The Bilingual Advantage Debate

Paap, Kenneth R.

doi:10.1002/9781119387725.ch34

Cited by 77 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 153 publications

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“…It could also be that there were some aspects of language learning in the late bilingual group (for example, distinctive language strategies) which promoted WM updating. Furthermore, according to the controlled dose hypothesis recently suggested by Paap ([ 60 ], in press), late bilinguals might be experiencing a “boost” in executive performance due to cognitive demands of L2 use which has not yet been automatized (see also [ 61 ]). Considering the possible influence of non-linguistic factors, our study would have benefited from employing a non-verbal intelligence measure, as WM updating tasks have been shown to correlate positively with Raven’s matrices scores [ 45 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingualism and working memory performance: Evidence from a large-scale online study

et al. 2018

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The bilingual executive advantage (BEA) hypothesis has attracted considerable research interest, but the findings are inconclusive. We addressed this issue in the domain of working memory (WM), as more complex WM tasks have been underrepresented in the previous literature. First, we compared early and late bilingual vs. monolingual WM performance. Second, we examined whether certain aspects of bilingual experience, such as language switching frequency, are related to bilinguals’ WM scores. Our online sample included 485 participants. They filled in an extensive questionnaire including background factors such as bilingualism and second language (L2) use, and performed 10 isomorphic verbal and visuospatial WM tasks that yielded three WM composite scores (visuospatial WM, verbal WM, n-back). For verbal and visuospatial WM composites, the group comparisons did not support the BEA hypothesis. N-back analysis showed an advantage of late bilinguals over monolinguals and early bilinguals, while the latter two groups did not differ. This between-groups analysis was followed by a regression analysis relating features of bilingual experience to n-back performance, but the results were non-significant in both bilingual groups. In sum, group differences supporting the BEA hypothesis were limited only to the n-back composite, and this composite was not predicted by bilingualism-related features. Moreover, Bayesian analyses did not give consistent support for the BEA hypothesis. Possible reasons for the failure to find support for the BEA hypothesis are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilingualism and working memory performance: Evidence from a large-scale online study

et al. 2018

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“…Although the discussion of the advantages provided by bilingualism falls beyond the purposes of the present paper, it is worth reminding that a considerable body of evidence indicates that bilingualism can boost the individual's executive functions and cognitive flexibility (see Adesope, Lavin, Thompson & Ungerleider, 2010 for a review on 63 studies investigating EF in bilinguals; but see also Hilchey & Klein, 2011 and Paap, 2018 for a more critical perspective), as well as their morphological and metalinguistic skills (Bialystok, Peets & Moreno, 2014). Interestingly, these advantages have been found to extend also to linguistically impaired children, including dyslexics (see section 2.3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

How do bilingual dyslexic and typically developing children perform in nonword repetition? Evidence from a study on Italian L2 children

2019

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Nonword repetition is typically impaired in dyslexia. Conversely, native-like performance is early achieved by bilingual children whose second language has a simple phonotactic system, like Italian. Our study aimed at comparing the performance of monolingual and bilingual children with and without dyslexia in a nonword repetition task modeled after Italian. We assessed nonword repetition in 111 school-aged children: 24 Italian L2 bilingual dyslexics, 24 Italian monolingual dyslexics, 30 Italian L2 bilingual controls and 33 Italian monolingual controls. We administered an original task composed of 40 nonwords ranging from two to five syllables; the complexity of the syllables was also manipulated. Results showed that both groups of dyslexics underperformed controls at each syllable length. No differences were found between monolingual and bilingual controls. Conversely, bilingual dyslexics underperformed monolingual dyslexics only with four-syllable nonwords. The possible use of nonword repetition tasks to assist in the identification of dyslexia in bilingual children is also discussed.

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“…In their review of the available literature, Hilchey and Klein [35] conclude “that bilingual children never significantly outperformed monolingual children on inhibitory control, i.e., there was no evidence available to support a Bilingual Inhibitory Control Advantage [3, 35]. While Hilchey and Klein [35] previously reported a global RT advantage or BEPA for bilingual children, they did not report one in their updated review in 2015 [3], similarly, a very recent meta-analysis only shows very small effect sizes for BEPA [58].…”

Section: What Is the Bilingual Advantage?mentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence for effects of Turkish immigrant children‘s bilingualism on executive functions

Jaekel

Willard

et al. 2019

PLoS ONE

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Recent research has increasingly questioned the bilingual advantage for executive functions (EF). We used structural equation modeling in a large sample of Turkish immigrant and German monolingual children (N = 337; aged 5–15 years) to test associations between bilingualism and EF. Our data showed no significant group differences between Turkish immigrant and German children’s EF skills while taking into account maternal education, child gender, age, and working memory (i.e., digit span backwards). Moreover, neither Turkish immigrant children’s proficiency in either language nor their home language environment predicted EF. Our findings offer important new evidence in light of the ongoing debate about the existence of a bilingual advantage for EF.

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The Bilingual Advantage Debate

Cited by 77 publications

References 153 publications

Bilingualism and working memory performance: Evidence from a large-scale online study

Bilingualism and working memory performance: Evidence from a large-scale online study

How do bilingual dyslexic and typically developing children perform in nonword repetition? Evidence from a study on Italian L2 children

No evidence for effects of Turkish immigrant children‘s bilingualism on executive functions

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