Chapter 14. Home language usage and executive function in bilingual preschoolers

Guerrero, Sibylla Leon; Smith, Sara W.; Luk, Gigi

doi:10.1075/bpa.2.15leo

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…English) and may not be comparably proficient in the other, or indeed bi-literate. Additionally, there is increasing evidence indicating that variation in language experience and environment has an impact on cognitive development among young bilinguals (Guerrero, Smith & Luk, 2016). It is therefore likely that these within-population differences would be equally reflected in young adults.…”

Section: Bilingualism and Efmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Mental Workouts for Couch Potatoes’: Executive Function Variation among Spanish–English Bilingual Young Adults

Smith

Briggs

Pothier

et al. 2017

Applied Linguistics

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Research has yet to reach a definitive consensus on whether or how bilingualism confers benefits on Executive Function (EF): numerous studies show an EF advantage for bilinguals over monolinguals, while others indicate no significant differences. These inconsistencies demonstrate that the mechanisms behind a potential bilingualism-to-EF relationship remain unclear. Multiple factors likely impact EF outcomes among bilinguals, including proficiency and extent, type and environment of language usage. The current study explored EF skills among a relatively homogeneous sample of 50 Spanish-English bilingual young adults to provide insights into the environmental and individual characteristics that contribute to EF diversity. Hierarchical regression modeling revealed that more balanced bilingual language usage in specific home-based tasks (particularly TV watching), and higher self-reported ability in Spanish and English significantly predicted higher EF. Results support the developing empirical consensus that greater engagement in dual-language contexts bears a positive relationship to EF. The finding that watching TV with a balanced language ratio has a significant positive relationship to EF opens strong potential opportunities for bilinguals to access EF benefits with minimal effort.

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Section: Bilingualism and Efmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Mental Workouts for Couch Potatoes’: Executive Function Variation among Spanish–English Bilingual Young Adults

Smith

Briggs

Pothier

et al. 2017

Applied Linguistics

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“…Furthermore, recent literature on bilingualism indicates that diverse bilingual profiles, such as the degree of bilingualism, language-switching experiences, and script variation, impact EF and yield different outcomes (for a comprehensive review see Schwieter, 2016). For instance, research by Leon-Guerrero, Smith and Luk (2016) suggests that the daily use of bilingual preschoolers’ non-dominant language (along with chronological age) has a direct impact on EF tasks. This research highlights the importance of daily bilingual usage and consideration of both languages – dominant and non-dominant – when analyzing the relationship between bilingualism and EF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early executive function: The influence of culture and bilingualism

2018

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Evidence suggests that cultural experiences and learning multiple languages have measurable effects on children's development of executive function (EF). However, the precise impact of how bilingualism and culture contribute to observed effects remains inconclusive. The present study aims to investigate how these factors shape the development of early EF constructs longitudinally, between monolingual and bilingual children at ages 3, 3½ and 4 years, with a set of EF tasks that are uniquely relevant to the effects of bilingualism and cultural practices. We hypothesize that the effects of bilingualism and cultural backgrounds (i.e., Eastern) are based on different, though related, cognitive control processes associated with different EF constructs. Results revealed a significant bilingualism effect on cognitive control processes measuring selective attention, switching, and inhibition; while an effect of culture was most pronounced on behavioral regulation/response inhibition. Contributions of bilingualism and cultural experiences on individual EF constructs across development are discussed.

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“…First, with respect to bilingual children's language use, we predicted that bilingual children who used both languages about equally often would outperform bilingual children who mainly used one language. This prediction was based on earlier studies showing that bilingual usage modulates effects of bilingualism on cognitive control, at least in studies where potentially confounding factors such as language proficiency and exposure were left uncontrolled (de Leeuw & Bogulski, 2016;Guerrero et al, 2016). Second, regarding individual differences in children's language proficiency, we predicted, following earlier studies showing effects of degree of bilingualism on cognitive control in somewhat older children (Blom et al, 2014;Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008;Prior et al, 2016;Poarch & van Hell, 2012;Tse & Altarriba, 2014), that bilingual children with more balanced levels of bilingual proficiency would outperform bilingual children with less balanced bilingual proficiency.…”

Section: This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They conclude that this effect was either due to differential effects of acquiring a second language earlier versus later in development, or to a longer duration of bilingual exposure. Another factor that could explain the effect is bilingual usage, which is yet another factor that has been shown to modulate effects of bilingualism on cognitive control in bilingual children (Guerrero, Smith, & Luk, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Bilingual Language Use and Language Proficiency on 24-month-olds’ Cognitive Control

Verhagen

Bree

Unsworth

2019

Journal of Cognition and Development

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Although a bilingual advantage has been reported for various measures of cognitive control, most previous studies have looked at a limited range of cognitive control measures. Furthermore, they typically leave unaddressed whether positive effects of bilingualism hold for all bilinguals or whether these are modulated by differences in bilingual language use and proficiency of children and their parents. This study reports on tasks of selective attention and inhibitory control from 24month-old bilinguals (n = 37) and monolinguals (n = 58). Their parents completed a Dutch vocabulary checklist assessing receptive and productive vocabulary as well as questionnaires on children's attentional focusing, attention shifting and inhibitory control, and language background. Linear mixed-effect regressions showed no differences on cognitive control between the monolinguals and bilingual groups. However, analyses taking into account differences in children's bilingual language use and proficiency and of their parents revealed a more nuanced picture. Specifically, children's degree of balanced language usage predicted parent-rated cognitive control. Furthermore, bilingual toddlers who had parents were low proficient in one of the home languages showed significantly better performance on a selective attention task than toddlers whose parents were both proficient in both home languages. These findings suggest that both children's active usage of two languages and their experience with switching depending on their interlocutor are related to cognitive control performance in young bilingual children. As such, they add to a growing body of evidence that the bilingual advantage in cognitive control is tied to specific conditions of bilingualism, already at a young age.

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Chapter 14. Home language usage and executive function in bilingual preschoolers

Cited by 13 publications

References 61 publications

‘Mental Workouts for Couch Potatoes’: Executive Function Variation among Spanish–English Bilingual Young Adults

‘Mental Workouts for Couch Potatoes’: Executive Function Variation among Spanish–English Bilingual Young Adults

Early executive function: The influence of culture and bilingualism

Effects of Bilingual Language Use and Language Proficiency on 24-month-olds’ Cognitive Control

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