Linguistic relativity in motion events in Spanish and English : a study on monolingual and bilingual children and adults

PhD ThesisThe research investigates the relation between language and cognition, focusing specifically on dynamic motion events (MEs) of path, manner and causation. This dissertation studies differences in lexicalization patterns of MEs in monolingual and bilingual adults, children, and adolescents, speakers of English and Spanish, and the possible effect of language patterns of MEs on cognition (i.e. the linguistic relativity hypothesis).The study additionally seeks to determine developmental aspects of MEs in language and cognition and to measure the impact of speaking an additional language on linguistic and cognitive processing. Participants´ linguistics patterns and cognitive performances are assessed with two experiments: i) a verbal description task of videos and ii) a similarity judgment task that measured categorization preferences. In total, participants are 124 adults and 221 children and adolescents. The research reveals that adults´ performance is different from that of children in both tasks. It also confirms that MEs are conveyed differently in monolingual and bilingual speakers of English and Spanish. Most importantly it shows that categorization of MEs is constrained by the language-specific patterns in adults in the adult population. Additionally, the knowledge of a second language in adults influences language performance: A bidirectional cross-linguistic influence from L2 to L1 and L1 to L2 is observed. The study of lexicalization patterns in children reveals developmental changes that suggest that learning motion events patterns in one’s language takes longer than previously reported. The performance of monolingual and bilingual children and adolescents does not yield effect of language on the categorization of MEs. This research is a contribution to the studies of linguistic relativity. It helps to explain the contradictory results in the area. It reveals that language seems to affect other non-linguistic cognitive processes and support the hypothesis that language may be interconnected to other cognitive functions in monolinguals´ and bilinguals´ brain. Furthermore, it contributed to the studies of language acquisition in L1 and L2 by assessing bilingual adults and children in their encoding of motion events and its relation to cognition

Second language influence on first language motion event encoding and categorization in Spanish-speaking children learning L2 English

Studies show cross-linguistic differences in motion event encoding, such that English speakers preferentially encode manner of motion more than Spanish speakers, who preferentially encode path of motion. Focusing on native Spanish speaking children (aged 5;00-9;00) learning L2 English, we studied path and manner verb preferences during descriptions of motion stimuli, and tested the linguistic relativity hypothesis by investigating categorization preferences in a non-verbal similarity judgement task of motion clip triads. Results revealed L2 influence on L1 motion event encoding, such that bilinguals used more manner verbs and fewer path verbs in their L1, under the influence of English. We found no effects of linguistic structure on non-verbal similarity judgements, and demonstrate for the first time effects of L2 on L1 lexicalization in child L2 learners in the domain of motion events. This pattern of verbal behaviour supports theories of bilingual semantic representation that postulate a merged lexico-semantic system in early bilinguals

Multiple sclerosis and bilingualism: some initial findings

It has been suggested that bilingualism is beneficial for executive control and could have positive long-term effects by delaying the onset of symptoms of degenerative diseases. This research investigates, for the first time, the impact of bilingualism on executive control (monitoring and inhibitory control) in individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative disease which commonly causes deficiencies in the cognitive system. Bilingual and monolingual adults, with and without an MS diagnosis, performed a flanker task with two degrees of monitoring demands (high monitoring vs. low monitoring). Results showed that bilingual MS patients had inhibitory control and monitoring abilities that were similar to healthy bilingual controls. In contrast, monolingual MS patients showed similar inhibitory control but significantly worse monitoring abilities compared to monolingual healthy controls. We propose that the similar behaviour between bilingual groups suggests that bilingualism might counteract cognitive deficits related to MS, especially with respect to monitoring. The high monitoring cost observed in monolingual patients seems related to underlying deficits in monitoring and possibly switching, executive control abilities commonly impaired in MS patients from early stages. Our findings provide some preliminary evidence for the cognitive reserve hypothesis in bilingual MS patients

Accent modification as a raciolinguistic ideology: a commentary in response to Burda et al. (2022)

In this commentary, we collectively examine a recent article titled “Effectiveness of Intense Accent Modification Training with Refugees from Burma” by Burda et al. (2022). Whilst our response is aimed at revealing the theoretical and methodological shortcomings of Burda et al., it will also expose the raciolinguistic ideologies in accent modification and highlight the need for careful ethical considerations on vulnerable populations, such as refugees and asylum seekers

Bilingualism effect on executive control in Multiple Sclerosis patients

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