Year: 2022
Type: article
Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
Abstract: While there is no doubt that children raised bilingual can become extremely proficient in both languages, theorists are divided on whether bilingualism is effectively monolingualism twice (the “Two Monolinguals in One Brain” hypothesis) or differs in some fundamental way from monolingualism. A strong version of the “Two Monolinguals” hypothesis predicts that bilinguals can achieve monolingual-level proficiency in either (or both) of their languages. Recently, Bylund and Abrahamsson argued that evidence of lower syntactic proficiency in simultaneous bilinguals was due to confounds of language dominance; when simultaneous bilinguals are tested in their primary language, any difference disappears. We find no evidence for this hypothesis. Meta-analysis and Monte Carlo simulation show that variation in published results is fully consistent with sampling error, with no evidence that method mattered. Meta-analytic estimates strongly indicate lower syntactic performance by simultaneous bilinguals relative to monolinguals. Re-analysis of a large dataset (N = 115,020) confirms this finding, even controlling for language dominance. Interestingly, the effect is relatively small, challenging current theories.
Source: Languages
Authors: Wei Li, Joshua K. Hartshorne
Institution: Boston College
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,466
OpenAlex ID: W4309604679