Working Memory Changes in Emergent Bilinguals

• In Event: Understanding and Extending the Advantages of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education

Abstract

Studies of working memory (WM) in bilingualism were mostly conducted with balanced bilinguals and those studies have shown inconsistent findings on WM of bilingualism. The study investigates whether the relatively short time second language (L2) practice of emergent bilinguals shows any difference in WM from that of monolinguals. It also explores the possible influence of emergent bilinguals' daily language practices on their WM. A mixed methods design is employed on 10 Korean monolinguals and 10 Korean-English emergent bilinguals. Both cognitive tests on WM and interview data provided supporting evidences that emergent bilinguals also enjoy some degree of cognitive advantages on WM over monolinguals through daily practices of two different languages.

Author

• Eunju Yang, University at Buffalo