Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:37:48.494Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Executive control performance and foreign-language proficiency associated with immersion education in French-speaking Belgium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2019

Morgane Simonis*
Affiliation:
Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Lize Van der Linden
Affiliation:
Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Benoit Galand
Affiliation:
Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Philippe Hiligsmann
Affiliation:
Institut Langage et Communication, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Arnaud Szmalec
Affiliation:
Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium
*
Address for correspondence: Morgane Simonis, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

A large sample study (n = 513) was conducted to investigate executive control performance in pupils following an immersion education program. We recruited 10-year-old children (n = 128) and 16-year-old adolescents (n = 127) who were enrolled in English or Dutch immersion education in French-speaking Belgium for at least 4 school years. They were compared to non-immersed children (n = 102) and adolescents (n = 156) on a number of executive control tasks assessing inhibitory control, monitoring, switching and attentional abilities. Several control variables such as receptive vocabulary, nonverbal intelligence, socioeconomic status and other potentially relevant background variables were also considered. Our results show significant gains in foreign-language proficiency for the immersed compared to the non-immersed participants. These gains were however not associated with any measurable benefits on executive control. Our findings make a unique contribution to understanding how language and cognition develop through formal education methods that promote bilingualism.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, P (2002) Assessment and Development of Executive Function (EF) During Childhood. Child Neuropsychology 8, 71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, VA, Anderson, P, Northam, E, Jacobs, R and Catroppa, C (2001) Development of Executive Functions Through Late Childhood and Adolescence in an Australian Sample. Developmental Neuropsychology 20, 385406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A (1996) Exploring the Central Executive. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A 49, 528. https://doi.org/10.1080/713755608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barac, R and Bialystok, E (2012) Bilingual Effects on Cognitive and Linguistic Development: Role of Language, Cultural Background, and Education. Child Development 83, 413422. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01707.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bates, D, Maechler, M, Bolker, B and Walker, S (2015) Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software 67, 148. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berthelsen, D, Hayes, N, White, SLJ and Williams, KE (2017) Executive Function in Adolescence: Associations with Child and Family Risk Factors and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood. Frontiers in Psychology 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00903CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Best, JR and Miller, PH (2010) A Developmental Perspective on Executive Function. Child Development 81, 16411660. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01499.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E (2015) Bilingualism and the Development of Executive Function: The Role of Attention. Child Development Perspectives 9, 117121. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12116CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E (2017) The bilingual adaptation: How minds accommodate experience. Psychological Bulletin 143, 233262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000099CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E and Barac, R (2012) Emerging bilingualism: Dissociating advantages for metalinguistic awareness and executive control. Cognition 122, 6773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2011.08.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E, Craik, FIM and Freedman, M (2007) Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia 45, 459464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.10.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E, Craik, FIM, Klein, R and Viswanathan, M (2004) Bilingualism, Aging, and Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Simon Task. Psychology and Aging 19, 290303. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.290CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E, Craik, FIM and Luk, G (2012) Bilingualism: consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16, 240250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E and Martin, MM (2004) Attention and inhibition in bilingual children: evidence from the dimensional change card sort task. Developmental Science 7, 325339. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00351.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E, Martin, MM and Viswanathan, M (2005) Bilingualism across the lifespan: The rise and fall of inhibitory control. International Journal of Bilingualism 9, 103119. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069050090010701CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E, Peets, KF and Moreno, S (2014) Producing bilinguals through immersion education: Development of metalinguistic awareness. Applied Psycholinguistics 35, 177191. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716412000288CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blumenfeld, HK and Marian, V (2013) Parallel language activation and cognitive control during spoken word recognition in bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology (Hove, England) 25. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.812093Google ScholarPubMed
Braver, TS, Reynolds, JR and Donaldson, DI (2003) Neural Mechanisms of Transient and Sustained Cognitive Control during Task Switching. Neuron 39, 713726. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00466-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bretz, F, Hothorn, T and Westfall, P (2010) Multiple Comparisons Using R. CRC Press.Google Scholar
