Developmental language disorder in sequential bilinguals: Characterising word properties in spontaneous speech.

The current study sought to investigate whether word properties can facilitate the identification of developmental language disorder (DLD) in sequential bilinguals by analyzing properties in nouns and verbs in L2 spontaneous speech as potential DLD markers. Measures of semantic (imageability, concreteness), lexical (frequency, age of acquisition) and phonological (phonological neighbourhood, word length) properties were computed for nouns and verbs produced by 15 sequential bilinguals (5;7) with DLD and 15 age-matched controls with diverse L1 backgrounds. Linear mixed modelling revealed a significant interaction of group and word category on phonological neighbourhood values but no differences across imageability, concreteness, frequency, age of acquisition, and word length measures in spontaneous speech. Outcomes suggest that group-level differences may not be apparent at the word-level, due to the heterogeneous nature of DLD and potential similarities in production during early L2 acquisition.

Measuring the Impact of Bilingualism on Executive Functioning Via Inhibitory Control Abilities in Autistic Children.

One factor that may influence how executive functions develop is exposure to more than one language in childhood. This study explored the impact of bilingualism on inhibitory control in autistic (n = 38) and non-autistic children (n = 51). Bilingualism was measured on a continuum of exposure to investigate the effects of language environment on two facets of inhibitory control. Behavioural control of motor impulses was modulated positively through increased bilingual exposure, irrespective of diagnostic status, but bilingual exposure did not significantly affect inhibition involving visual attention. The results partially support the hypothesis that bilingual exposure differentially affects components of inhibitory control and provides important evidence for families that bilingualism is not detrimental to their development.

"The Languages That You Know Draw the Boundary of Your World": A Thematic Analysis of the Experiences of Autistic Bilingual Adults Living in the United Kingdom.

Background: Although being bilingual (knowing two or more languages) is becoming a more common experience globally, little is known about the combined experience of bilingualism and autism. Research currently available focuses on quantifying language and cognitive development, and the only two qualitative accounts of first-hand experiences are from either bilingual children or highly multilingual adults (with four languages or more), which may not represent the wider autistic bilingual population. All other accounts focus on parents or practitioners. This qualitative study reports the experiences of autistic bi- and multilingual adults, focusing on barriers and enablers to language learning and the reported benefits of bilingualism. Methods: Thirty-nine U.K.-based autistic bilingual adults (41% female, mean age = 33.2 years, range = 16-61) with knowledge of two to seven languages (mean = 3.6, standard deviation = 1.4) completed an online Demographic and Language Questionnaire, including three open-ended questions about the interplay between autism and bilingualism. A thematic analysis was conducted on the responses to these open-ended questions. Results: Participants perceived many opportunities and benefits brought by bilingualism, in terms of relationships, hobbies, mobility, employment, education, and cultural insight. Respondents reported social communication as being a major benefit of being bilingual, and discussed how bilingualism had broadened their mindset, while identifying factors that had enabled or challenged their language learning journey. Conclusions: This study builds upon the few reports available to highlight the experiences that are shared by autistic bilingual people regardless of the number of languages they know. It is the first study to report the perspectives of U.K.-based autistic bilingual adults who, in most cases, grew up in a bilingual environment. Accounts of the factors that can facilitate or hinder language learning will inform the development of strategies to better support autistic people. These findings have implications for bilingual families and practitioners supporting autistic bilingual people.

