The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions

Studies have shown that bilinguals and multilinguals have superior performance compared to monolinguals in nonlinguistic tasks that tap into executive functioning. However, studies of bilingual and multilingual advantages in linguistic tasks are fewer and the results are less consensual. In Brazil,...

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Main Authors: Bernardo Kolling Limberger, Augusto Buchweitz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Programa de Pós-graduação em Linguística 2014-09-01
Series:Fórum Linguístico
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/forum/article/view/38601
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author Bernardo Kolling Limberger
Augusto Buchweitz
author_facet Bernardo Kolling Limberger
Augusto Buchweitz
author_sort Bernardo Kolling Limberger
collection DOAJ
description Studies have shown that bilinguals and multilinguals have superior performance compared to monolinguals in nonlinguistic tasks that tap into executive functioning. However, studies of bilingual and multilingual advantages in linguistic tasks are fewer and the results are less consensual. In Brazil, the positive effects of executive functions in bilingualism have not been consistently identified in the bilingual populations, especially in speakers of the minority language Hunsrückisch (a German dialect). The main goal of this study was to investigate the performance of bilinguals and multilinguals speakers of Hunsrückisch compared to monolinguals in a nonlinguistic task, the Attentional Network Task, and in a linguistic task, the Sentence Comprehension Task. The results show that multilinguals were faster in comparison to monolinguals in the nonlinguistic task. The results for the linguistic task, in turn, show that the monolinguals had more facility to inhibiting the linguistic interference.
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spelling doaj-art-4bc80f28231c4050ac71d4e675d314222025-08-20T02:42:42ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Programa de Pós-graduação em LinguísticaFórum Linguístico1415-86981984-84122014-09-0111310.5007/1984-8412.2014v11n3p26123666The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functionsBernardo Kolling Limberger0Augusto Buchweitz1PUC - RSPUC - RS Studies have shown that bilinguals and multilinguals have superior performance compared to monolinguals in nonlinguistic tasks that tap into executive functioning. However, studies of bilingual and multilingual advantages in linguistic tasks are fewer and the results are less consensual. In Brazil, the positive effects of executive functions in bilingualism have not been consistently identified in the bilingual populations, especially in speakers of the minority language Hunsrückisch (a German dialect). The main goal of this study was to investigate the performance of bilinguals and multilinguals speakers of Hunsrückisch compared to monolinguals in a nonlinguistic task, the Attentional Network Task, and in a linguistic task, the Sentence Comprehension Task. The results show that multilinguals were faster in comparison to monolinguals in the nonlinguistic task. The results for the linguistic task, in turn, show that the monolinguals had more facility to inhibiting the linguistic interference. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/forum/article/view/38601
spellingShingle Bernardo Kolling Limberger
Augusto Buchweitz
The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
Fórum Linguístico
title The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
title_full The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
title_fullStr The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
title_full_unstemmed The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
title_short The effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
title_sort effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on executive functions
url https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/forum/article/view/38601
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