Calvo, A and Bialystok, E (2014) Independent Effects of Bilingualism and Socioeconomic Status on Language Ability and Executive Functioning. Cognition 130, 278288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2013.11.015CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, SM and Meltzoff, AN (2008) Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children. Developmental Science 11, 282298. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00675.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chan, RCK, Shum, D, Toulopoulou, T and Chen, EYH (2008) Assessment of executive functions: review of instruments and identification of critical issues. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology: The Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists 23, 201216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acn.2007.08.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, A, Hernández, M, Costa-Faidella, and Sebastián-Gallés, N (2009) On the bilingual advantage in conflict processing: now you see it, now you don't. Cognition 113, 135149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, A, Hernández, M and Sebastián-Gallés, N (2008) Bilingualism aids conflict resolution: Evidence from the ANT task. Cognition 106, 5986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2006.12.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalton-Puffer, C (2011) Content-and-Language Integrated Learning: From Practice to Principles? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31, 182204. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190511000092CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, A (2013) Executive Functions. Annual Review of Psychology 64, 135168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dimitropoulou, M, Duñabeitia, JA and Carreiras, M (2011) Masked translation priming effects with low proficient bilinguals. Memory & Cognition 39, 260275. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-010-0004-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, LM and Dunn, LM (1981) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised. Circle Pines, NM: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Dunn, LM and Dunn, LM (2005) PPVT-III-NL: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III-NL. Pearson Assessment and Information B.V.Google Scholar
Dunn, Lloyd M, Dunn, DM and Pearson Assessments. (2007) PPVT-4: Peabody picture vocabulary test. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson Assessments.Google Scholar
Dunn, Lloyd M, Thériault-Whalen, CM and Dunn, LM (1993) EVIP: Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody. Toronto: Psycan.Google Scholar
Duyck, W and Warlop, N (2009) Translation priming between the native language and a second language: new evidence from Dutch-French bilinguals. Experimental Psychology 56, 173179. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169.56.3.173CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmorey, K, Luk, G, Pyers, JE and Bialystok, E (2008) The Source of Enhanced Cognitive Control in Bilinguals. Psychological Science 19, 12011206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02224.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fan, J, McCandliss, BD, Sommer, T, Raz, A and Posner, MI (2002) Testing the Efficiency and Independence of Attentional Networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 14, 340347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, NP and Miyake, A (2004) The relations among inhibition and interference control functions: a latent-variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 133, 101135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.101CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, NP, Miyake, A, Corley, RP, Young, SE, Defries, JC and Hewitt, JK (2006) Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychological Science 17, 172179. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01681.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frye, D, Zelazo, PD and Palfai, T (1995) Theory of mind and rule-based reasoning. Cognitive Development 10, 483527. https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2014(95)90024-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gratton, G, Coles, MGH and Donchin, E (1992) Optimizing the use of information: Strategic control of activation of responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 121, 480506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, D (1998) Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1, 6781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DW and Abutalebi, J (2013) Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 25, 515530. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2013.796377CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grosjean, F (2010) Bilingualism, biculturalism, and deafness. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 13, 133145. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050903474051CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundy, J, Chung-Fat-Yim, A, C Friesen, D, Mak, L and Bialystok, E (2017) Sequential congruency effects reveal differences in disengagement of attention for monolingual and bilingual young adults (Vol. 163). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.02.010Google ScholarPubMed
Grundy, JG and Keyvani Chahi, A (2017) Post-conflict slowing effects in monolingual and bilingual children. Developmental Science 20, n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12488CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hansen, LB, Macizo, P, Duñabeitia, JA, Saldaña, D, Carreiras, M, Fuentes, LJ and Bajo, MT (2016) Emergent Bilingualism and Working Memory Development in School Aged Children. Language Learning 66, 5175. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12170CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilchey, MD and Klein, RM (2011) Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control processes. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 18, 625658. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-011-0116-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hiligsmann, P, Van Mensel, L, Galand, B, Mettewie, L, Meunier, F, Szmalec, A, Van Goethem, K, Bulon, A, De Smet, A, Hendrikx, I and Simonis, M (2017) Assessing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in French-speaking Belgium: linguistic, cognitive, and educational perspectives. Les Cahiers de Recherche Du Girsef (109).Google Scholar
Hofweber, J, Marinis, T and Treffers-Daller, J (2016) Effects of dense code-switching on executive control. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6, 648668. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15052.hofCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeffreys, H (1961) Theory of probability (3 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Kane, MJ and Engle, RW (2003) Working-memory capacity and the control of attention: the contributions of goal neglect, response competition, and task set to Stroop interference. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 132, 4770.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaushanskaya, M, Gross, M and Buac, M (2014) Effects of classroom bilingualism on task-shifting, verbal memory, and word learning in children. Developmental Science 17, 564583. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12142CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keye, D, Wilhelm, O, Oberauer, K and Stürmer, B (2013) Individual differences in response conflict adaptations. Frontiers in Psychology 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00947CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lo, S and Andrews, S (2015) To transform or not to transform: using generalized linear mixed models to analyse reaction time data. Frontiers in Psychology 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01171CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin-Rhee, MM and Bialystok, E (2008) The development of two types of inhibitory control in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728907003227CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, EK (2000) The prefrontal cortex and cognitive control. