Acquisition and Discrimination of Language in Simultaneous-Bilingual Infants

Charlie algert

Acquisition and Discrimination of Language in Simultaneous-Bilingual Infants

Charlie algert

2022, Polygence Research Academy

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Cognitive Linguistics

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This review examines the neurocognitive correlates of simultaneous language acquisition, primarily focusing on children under the age of 14. It will examine the associated linguistic and neurological processes including the following: discrimination and selection, prosodic classification, inhibitory control, and code switching. These processes ...read more

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Acquisition and Discrimination oLanguage in Simultaneous-BilingualInants

Charlie Algert

1,2

Polygence Research Academy

Miramonte High School, California, United States of America

September 24, 2022

his review examines the neuro-cognitive correlates of simulta-

neous language acquisition, pri-marily ocusing on children un-

der the age of 14. It will ex-amine the associated linguistic and neu-rological processes including the follow-

ing: discrimination and selection, prosodicclassifcation, inhibitory control, and code

switching. These processes employ cogni-

tive systems unique rom those o monolin-

gual communication and even cause alter-

ations in neuroanitomical structure. Anal- ysis of these alterations will be presentedin the forms of functional magnetic reso-nance imaging (fMRI) and near infraredspectroscopy (NIRS). Additionally, the re-

view will also investigate the presence o adevelopmental disparity between monolin-

guals and bilinguals, considering several

major hypotheses regarding causation and

seeking to determine long-term impact.

1 Introduction

Code-switching reers to the practice o alter-nating between two or more languages or vari-

eties o language in a single utterance.(Yow, Tan,

and Flynn, 2017). Although there has been re-search analyzing the relationship between code-switching, language discrimination, and the cog-nitive linguistic mechanisms employed by bilin-

gual individuals, the eld remains relatively unex-plored with a great deal o the literature highlight-ing some o the awed models that are commonly

accepted or evaluating linguistic developmentand literacy. Contemporary research is present-ing alternative theories on the manner in whichthe minds o bilingual individuals operate with

respect to language discrimination.

As asserted in (Werker and Byers-Heinlein,

2008), oneo thecurrent awswithinthestudyo

bilingualism and phenomenon o code-switching

lies in the dominance o studies dealing with

se-

quential

bilingualism, while simultaneous-specicstudiesrepresentacomparativelyminorportiono the eld and hypergeneralize two entirely distinct

cognitive processes. Similarly, (Yow, Tan, and

Flynn, 2017) points out the erroneous hypotheses

o early studies on children’s language alterna-

tion behaviors which asserted that code-switchingoccurs as a result o conusion or linguistic incom-

petence. The reality is that code-switching canotentimes be a sign o greater linguistic compe-tency. Despite the aws o research within theeld, novel and critical data is emerging romstudies such as (J. Abutalebi et. al, 2007), ren-ing scientic understanding o the processes at work within the bilingual brain. This review will

examine these cognitive processes through reviewo the aorementioned studies, aiming to provide

a cohesive and analytical synthesis o the most

current consensuses within the eld in relation to

cognitive cost and developmental compensation.

Acquisition and Discrimination of Language in Simultaneous-Bilingual Infants

Figure 1:

Simultaneous vs Sequential Discrimination of

Phonemes (D. D’Souza, 2018)

Figure 2:

Cross-Sectional MRI From (V. Costumero et.

al, 2020)

2 Findings

A seminal work backing the separation o simul-taneous and sequential bilingualism in linguisticresearch is (D. D’Souza, 2018). As distinguished

by cross-sectional FMRI analysis, there is a signi-

icant dierence in the neurological mechanisms

employed or acquisition, storage, discrimination,

and code-switching between simultaneous and

sequential bilinguals (See Fig. 1), along with di-

ering overall developmental patterns and distri-

bution of cerebral matter (See Fig. 2).

2.1 Discrimination and Selection

Monolingualsareabletotreatallspeechascompo-nents o a single language, whereas multilinguals

require the additional step of discrimination and

selection o languages prior to both input and out-

put. As shown in (Bosma and Pablos, 2020) andurther proven by (Han, Li, and Filippi, 2022),there is a measurable cognitive cost associated

with this process.

