Bilingualism, Working Memory, and Relative Clause Comprehension in Children.

Ehsan Soleimani Dahanesari; Vicky Chondrogianni; Anamaria Bentea; Hélène  Delage; Pauline  Wolfer; Franziska  Baumeister; Stephanie Durrleman

Bilingualism, Working Memory, and Relative Clause Comprehension in Children.

Ehsan Soleimani Dahanesari, Vicky Chondrogianni, Anamaria Bentea, Hélène Delage, Pauline Wolfer, Franziska Baumeister, Stephanie Durrleman

Language and Linguistic Science

Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review

Abstract

This study explores how working memory (WM) impacts comprehension of subject (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) in monolingual and bilingual children. By comparing French and German, we test two accounts: hierarchical intervention, predicting different WM costs for SRCs and ORCs across languages, and linear distance, predicting cross-linguistic asymmetries. We administered a character-selection task to 3-to-11-year-olds, assessing RC comprehension and WM via non-word repetition. Results showed higher accuracy for SRCs in both languages, but only French showed significant WM effects. No WM effects were observed in German, suggesting that case-marking may alleviate reliance on WM. Bilingual children in French used WM more efficiently, enhancing comprehension of both RC types. This indicates that bilingualism might improve WM utilization in language tasks. We argue that neither hierarchical nor linear account fully captures the patterns with WM. Results underscore the importance of cross-linguistic research to understand the interplay between bilingualism, WM, and syntax.

Original language	English
Publication status	Unpublished - 30 Nov 2024
Event	THE 49TH BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT - Duration: 7 Nov 2024 → 10 Nov 2024 https://www.bu.edu/bucld/schedule/

Conference

Conference	THE 49TH BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Period	7/11/24 → 10/11/24
Internet address	https://www.bu.edu/bucld/schedule/

Access to Document

https://www.bu.edu/bucld/files/2024/11/bucld_49_abstracts.pdf

Cite this

@conference{b51e5c5fe9944ff186f717540ec4a491,

title = "Bilingualism, Working Memory, and Relative Clause Comprehension in Children.",

abstract = "This study explores how working memory (WM) impacts comprehension of subject (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) in monolingual and bilingual children. By comparing French and German, we test two accounts: hierarchical intervention, predicting different WM costs for SRCs and ORCs across languages, and linear distance, predicting cross-linguistic asymmetries. We administered a character-selection task to 3-to-11-year-olds, assessing RC comprehension and WM via non-word repetition. Results showed higher accuracy for SRCs in both languages, but only French showed significant WM effects. No WM effects were observed in German, suggesting that case-marking may alleviate reliance on WM. Bilingual children in French used WM more efficiently, enhancing comprehension of both RC types. This indicates that bilingualism might improve WM utilization in language tasks. We argue that neither hierarchical nor linear account fully captures the patterns with WM. Results underscore the importance of cross-linguistic research to understand the interplay between bilingualism, WM, and syntax.",

author = "{Soleimani Dahanesari}, Ehsan and Vicky Chondrogianni and Anamaria Bentea and H{\'e}l{\`e}ne Delage and Pauline Wolfer and Franziska Baumeister and Stephanie Durrleman",

year = "2024",

month = nov,

day = "30",

language = "English",

note = "THE 49TH BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON<br/>LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ; Conference date: 07-11-2024 Through 10-11-2024",

url = "https://www.bu.edu/bucld/schedule/",

}

TY - CONF

T1 - Bilingualism, Working Memory, and Relative Clause Comprehension in Children.

AU - Soleimani Dahanesari, Ehsan

AU - Chondrogianni, Vicky

AU - Bentea, Anamaria

AU - Delage, Hélène

AU - Wolfer, Pauline

AU - Baumeister, Franziska

AU - Durrleman, Stephanie

PY - 2024/11/30

Y1 - 2024/11/30

N2 - This study explores how working memory (WM) impacts comprehension of subject (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) in monolingual and bilingual children. By comparing French and German, we test two accounts: hierarchical intervention, predicting different WM costs for SRCs and ORCs across languages, and linear distance, predicting cross-linguistic asymmetries. We administered a character-selection task to 3-to-11-year-olds, assessing RC comprehension and WM via non-word repetition. Results showed higher accuracy for SRCs in both languages, but only French showed significant WM effects. No WM effects were observed in German, suggesting that case-marking may alleviate reliance on WM. Bilingual children in French used WM more efficiently, enhancing comprehension of both RC types. This indicates that bilingualism might improve WM utilization in language tasks. We argue that neither hierarchical nor linear account fully captures the patterns with WM. Results underscore the importance of cross-linguistic research to understand the interplay between bilingualism, WM, and syntax.

AB - This study explores how working memory (WM) impacts comprehension of subject (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) in monolingual and bilingual children. By comparing French and German, we test two accounts: hierarchical intervention, predicting different WM costs for SRCs and ORCs across languages, and linear distance, predicting cross-linguistic asymmetries. We administered a character-selection task to 3-to-11-year-olds, assessing RC comprehension and WM via non-word repetition. Results showed higher accuracy for SRCs in both languages, but only French showed significant WM effects. No WM effects were observed in German, suggesting that case-marking may alleviate reliance on WM. Bilingual children in French used WM more efficiently, enhancing comprehension of both RC types. This indicates that bilingualism might improve WM utilization in language tasks. We argue that neither hierarchical nor linear account fully captures the patterns with WM. Results underscore the importance of cross-linguistic research to understand the interplay between bilingualism, WM, and syntax.

M3 - Abstract

T2 - THE 49TH BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON<br/>LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Y2 - 7 November 2024 through 10 November 2024

ER -