Bilingualism (15)

What is coordinate bilingualism?

Linguistic elements in each language are linked to separate concepts; the person forms two parallel lexicons (e.g., ‘bottle’ ≠ ‘fles’).

What is compound bilingualism?

Words from both languages refer to the same concepts; the person uses a shared conceptual system (e.g., ‘potato’ = ‘aardappel’).

What is subordinate bilingualism?

L2 elements are accessed via L1 representations; typical in early stages of second language learning (e.g., ‘hond’ → ‘dog’).

What is categorical perception in bilinguals?

The ability to distinguish subtle phonetic contrasts may change over time depending on exposure to both languages.

What did Sebastian-Gallés et al. (2003) study show?

At 4.5 months, all infants could distinguish Catalan vowel contrasts; at 8 months only Catalan monolinguals could; at 12 months, bilinguals regained the ability.

Why do bilingual infants ‘recover’ vowel discrimination?

They need to correctly represent words in their mental lexicon, which supports re-learning of the subtle distinctions.

What does the native language recognition study show?

Monolingual infants react faster to their native language than bilinguals, even with similar languages like Spanish/Catalan.

Do bilingual infants distinguish between their two languages?

Yes—though they respond more slowly overall, they respond equally well to both languages, suggesting they track both separately.

What is the ‘one or two systems’ debate?

Some argue bilinguals start with one grammar, others that they develop two from the start—evidence supports two early systems.

How do German-English bilinguals handle syntax?

They may mix German phrase structure at first, which is not seen in German monolinguals, showing some temporary cross-language influence.

How do bilingual children develop negation?

They develop language-specific patterns, with German negation showing influence from English early on, but German structures still dominate.

What is mutual exclusivity in word learning?

Children usually assume one name per object. Bilinguals, however, are more flexible and accept multiple labels for one object.

How does bilingualism affect disambiguation tasks?

Bilingual children are less likely than monolinguals to assume a new word refers to an unknown object, showing reduced mutual exclusivity.

Is reduced mutual exclusivity good or bad?

Both—it offers flexibility and adaptability, but may slightly slow early word learning.

What are some benefits of bilingualism?

Improved metalinguistic awareness, better cognitive flexibility, and easier acquisition of additional languages.

What are some challenges of bilingualism?

Possible delays in phonetics or grammar, confusion between systems, and dominance of one language over another.

What does brain imaging show in bilingual infants?

Responses to words and sentences vary across languages and develop over time (e.g., changes between 3 and 6 months).

How does bilingualism affect the brain?

It leads to distinct neural organization and activation patterns depending on language exposure and proficiency.