Why is this an important issue?: At least half the world's population is bilingual or lives in a bilingual environment. However, the experiences of autistic bilingual people are rarely represented or acknowledged. So far, research in this field has concentrated primarily on parent perspectives and on the effects of bilingualism for autistic children's skills. Only one study to date has focused on understanding the experiences of autistic bilingual adults themselves, but this research focused on multilinguals with four or more languages. It is essential to represent the whole autistic bi- or multilingual community, including those with two or three languages. What was the purpose of this study?: The study explored the experiences of autistic bilingual people, focusing on the perceived benefits of bilingualism; the shared experiences of autism, bilingualism, especially regarding identity; and the elements that make language learning easier or more difficult. What did the researchers do?: Thirty-nine autistic bilingual adults completed an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included quantitative questions about the participants' language profile, and open-ended questions about their experiences of being autistic and bilingual. The answers were analyzed and summarized using a method called thematic analysis. What were the results of the study?: Participants reported that being bilingual had shaped their ability to communicate socially; it had helped them to understand the perspectives of others, and better express themselves. Participants also identified many additional opportunities and benefits of bilingualism in terms of relationships, hobbies, mobility, employment, education, and cultural insight. They discussed how bilingualism had influenced their self-understanding in terms of increased awareness of their own skills, and it had contributed to a broadened mindset. Participants also listed several difficulties in becoming bilingual that they considered linked to being autistic. Participants highlighted several elements that had made their language learning easier or harder, including the learning environment, opportunities for practice, or specific language competencies. What do these findings add to what was already known?: Previous studies describing the experiences of autistic bilingual people only represented people with four or more languages, and most of these studies only involved one or two people. This study is more representative of the wider autistic bilingual population. It shows that autistic people benefit from bilingualism in their daily life, even when they know "only" two languages. It highlights that being bilingual is a part of autistic bilingual people's identity. It reports that different autistic people need different learning strategies to best learn additional languages. What are potential weaknesses in the study?: Participants answered our pre-set questions online, and our questions had very few prompts. As a result, it is possible that many topics were not mentioned. Future research should build upon the topics presented here to describe them more specifically. How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?: There are still many barriers to equal access to additional language learning for autistic people. This study shows how valuable autistic people find bilingualism, and it supports autistic people's advocacy movement for equal rights and opportunities.

Linking disambiguation and retention in a developmental eye-tracking study with monolingual and multilingual children.

The disambiguation effect, also referred to as process of elimination, occurs during word learning, whereby novel words are mapped onto new referents, precluding the application of a novel label to a familiar object. Prior studies showed that the emergence and use of disambiguation can be affected by children's vocabulary growth and linguistic experience, such as growing up with more than one language. To test this, we investigated (a) whether monolingual and multilingual children disambiguated a novel word-object mapping, (b) whether they retained a trained, previously seen word-object mapping, (c) whether they retained the novel fast-mapped word-object mapping, and (d) whether and how age, English vocabulary size, and language background modulated disambiguation and retention. Lastly, we tested (e) whether children who disambiguated also retained better. Eye-tracking data from 18- to 30-month-old monolingual children (n = 43) and multilingual children (n = 40) were collected. A looking-while-listening paradigm with two objects included two familiar items, one novel item, and one trained item. Mixed-effect models reported that vocabulary size predicted the outcome of mapping and retention better than age. Monolingual children's accuracy on disambiguation trials was high from the start, whereas multilingual children started to disambiguate later as their vocabulary grew. Only monolingual children performed above chance level on retaining the novel label. Lastly, the use of disambiguation improved retention for monolingual children but not for multilingual children. This research corroborates that disambiguation should be regarded as a mechanism facilitating default fast mapping rather than fully fledged learning. Vocabulary growth leading to an increase in disambiguation supports the notion that the disambiguation effect stems from prior episodes of learning.

Perspectives and Experiences of Autistic Multilingual Adults: A Qualitative Analysis.

