Intrinsic Functional Connectivity: What Is the Relation Between a Heritage Language and the Neurobiological Correlates of Emergent English Reading? (Poster 25)

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Heritage language learners (HLLs) are bilinguals who grew up in homes where a non-
English language was spoken but received English instruction from school. I used resting-state
functional connectivity analysis to examine the differences in the reading networks of HLLs,
bilinguals who are biliterate in both languages (bilingual-biliterates), and monolingual children
between 9 and 10 years old from the NIH ABCD dataset. Additionally, I investigated whether
differences in their neurobiological reading networks could be accounted for by English reading
ability. To examine this difference, I matched HLLs to monolinguals and bilingual-biliterates in
terms of age, sex, performance intelligence, and working memory. I found that HLLs built a
wider and more distributed reading network than the other two groups. This more distributed
network included connections to regions known to be involved in motor control, verbal memory,
speech production, and language control.
When English reading scores were included in the neuroimaging analysis, better English
reading scores were positively associated with stronger functional connectivity between reading
and cognitive control regions for the whole group. In addition, even though no significant
difference in English reading was found, HLLs continued to show differentiated intrinsic
connectivity. Specifically, for HLLs only, better English reading scores were positively related to
stronger functional connectivity between reading and language control areas. This suggests that
HLLs are more likely to recruit brain regions involved in executive control to achieve advanced
English word reading, suggesting reading as a more taxing activity for HLLs. Therefore, HLLs
may benefit from shorter periods of literacy instructions.

Author

• Ye Shen, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author