ERIC Number: EJ1254927
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jun
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Interactional Context Mediates the Consequences of Bilingualism for Language and Cognition
Beatty-Martínez, Anne L.; Navarro-Torres, Christian A.; Dussias, Paola E.; Bajo, María Teresa; Guzzardo Tamargo, Rosa E.; Kroll, Judith F.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v46 n6 p1022-1047 Jun 2020
Proficient bilinguals use two languages actively, but the contexts in which they do so may differ dramatically. The present study asked what consequences the contexts of language use hold for the way in which cognitive resources modulate language abilities. Three groups of speakers were compared, all of whom were highly proficient Spanish-English bilinguals who differed with respect to the contexts in which they used the two languages in their everyday lives. They performed two lexical production tasks and the "AX" variant of the Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT), a nonlinguistic measure of cognitive control. Results showed that lexical access in each language, and how it related to cognitive control ability, depended on whether bilinguals used their languages separately or interchangeably or whether they were immersed in their second language. These findings suggest that even highly proficient bilinguals who speak the same languages are not necessarily alike in the way in which they engage cognitive resources. Findings support recent proposals that being bilingual does not, in itself, identify a unique pattern of cognitive control. An important implication is that much of the controversy that currently surrounds the consequences of bilingualism may be understood, in part, as a failure to characterize the complexity associated with the context of language use.
Descriptors: Bilingualism, Schemata (Cognition), Language Usage, Psycholinguistics, Comparative Analysis, Speech Communication, Cognitive Ability, Spanish, Context Effect, Second Language Learning, Native Language, Language Processing, Task Analysis, Individual Differences, English (Second Language), Foreign Countries, Code Switching (Language), Naming, Reaction Time, Pictorial Stimuli, Participant Characteristics, Measures (Individuals), Cross Cultural Studies
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF); National Institutes of Health (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Puerto Rico; Spain; Pennsylvania
Grant or Contract Numbers: BCS1535124; OISE0968369; OISE1545900; BCS1824072; 1F31HD09878301; HD082796; HD071758