Monolingual comparative normativity in bilingualism research is out of “<i>control</i>”: Arguments and alternatives

Rothman, Jason; Bayram, Fatih; DeLuca, Vincent; Pisa, Grazia Di; Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni; Gharibi, Khadij; Hao, Jiuzhou; Kolb, Nadine; Kubota, Maki; Kupisch, Tanja; Laméris, Tim Joris; Luque, Alicia; Osch, Brechje van; Soares, Sergio Miguel Pereira; Prystauka, Yanina; Tat, Deniz; Tomić, Aleksandra; Voits, Toms; Wulff, Stefanie

doi:10.1017/s0142716422000315

Cited by 65 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In short, we want to reflect on the “monolingual-bias” that still prevails in many linguistic subfields, even in bilingualism research itself, and how these preconceived ideas undermine the study of underrepresented, minority languages. While the “monolingual-bias” in different fields of linguistic theorization is not new (Grosjean, 1989; Kachru, 1994), these practices run contra recent movements that diversify our scientific knowledge of bi-/multilingualism from an equitable perspective (López et al, 2021; Luk, 2022; O’Rourke et al, 2015; Ortega, 2019; Rothman et al, 2022) and raise fundamental questions that need addressing, especially in terms of what the field of bilingualism is, who the arbiters of such knowledge are, and how to best advance our knowledge about it. In this context, the main goal of this position paper is to bring these questions to the forefront and address the challenges and opportunities that studying bilingualism from a minoritized language perspective brings to the field.…”

Section: Setting the Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingualism with minority languages: Why searching for unicorn language users does not move us forward

Leivada

Rodríguez‐Ordóñez

Couto

et al. 2023

Applied Psycholinguistics

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This paper addresses several problematic scientific practices in psycholinguistic research. We discuss challenges that arise when working with minority languages, such as the notion of monolingual/monocultural normality and its historical origins, the stereotype of native-speakerism, the quest for testing people who fit specific profiles, the implications of the policy that urges scholars to match bilingual groups to monolingual comparison groups, and the use of powerful theoretical narratives that may evoke problematic labels and ableist terminology. These issues invest the field of psycholinguistics with questionable practices that contribute to the marginalization of groups that do not tick the standard normative boxes. Surveying some of the most widespread scientific practices in the field of psycholinguistics, our emphasis is on how several processes and policies may embody stereotypes that contribute to the exclusion of certain groups from the scientific literature, with grievous consequences for the visibility and the representation of some minoritized languages.

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Section: Setting the Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingualism with minority languages: Why searching for unicorn language users does not move us forward

Leivada

Rodríguez‐Ordóñez

Couto

et al. 2023

Applied Psycholinguistics

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“…Adopting a more holistic approach by assessing both or all languages could refine the discourse on this disadvantage (e.g., Oh & Mancilla-Martinez, 2021). Other contributions in this special issue and elsewhere have discussed extensively the problem of having a monolingual standard when researching bilingual language processing (e.g., see Rothman et al, 2022;and Genesee, 2022 for a perspective from education).…”

Section: Assumptions Of Binary Categorizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Justice and equity for whom? Reframing research on the “bilingual (dis)advantage”

Luk

2022

Applied Psycholinguistics

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The search for the existence and nonexistence of bilingual advantages and disadvantages has become a battleground marked by polarized comments and perspectives, furthering our understanding of neither bilingualism as an experience nor cognition as higher-level mental processes. In this paper, I provide a brief historical overview of research examining the cognitive and linguistic consequences of multilingualism and address the assumptions underlying research exploring the bilingual behavioral difference. I aim to illustrate the sole focus on behavioral (dis)advantage fails to reflect the complexity and dynamicity of people’s bilingual experiences, thereby distracting from understanding bilingualism. Responding to the call of this special issue, I describe the necessity to focus on people when moving toward a just and equitable future for applied psycholinguistic research. Furthermore, I explain why the nuances of bilingualism need to be recognized beyond binary categorization to advance knowledge about bilingualism and its consequences. To avoid unjust misattribution of a behavioral outcome to people’s life experience and to report research findings in a transparent manner, the myopic representation of the terms “bilingual (dis)advantage” should be recognized and reflected on.

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“…Nevertheless, this evidence comes from comparisons between monolinguals and groups with variable amounts of bilingual experience, so the hypotheses of non-linear effects with increasing bilingual experiences remain to be directly tested. The DRM provides a suitable and testable theoretical framework that may be able to account for divergent empirical findings, and that allows for the study of bilingualism as a dynamic experience without the need for monolingual control groups 28 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic effects of bilingualism on brain structure map onto general principles of experience-based neuroplasticity

Kořenář

Treffers‐Daller

Pliatsikas

2023

Sci Rep

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Bilingualism has been linked to structural adaptations of subcortical brain regions that are important for controlling multiple languages. However, research on the location and extent of these adaptations has yielded variable patterns, especially as far as the subcortical regions are concerned. Existing literature on bilingualism-induced brain restructuring has so far largely overseen evidence from other domains showing that experience-based structural neuroplasticity often triggers non-linear adaptations which follow expansion-renormalisation trajectories. Here we use generalised additive mixed models to investigate the non-linear effects of quantified bilingual experiences on the basal ganglia and the thalamus in a sample of bilinguals with a wide range of bilingual experiences. Our results revealed that volumes of the bilateral caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens were significantly related to bilingual experiences. Importantly, these followed a non-linear pattern, with increases followed by plateauing in the most experienced bilinguals, suggesting that experience-based volumetric increases are only necessary up to a certain level of bilingual experience. Moreover, the volumes of putamen and thalamus were positively predicted by bilingual experiences. The results offer the first direct evidence that bilingualism, similarly to other cognitively demanding skills, leads to dynamic subcortical structural adaptations which can be nonlinear, in line with expansion-renormalisation models of experience-dependent neuroplasticity.

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Monolingual comparative normativity in bilingualism research is out of “control”: Arguments and alternatives

Cited by 65 publications

References 32 publications

Bilingualism with minority languages: Why searching for unicorn language users does not move us forward

Bilingualism with minority languages: Why searching for unicorn language users does not move us forward

Justice and equity for whom? Reframing research on the “bilingual (dis)advantage”

Dynamic effects of bilingualism on brain structure map onto general principles of experience-based neuroplasticity

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