Background: The combined experience of autism and bilingualism is poorly understood, leading to poor support for autistic people in multilingual environments or those interested in languages. While most available studies focus on the language and cognitive profiles of autistic bilinguals, or on the experiences of parents, little is known about the lived experiences of autistic multilinguals. Methods: To address this question, this study examined the impact of autism and multilingualism on the lives of 54 autistic multilingual adults who completed an online survey assessing the profiles of autistic bi- and multilinguals. We conducted a thematic analysis of responses to the survey's open-ended questions to explore motivations for learning languages and the perceived benefits of being both autistic and multilingual. Results: There was a wide range of language profiles in the sample, with various levels of proficiency, ages of acquisition, and learning environments. Respondents felt that being autistic can both positively and negatively influence language learning. They reported various motivating factors for the acquisition of multiple languages, including social aspects and a predisposition for language learning. Respondents reported many benefits of multilingualism, such as educational, employment, or leisure opportunities; social skills and understanding of other people; self-confidence in their own abilities; and relationships with family, friends, and the worldwide autistic community. Conclusions: Unlike previous work with autistic multilinguals involving case studies, the larger sample involved here offers valuable insight into the profiles and experiences of this overlooked population. Importantly, autistic people can experience numerous benefits from multilingualism. These findings will have implications for language education practices as well as for multilingual families and the practitioners who support them. Lay summary: Why was this study done?: We wanted to understand what it feels like to be both autistic and multilingual, in a world where it is often assumed that both cannot go together. The combined experience of autism and bilingualism is poorly understood. This leads to poor support for autistic people in bilingual environments or for those interested in languages. Most studies available focus on the language and mental abilities of autistic bilinguals, or on the experiences of parents. However, very few studies focus on the lived experiences of autistic multilinguals themselves.What was the purpose of this study?: The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of autistic multilingual adults. We focused on their learning motivations and the perceived benefits of being autistic and multilingual.What did the researchers do?: Fifty-four autistic multilingual adults completed an online questionnaire designed for autistic bi- and multilinguals. The questionnaire included questions about the respondents' language history and language profiles. There were also open-ended questions about the respondents' motivations for learning languages, and their general experience of being both autistic and multilingual. We analyzed and summarized the responses to these open-ended questions to understand the experience of autistic multilingual adults.What were the results of the study?: Our sample had a diverse range of language profiles and experiences. Respondents thought that autism could be both an advantage and a disadvantage for language learning. They reported a range of motivations for language learning, including a predisposition for language learning. They considered relationships as both a motivation to learn languages and a benefit of multilingualism. Respondents thought that being multilingual had brought them many opportunities for leisure, travels, education, and employment. They considered that being multilingual had improved their self-confidence. They also thought that being multilingual had increased their awareness and understanding of autism, allowing them to connect with the wider autistic population.What do these findings add to what was already known?: Previous research with autistic multilinguals involved only one or two participants. The larger group of autistic multilinguals involved in this study offers valuable insight into the lived experiences of this overlooked population.What are potential weaknesses in the study?: The online questionnaire was not originally designed to collect in-depth data on lived experiences. This means that the questions included very few prompts: respondents were able to discuss the aspects of their experience that were the most important to them. The absence of specific topics in the results does not mean that they are not experienced, but simply that the participants did not spontaneously mention them. Future research should build upon our findings and focus on specific topics, such as learning environments or opportunities.How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?: These findings will help autistic adults by highlighting the diversity and richness of their language profiles, abilities, and experiences. This will prompt families, educators, and practitioners to better support and include autistic people in multilingual environments or those interested in languages.

Language and Cognition in Gaelic-English Young Adult Bilingual Speakers: A Positive Effect of School Immersion Program on Attentional and Grammatical Skills.

The present study investigates linguistics and cognitive effects of bilingualism with a minority language acquired through school medium education. If bilingualism has an effect on cognition and language abilities, regardless of language prestige or opportunities of use, young adult Gaelic-English speakers attending Gaelic medium education (GME) could have an advantage on linguistic and cognitive tasks targeting executive functions. These will be reported, compared to monolingual speakers living in the same area. Furthermore, this study investigates whether there is a difference in Home Speakers of Gaelic (speakers who had acquired the language at home) compared to New Speakers of this language, i.e., whether an immersive context-as the one offered in medium education- compensates for not being native. A group of 23 monolingual English young adult speakers was compared with a group of 25 bilingual speakers attending a GME school since 5 years old. Participants were tested on comprehension of a set of sentences with incremental complexity in English, on their capacity to inhibit a distractor using the Test of Everyday attention (TEA) and on their performance in a Digit Span task. A tendency for a better performance on more complex linguistics and cognitive tasks was reported in bilinguals compared to monolinguals with a further advantage for New Speakers compared to Home Speakers. The study supports the idea that being bilingual in a minority language is as beneficial as speaking any other combination of languages. An immersive context of acquisition can be a good ground for developing advantages on both linguistics and cognitive tasks, with a further advantage for New speakers of the language.

