Novel-word learning, executive control and working memory: A bilingual advantage

Abstract

Studies of the effects of bilingualism on cognition have given results that do not consistently replicate, reflecting at least in part wide differences in criteria for bilingualism and heterogeneity of language combinations within studied samples. We examined the bilingual advantage in attention, working memory and novel-word learning in early sequential Hindi–English bilinguals. We sought to clarify the aspects of cognition that benefit from bilingualism by using multiple measures and a sample sufficiently well-defined to permit independent replication. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on response inhibition, novel-word learning and almost all working memory tasks. In contrast, both groups performed comparably on selective attention. Analyses of individual differences showed that bilingual novel-word learning was related to their verbal working memory and ability to inhibit an ongoing action, whereas this was not the case for monolinguals. Results indicate a specific bilingual advantage that is confined to some but not all aspects of cognition.

A Review on the Relationship between Bilingualism and Working Memory

“…For these two studies, although their overall conclusion was bilingual individuals were at advantage, not every single task supported this conclusion. For instance, in the task of Listening Recall (in Warmington et al (2018)'s study), the bilingual group did not significantly outperform the monolingual group. By comparing the measurement of WM in these studies, it is indicated that verbal WM has received the most controversy in the investigation of bilingual advantage.…”

“…5) The study had a clear presentation of methodology design, including the type of tasks used to measure participants' working memory, and a targeted (or at least relevant) linguistic development aspect to be measured (such as working memory in relation to novel word learning, as in (Singh et al, 2018;Warmington, Kandru-Pothineni, & Hitch, 2018).…”

“…Whereas the span tasks applied in the other three studies were complex span task (as opposed to simple span task), drawing on both storage and processing capacity of verbal WM. If the complex span task was to some extent not ideal for mixing two capacity, then Cockcroft et al (2019)'s and Warmington et al (2018)'s study offered us a clearer and more detailed lens. The research methods of these two studies were fairly comprehensive for they measured the WM elements (i.e., verbal storage, verbal processing, visuospatial storage, and visuospatial processing) separately and specifically, and each element was test with at least two different tasks, with eight tasks involved in Warmington et al (2018)'s study and twelve studies finished in Cockcroft et al (2019)'s.…”

L2 proficiency predicts inhibitory ability in L1-dominant speakers

“…Bialystok, 1988, 2007, 2008; Costa, Hernandez, & Sebastian-Galles, 2008) to recent articles (e.g. Padilla et al, 2016; Warmington, Kandru-Pothineni, & Hitch, 2019) on bilingual advantage. Yet there were many individual variations that might affect the bilingual advantages for cognition; for instance, their education, immigration status and social economic status (van den Noort, Struys, & Bosch, 2019).…”

Attentional Control in Bilingualism: An Exploration of the Effects of Trait Anxiety and Rumination on Inhibition

“…However, in the context of recent challenges to theory, concerns about methods and the appropriateness of statistical analyses employed in bilingual cognition research [2], the question of whether or not bilingualism is associated with enhanced cognitive abilities remains fiercely debated. One theme that has emerged is that if a bilingual advantage does exist, it may be task-specific or otherwise operate only across particular groups of participants [19,20]. Crucially, it may also be premature to speak of a universal bilingual advantage in non-verbal cognitive functioning in light of a recent report of a bilingual disadvantage in metacognition [21].…”