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 1, 5965. https://doi.org/10.1038/35036228CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miyake, A and Friedman, NP (2012) The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science 21, 814. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411429458CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicolay, A-C and Poncelet, M (2013) Cognitive advantage in children enrolled in a second-language immersion elementary school program for three years. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 16, 597607. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728912000375CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicolay, A.-C. and Poncelet, M (2015) Cognitive benefits in children enrolled in an early bilingual immersion school: A follow up study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000868CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paap, KR (in press) Bilingualism in cognitive science. In De Houwer, A and Ortega, L (eds), Handbook of bilingualism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Paap, KR and Greenberg, ZI (2013) There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology 66, 232258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paap, KR, Johnson, HA and Sawi, O (2014) Are bilingual advantages dependent upon specific tasks or specific bilingual experiences? Journal of Cognitive Psychology 26, 615639. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2014.944914CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poarch, GJ and van Hell, JG (2012) Executive functions and inhibitory control in multilingual children: Evidence from second-language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 113, 535551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.06.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Posner, MI (1980) Orienting of Attention. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 32(1), 325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Posner, MI and Petersen, SE (1990) The Attention System of the Human Brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience 13, 2542. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ne.13.030190.000325CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poulin-Dubois, D, Blaye, A, Coutya, J and Bialystok, E (2011) The effects of bilingualism on toddlers’ executive functioning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 108, 567579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2010.10.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prior, A and Gollan, TH (2011) Good Language-Switchers are Good Task-Switchers: Evidence from Spanish–English and Mandarin–English Bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 17, 682691. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617711000580CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prior, A and Macwhinney, B (2010) A bilingual advantage in task switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 13, 253. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990526CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raven, JC, Court, JH and Raven, J (1998) Progressive Coloured Matrices. Oxford: Oxford Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Rouder, JN, Speckman, PL, Sun, D, Morey, RD and Iverson, G (2009) Bayesian t tests for accepting and rejecting the null hypothesis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 16, 225237. https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.16.2.225CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, JR and Rudell, AP (1967) Auditory S-R compatibility: The effect of an irrelevant cue on information processing. Journal of Applied Psychology 51, 300304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simon, JR and Wolf, JD (1963) Choice reaction time as a function of angular stimulus-response correspondence and age. Ergonomics 6, 99105. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140136308930679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, EE and Jonides, J (1999) Storage and executive processes in the frontal lobes. Science (New York, N.Y.) 283, 16571661.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sorge, GB, Toplak, ME and Bialystok, E (2017) Interactions between Levels of Attention Ability and Levels of Bilingualism in Children's Executive Functioning. Developmental Science 20. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12408CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Assche, E, Duyck, W and Hartsuiker, RJ (2012) Bilingual Word Recognition in a Sentence Context. Frontiers in Psychology 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00174Google Scholar
Van Der Linden, L, Van de Putte, E, Woumans, E, Duyck, W and Szmalec, A (2018) Does extreme language control training improve cognitive control? A comparison of professional interpreters, L2 teachers and monolinguals. Frontiers in Psychology 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01998CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verreyt, N, Woumans, E, Vandelanotte, D, Szmalec, A and Duyck, W (2016) The influence of language-switching experience on the bilingual executive control advantage. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 19, 181190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagenmakers, E-J (2007) A practical solution to the pervasive problems ofp values. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, 779804. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194105CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woumans, E, Ceuleers, E, Van der Linden, L, Szmalec, A and Duyck, W (2015) Verbal and nonverbal cognitive control in bilinguals and interpreters. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition 41, 15791586. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000107CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woumans, E, Surmont, J, Struys, E and Duyck, W (2016) The Longitudinal Effect of Bilingual Immersion Schooling on Cognitive Control and Intelligence. Language Learning 66, 7691. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12171CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xiang, H, Dediu, D, Leah, R, van Oort, E, Norris, DG and Hagoort, P (2012) The Structural Connectivity Underpinning Language Aptitude, Working Memory, and IQ in the Perisylvian Language Network. Language Learning 62, 110130. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00708.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, E (2017) Bilinguals' Working Memory (WM) Advantage and Their Dual Language Practices. Brain Sciences 7(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7070086CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, S and Yang, H (2016) Bilingual effects on deployment of the attention system in linguistically and culturally homogeneous children and adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 146, 121136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2016.01.011CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zelazo, PD (2006) The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS): a method of assessing executive function in children. Nature Protocols 1, 297301. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.46CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Simonis et al. supplementary material

Simonis et al. supplementary material
Download Simonis et al. supplementary material(File)
File 149.3 KB