Cross-Linguistic Influence on L2 Before and After Extreme Reduction in Input: The Case of Japanese Returnee Children.

This study investigates the choice of genitive forms (the woman's book vs. the book of the woman) in the English of Japanese-English bilingual returnees (i.e., children who returned from a second language dominant environment to their first language environment). The specific aim was to examine whether change in language dominance/exposure influences choice of genitive form in the bilingual children; the more general question was the extent to which observed behavior can be explained by cross linguistic influence (CLI). First, we compared the choice of genitive form between monolingual English speakers and bilinguals who had recently returned to Japan from an English speaking environment. Second, we tracked changes in genitive preference within bilingual children, comparing their performances upon return to Japan to those of one year later. Results show that CLI alone is insufficient to explain the difference in genitive evaluation between bilinguals and monolinguals, as well as the intra-group bilingual variation over time. We suggest that both CLI and general processing considerations couple together to influence the changes in genitive preference.

Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences.

LAY ABSTRACT: Bilingualism changes the way people relate to others. This is particularly interesting in the case of autism, where social interaction presents many challenges. A better understanding of the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support the social experiences of autistic people. This research aims to understand the language learning and social experiences of autistic people who speak one, two or more languages. A total of 297 autistic adults (aged between 16 and 80 years) completed an online questionnaire that included general demographic questions, social life quality self-rating questions, language history questions, and open questions about the respondents' bilingualism experience. Respondents had a wide range of language experiences: there were 89 monolingual English speakers, 98 bilinguals, 110 respondents knew three languages or more, all with a wide range of abilities in their languages. In the full group, younger respondents were more satisfied with their social life, and respondents with many languages were more satisfied with their social life than respondents with few languages. In the multilingual group, younger respondents were more satisfied with their social life, and the more skilled in their third language the more satisfied with their social life. This is the first study describing the language history and social experiences of a large group of bilingual and multilingual autistic adults. It highlights how autistic people can encounter a new language, learn it and use it in their daily life, and how their bilingualism experiences shape their social life.

How bilingual experience and executive control influence development in language control among bilingual children.

This longitudinal study investigates whether the development in executive control and bilingual experience predicts change in language control in bilingual children. Children were tested twice over the course of 1 year, using the language-switching paradigm and the Simon task. The participants were Japanese-English bilingual "returnee" children (ages 7-13), who returned to their first language (L1) environment after spending some years in a second language (L2) dominant environment. Testing these children upon their return to the L1 environment allowed us to disentangle the effect of age from bilingual experience, as they experienced an increase in age but a decrease in L2 exposure over time. Children who had less L2 exposure showed smaller improvement in baseline performance when naming pictures in English (i.e., when English was relevant across all trials). Moreover, development in trials where children had to switch between languages were modulated by development in executive control. That is, children who increased their performance in the English mixed repetition trials also performed better on the executive control task over time. Thus, development in executive control modulated change in language control among bilingual children, suggesting a positive relationship between language control and executive control in children's development.

Language experience modulates bilingual language control: The effect of proficiency, age of acquisition, and exposure on language switching.

The ability to selectively access two languages characterises the bilingual everyday experience. Previous studies showed the role of second language (L2) proficiency, as a proxy for dominance, on language control. However, the role of other aspects of the bilingual experience - such as age of acquisition and daily exposure - are relatively unexplored. In this study, we used a cued language switching task to examine language switching and mixing in two groups of highly proficient bilinguals with different linguistic backgrounds, to understand how the ability to control languages is shaped by linguistic experience. Our analysis shows that the ability to switch between languages is not only modulated by L2 proficiency, but also by daily L2 exposure. Daily L2 exposure also affects language mixing. Finally, L2 age of acquisition predicts naming latencies in the L2. Together, these findings show that language dominance is characterised by multiple aspects of the bilingual experience, which modulate language control.

Individual differences in switching and inhibition predict perspective-taking across the lifespan.

