Bilingualism research group

Speaker: Gloria Chamorro (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia)

Title: Exploring the effects of amount and length of L2 exposure on the cognitive and social development of children from monolingual homes attending Bilingual Education

Abstract: This study examines cognitive and social skills of Spanish children educated bilingually yet raised monolingually to explore: (a) whether bilingual education alone procures a “bilingual advantage”, (b) whether amount of L2 exposure is key to producing it, and (c) how development proceeds over time.

Three groups of children in Years 1 and 2 of primary education were compared: one group attending ‘monolingual’ education (MON), another group enrolled in English-Spanish bilingual education with a ratio of 40–60 English-Spanish exposure (HiEx), and a third group enrolled in English-Spanish education with a ratio of 30–70 English-Spanish (LoEx). Children were tested on social and cognitive skills and a selection of background measures.

Across both years, children differed in their English vocabulary: HiEx outperformed LoEx and MON (p<0.001), and LoEx outperformed MON (p=0.02). For the experimental measures, after one year, bilingually-educated children scored higher than MON on certain cognitive (selective attention, p<0.001; response inhibition, p=0.02) and social skills (communication, p=0.006; co-operation, p=0.01). However, these differences did not materialize after year two.