2.2 Prosodic Classifcation

Among the distinguishing characteristics o lan-guage, prosodic eatures such as rhythm, intona-tion, stress, and tempo provide a signicant ma-

jority o the inormation required or interlingual

discrimination. As such, languages are divided

into the ollowing isochronic classications: Sylla-

ble timing, Stress timing, and Mora timing.

Syllable-timed languages, such as MandarinChinese, tend to give syllables approximately equal prominence and generally lack reduced vowels, depending instead on intonation. Stress-

timed languages, such as English, depend on syl-

lable emphasis through changes in stress, sonority,

duration, and vowel reduction.

Despite the relative simplicity o the aoremen-

tioned classications, languages do not t quite

so easily into such precise categories in real-world

applications. Languages exhibit degrees o du-rational variability both in relation to other lan-guages and to other dialects o the same lan-guage. For example, there can be varying de-grees o stress-timing within the various dialectso a language. Some southern dialects o Italian,a syllable-timed language, are eectively stress-

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Acquisition and Discrimination of Language in Simultaneous-Bilingual Infants

timed (M. Grice, M, D’Imperio, et. all, 2010).English, a stress-timed language, has become so

widespread that some regional standards tend tobe more syllable-timed than their British or North American counterparts, an efect that comes rom

the inuence o other languages spoken in the

relevant region.

The creation o the Mora class was a resulto this incongruous conormity to the aore-mentioned classes. Mora timing is essentially a subcategory o syllable timing, relying on

phonemes rather than syllables, a smaller unit o sound. Its exact denition has undergone severalrevisions in response to a variety o dissenting ex-

perimental ndings, but nonetheless, provides a

valuable ramework or determining the prosodic

t o a nonconorming language or dialect.

Figure 3:

Hierarchical Regression, Competency Predic-

tion (English) (Yow, Tan, and Flynn, 2017)

Figure 4:

Hierarchical Regression, Competency Predic-

tion(Mandarin)(Yow, Tan, andFlynn, 2017)

2.3 Developmental Impact

Early studies o bilingual inants raised concerns

regarding potential adverse developmental efectso simultaneous acquisition. Most notably, (Gene-

see, 1989) ound observable and measurable de-lays in the development o simultaneous bilin-

guals in early inancy. Known as the Unitary Lan-guageSystemHypothesis, thisdiscoveryrightully

caused signicant concern. While the data is le-gitimate and afrmed, the temporal scope waslimited (ages 0-2), leaving long-term eects mis-

understood.

Several studies have attempted to replicate

(Genesee, 1989)anddeterminelong-termvalidity otheUnitaryLanguageHypothesis, yetalmostallhave determined it to be incorrect. While studies

like (Yow, Tan, and Flynn, 2017) have afrmedthe presence o a developmental delay betweenages 0-2, continuation o analysis to early ado-lescence ound evidence suggesting a signicant

increaseinlinguisticcompetency. Thestudypostu-latesthatthisincreaseisheavilydependentonthe

requency o code-switching during inancy, due

to the close correlation between teacher-reported

competency scores and recorded switching re-quency in individual subjects. (See Figure 3, Fig-

ure 4)

Furthermore, there is strong evidence that early bilingualism and code-switching create structural,unctional, and neuroanatomical adaptations thatincreasereadinguencyascross-linguisticliteracy develops. Especially when encountering irregular

lexemes, Functional near Inrared Spectroscopy analysis rom (Jasińska, 2017) shows "hyperacti-

vationinletposteriortemporalregionsassociated

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Acquisition and Discrimination of Language in Simultaneous-Bilingual Infants

with direct sound-to-print phonological analyses"

and "hypoactivation in let rontal regions asso-ciated with assembled phonology analyses" (See

Figure 5).

Figure 5:

diferences in brain activation during the En-

glish reading tasks (Jasińska, 2017)

3 Discussion

The main goal o the present review was to exam-

ine the cognitive processes associated with early

simultaneous bilingualism and its developmental

impacts, simpliying the available research and

reportingontheoverallconsensuswithintheeld.

Among the reviewed articles, the most requentage group studied was preschool children (2-6 years), ollowed by school-aged children (6–14

years).

Across all age groups examined, signicant cog-

nitive and neurological dierences in languageprocessing were observed, a trend that parallelsthe adult bilingual literature. Beyond, these cog-

nitive diferences, there is a consistent exhibition

o delayed development in preadolescent stages,

ollowed by higher levels o linguistic competency

in adolescence ater reaching operational liter-acy in both languages. Additionally, the usageo code-switching was observed in nearly every single individual subject o the reviewed publica-tions and is very likely a key actor in linguistic

development.

4 Conclusion

Due to the intricacy o the eld and variation in

experimental ndings, ew conclusions can be ac-ceptedwithabsolutecertainty. Allothereviewed

publications call or urther investigation o their

respective ndings and struggle to agree on exact

methods and metrics or quantiying such com-

plex cognitive functions.

Notwithstanding these circumstances, three

core diferences in language processing between

monolinguals and bilinguals can be understood

through the synthesis o data rom these publica-

tions. First, the requirement or discrimination

amongst bilinguals comes with a measurable cog-

nitive cost throughout the entire age range. Sec-ond, the inuence o simultaneous bilingualism,both on cognition and developmental timeline,comes in varying degrees o magnitude, depend-ing on the proximity o the languages with re-spect to their rhythmic classications and theirproportional levels o exposure. Third, there aredenite structural neuroanatomical dierencesbetween monolinguals and bilinguals, some pos-sibly advantageous in the process o learning to

read. Likewise, these diferences come in varying

degrees o prevalence and likely depend on com-

parative exposure in early childhood as a product

of heightened neuroplasticity.

Progress in the understanding o these dier-

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Acquisition and Discrimination of Language in Simultaneous-Bilingual Infants

enceshasraisedcriticalquestionsabouttheirroles

in development and sparked an ongoing discus-sion in regard to suppression o code-switching

and tailoring o content in early and primary edu-cation. While these questions cannot be answered

here, this research provides an essential rame- work and background o data to evaluate these

quandaries.

Citations

Bosma, E. and L. Pablos (Aug. 2020). “Switching

direction modulates the engagement o cogni-

tive control in bilingual reading comprehension:

An ERP study”. In:

Journal o Neurolinguistics

55.

D. D’Souza (Dec. 2018). “Simultaneous and se-quential bilinguals: Cross domain benets as

measured by behaviour and resting-state unc-

tional magnetic resonance imaging”. In:

Faculty

of Medicine, McGill University,

50.

Genesee, F. (May 1989). “Early bilingual devel-opment: One language or two?” In:

Journal o

Child Language

16.1.

Han, X., W. Li, and R. Filippi (Apr. 2022). “Theeects o habitual code-switching in bilinguallanguage production on cognitive control”. In:

Cambridge Core | Bilingualism: Language and

Cognition

J.Abutalebiet.al(Dec.2007).“TheNeuralCosto

the Auditory Perception o Language Switches:

An Event-Related Functional Magnetic Reso-nance Imaging Study in Bilinguals”. In:

The Journal o Neuroscience

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doi

27(50):13762âĂŞ13769

Jasińska, K. (Apr. 2017). “Bilingualism yields

language-specic plasticity in let hemisphere’s

circuitry or learning to read in young children”.

In:

Journal of Child Language

98.

M.Grice,M,D’Imperio,et.all(Feb.2010).“Strate-

gies or Intonation Labelling across Varieties o

Italian”. In:

Prosodic Typology: The Phonology of

Intonation and Phrasing

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V. Costumero et. al (Dec. 2020). “A cross-sectional

and longitudinal study on the protective eect

o bilingualism against dementia using brain at-

rophy and cognitive measures”. In:

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Research Therapy

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Werker, J.F. and K. Byers-Heinlein (Apr. 2008).“Bilingualism in inancy: rst steps in percep-

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