Studies exploring the influence of executive functions (EF) on perspective-taking have focused on inhibition and working memory in young adults or clinical populations. Less consideration has been given to more complex capacities that also involve switching attention between perspectives, or to changes in EF and concomitant effects on perspective-taking across the lifespan. To address this, we assessed whether individual differences in inhibition and attentional switching in healthy adults (ages 17-84) predict performance on a task in which speakers identified targets for a listener with size-contrasting competitors in common or privileged ground. Modification differences across conditions decreased with age. Further, perspective taking interacted with EF measures: youngest adults' sensitivity to perspective was best captured by their inhibitory performance; oldest adults' sensitivity was best captured by switching performance. Perspective-taking likely involves multiple aspects of EF, as revealed by considering a wider range of EF tasks and individual capacities across the lifespan.

Linguistic and Cognitive Effects of Bilingualism with Regional Minority Languages: A Study of Sardinian-Italian Adult Speakers.

This study explores the effects of bilingualism in Sardinian as a regional minority language on the linguistic competence in Italian as the dominant language and on non-linguistic cognitive abilities. Sardinian/Italian adult speakers and monolingual Italian speakers living in the same geographical area of Sardinia were compared in two kinds of tasks: (a) verbal and non-verbal cognitive tasks targeting working memory and attentional control and (b) tasks of linguistic abilities in Italian focused on the comprehension of sentences differing in grammatical complexity. Although no difference was found between bilinguals and monolinguals in the cognitive control of attention, bilinguals performed better on working memory tasks. Bilinguals with lower formal education were found to be faster at comprehension of one type of complex sentence (center embedded object relative clauses). In contrast, bilinguals and monolinguals with higher education showed comparable slower processing of complex sentences. These results show that the effects of bilingualism are modulated by type of language experience and education background: positive effects of active bilingualism on the dominant language are visible in bilinguals with lower education, whereas the effects of higher literacy in Italian obliterate those of active bilingualism in bilinguals and monolinguals with higher education.

Autism and Bilingualism: A Qualitative Interview Study of Parents' Perspectives and Experiences.

Purpose: Research into how bilingual parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make choices about their children's language environment is scarce. This study aimed to explore this issue, focusing on understanding how bilingual parents of children with ASD may make different language exposure choices compared with bilingual parents of children without ASD. Method: Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 bilingual parents with a child with ASD and 18 bilingual parents with a typically developing (TD) child. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that, in contrast to parents of TD children, parents with a child with ASD expressed concerns that a bilingual environment would cause confusion for their child and exacerbate language delays. This was particularly common for parents of children with lower verbal ability. Parents also identified potential benefits of bilingualism, particularly in terms of maintaining a close and affectionate bond with their child. Conclusions: Parents of children with ASD have concerns about bilingualism not present for parents of TD children, and these concerns are greater for parents of children with lower verbal ability. Future research in this area should take into account factors such as parent-child bonds as well as communication and language development.

Novelty, Challenge, and Practice: The Impact of Intensive Language Learning on Attentional Functions.

We investigated the impact of a short intensive language course on attentional functions. We examined 33 participants of a one-week Scottish Gaelic course and compared them to 34 controls: 16 active controls who participated in courses of comparable duration and intensity but not involving foreign language learning and 18 passive controls who followed their usual routines. Participants completed auditory tests of attentional inhibition and switching. There was no difference between the groups in any measures at the beginning of the course. At the end of the course, a significant improvement in attention switching was observed in the language group (p < .001) but not the control group (p = .127), independent of the age of participants (18-78 years). Half of the language participants (n = 17) were retested nine months after their course. All those who practiced Gaelic 5 hours or more per week improved from their baseline performance. In contrast, those who practiced 4 hours or fewer showed an inconsistent pattern: some improved while others stayed the same or deteriorated. Our results suggest that even a short period of intensive language learning can modulate attentional functions and that all age groups can benefit from this effect. Moreover, these short-term effects can be maintained through continuous practice.

How early L2 children perform on Italian clinical markers of SLI: A study of clitic production and nonword repetition.

