- Title
- Inter-individual variability in language experience and its effects on metalinguistic awareness and non-verbal cognitive control in bilingual and monolingual adults in the context of multicultural Australia
- Creator
- Khodos, Iryna
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Bilingual practice in managing two languages has been regarded as a possible candidate for boosting control processes across cognitive domains (e.g., Bialystok, 2017). Given the multidimensional nature of bilingualism (Bialystok, 2001; Laine & Lehtonen, 2018; Zirnstein, Bice, & Kroll, 2019), it has been suggested that the metalinguistic and cognitive consequences of bilingualism are a function of bilingual experience rather than of bilingualism per se (de Bruin, 2019; Green & Abutalebi, 2013; Kaushanskaya & Prior, 2015). In the current study, we aimed to contribute to this analysis by exploring whether and in what ways language experience affects metalinguistic awareness and non-verbal cognitive control (i.e. proactive and reactive control processes). With this aim, we recruited 20-40-year-old bilinguals (N = 60) from varied non-English speaking backgrounds and suitably matched English-speaking monolinguals (N = 24), all residing in Australia. The participants were screened on key demographic and language variables. Following that, they were tested on the Metalinguistic Awareness Test (Bialystok, 1986; Bialystok & Barac, 2012; Bialystok, Majumder, & Martin, 2003; Davidson, Raschke, & Pervez, 2010) to assess their metalinguistic skills and the Colour-Shape Switching Task (Miyake et al., 2004; Prior & MacWhinney, 2010) to measure mixing costs and switching costs. The data obtained from the participants were analysed using linear mixed-effects and multiple regression analyses to answer the following research questions: (1) whether and in what ways language context (monolingual, bilingual dual- or bilingual separated-language contexts) affects bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ metalinguistic and task-switching performance; (2) which (if any) dimensions of bilingual experience – typological proximity/distance between two languages, age of L2 acquisition, onset age of active bilingualism, language proficiency and/or language entropy – account for the variance in bilinguals’ metalinguistic and task-switching data. The results from the data analyses revealed that variations in participants’ metalinguistic and task-switching performance could be explained in terms of differences in language experience, in particular language context. The bilingual dual-language context was associated with lower scores relative to the monolingual language context and higher scores relative to the bilingual separated-language context. Language context also accounted for the variance in mixing and switching costs. The use of language(s) in the monolingual and bilingual dual-language contexts was associated with reduced mixing costs as compared to the bilingual separated-language context. On the other hand, switching cost advantages were found only among those who used two languages in the dual-language context. The dimensions of bilingual experience under consideration also accounted for bilingual participants’ metalinguistic and task-switching performance. In particular, higher levels of language proficiency, the use of typologically close languages and an earlier onset age of active bilingualism were predictive of higher metalinguistic scores and lower mixing costs. On the other hand, reduced switching costs were related to an equal use of two languages in the same contexts but with different interlocutors. The results of the present study suggest that the use of two languages in a dual-language context may boost reactive control processes (i.e. switching costs advantages). When combined with typological proximity between two languages and an earlier onset of active bilingualism, such use of two languages is likely to enable bilinguals to obtain/maintain higher levels of language proficiency. This, in turn, may allow them to develop/maintain enhanced metalinguistic skills and experience mixing costs advantages (i.e. advantages in proactive control processes).
- Subject
- bilingualism; language experiences; metalinguistic awareness; cognitive control
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1419719
- Identifier
- uon:37487
- Rights
- Copyright 2020 Iryna Khodos
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 297 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |