI; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), the Statue task (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), the Delay of Gratification task (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), Stroop and 'Strooplike' (Day/Night, Happy/Sad) tasks (Diaz & Farrar, 2018a;Diaz & Farrar, 2018b;Dicataldo & Roch, 2020;Nguyen & Astington, 2014;Tran et al, 2019), Simon Says and Bear/Dragon Simon Says tasks (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008;Diaz & Farrar, 2018a;Diaz & Farrar, 2018b;Tran et al, 2019), the Simon task ('interference suppression', Gathercole et al, 2016;Mehrani & Zabihi, 2017), the Gift delay task (Barac et al, 2016;Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008;Tran et al, 2019), a Go/No-Go task (Barac et al, 2016), and a non-symbolic numerical discrimination task (Goldman et al, 2014). The Dimensional Change Card Sort task (DCCS) was also used to measure inhibition (Aktan-Erciyes, 2020, Studies 1 and 2; Bialystok, 1999;Bialystok & Martin, 2004, Studies 1, 2, and 3;Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008;Tran et al, 2019); this task was additionally used as a measure of cognitive flexibility in three experiments (Diaz & Farrar, 2018a;Diaz & Farrar, 2018b;Haft et al, 2019), shifting in five experiments ('switching', Aktan-Erciyes, 2020, Studies BILINGUAL CHILDHOOD COGNITIVE MEASURES 20 1 and 2; 'attention-shifting', Dicataldo & Roch, 2020...…”

“…Two experiments used a Listening Span task measuring verbal WM (Leikin & Tovli, 2014;Namazi & Thordardottir, 2010). Two experiments used both Forward and Backward Digit Recall tasks (Dicataldo & Roch, 2020;Mehrani & Zabihi, 2017), and a final experiment used a Backward Word Span task (Nguyen & Astington, 2014).…”

“…Twenty-six out of 28 experiments in the preschool group recruited monolinguals as the control group, and two experiments recruited children on a continuum of L2 exposure (Dicataldo & Roch, 2020;Haft et al, 2019). One experiment (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008) included a group of immersion students with 6 months exposure to an L2 in addition to a monolingual control group.…”