Early second language (EL2) learners generally perform more poorly than monolinguals in specific language domains, presenting similarities with children affected by specific language impairment (SLI). As a consequence, it can be difficult to correctly diagnose this disorder in EL2 children. The current study investigated the performance of 120 EL2 and 40 age-matched monolingual children in object clitic production and nonword repetition, which are two sensitive clinical markers of SLI in Italian. Results show that EL2 children underperform in comparison to monolinguals in the clitic task. However, in contrast to what is reported on Italian-speaking children with SLI, EL2 children tend not to omit clitics but instead produce the incorrect form, committing agreement errors. No differences are found between EL2 and monolingual children on nonword repetition. These results suggest that, at least in Italian, EL2 children only superficially resemble children with SLI and, on closer inspection, present a qualitatively and quantitatively different linguistic profile.

Selectivity in L1 Attrition: Differential Object Marking in Spanish Near-Native Speakers of English.

Previous research has shown L1 attrition to be restricted to structures at the interfaces between syntax and pragmatics, but not to occur with syntactic properties that do not involve such interfaces ('Interface Hypothesis', Sorace and Filiaci in Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian. Second Lang Res 22: 339-368, 2006). The present study tested possible L1 attrition effects on a syntax-semantics interface structure [Differential Object Marking (DOM) using the Spanish personal preposition] as well as the effects of recent L1 re-exposure on the potential attrition of these structures, using offline and eye-tracking measures. Participants included a group of native Spanish speakers experiencing attrition ('attriters'), a second group of attriters exposed exclusively to Spanish before they were tested, and a control group of Spanish monolinguals. The eye-tracking results showed very early sensitivity to DOM violations, which was of an equal magnitude across all groups. The off-line results also showed an equal sensitivity across groups. These results reveal that structures involving 'internal' interfaces like the DOM do not undergo attrition either at the processing or representational level.

The impact of late, non-balanced bilingualism on cognitive performance.

We present a study examining cognitive functions in late non-balanced bilinguals with different levels of second language proficiency. We examined in two experiments a total of 193 mono- and bilingual university students. We assessed different aspects of attention (sustained, selective and attentional switching), verbal fluency (letter and category) as well as picture-word association as a measure of language proficiency. In Experiment 2 we also compared students in their first/initial (Y1) and fourth/final (Y4) year of either language or literature studies. There were no differences between both groups in category fluency. In selective attention, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals in Y1 and this difference remained significant in Y4 despite overall improvement in both groups. Contrasting results were found in attentional switching and letter fluency: while no differences were found in Y1 in both tasks, in Y4 there was an advantage for bilinguals in attentional switching and for monolinguals in letter fluency. We conclude that overall late-acquisition non-balanced bilinguals experience similar cognitive effects as their early-acquisition balanced counterparts. However, different cognitive effects may appear at different stages of adult second language acquisition.

Linguistic and Cognitive Skills in Sardinian-Italian Bilingual Children.

We report the results of a study which tested receptive Italian grammatical competence and general cognitive abilities in bilingual Italian-Sardinian children and age-matched monolingual Italian children attending the first and second year of primary school in the Nuoro province of Sardinia, where Sardinian is still widely spoken. The results show that across age groups the performance of Sardinian-Italian bilingual children is in most cases indistinguishable from that of monolingual Italian children, in terms of both Italian language skills and general cognitive abilities. However, where there are differences, these emerge gradually over time and are mostly in favor of bilingual children.

Never too late? An advantage on tests of auditory attention extends to late bilinguals.

Recent studies, using predominantly visual tasks, indicate that early bilinguals tend to outperform monolinguals on attention tests. It remains less clear whether such advantages extend to those bilinguals who have acquired their second language later in life. We examined this question in 38 monolingual and 60 bilingual university students. The bilingual group was further subdivided into early childhood (ECB), late childhood (LCB), and early adulthood bilinguals (EAB). The assessment consisted of five subtests from the clinically validated Test of Everyday Attention (TEA). Overall, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on auditory attention tests, but not on visual search tasks. The latter observation suggests that the differences between bilinguals and monolinguals are specific and not due to a generally higher cognitive performance in bilinguals. Within the bilingual group, ECB showed a larger advantage on attention switching, LCB/EAB on selective attention. We conclude that the effects of bilingualism extend into the auditory domain and are not confined to childhood bilinguals, although their scope might be slightly different in early and late bilinguals.