Poster #37 - Language-Dependent Memory in Bilingual Word Learning from Storybooks

• In Event: Poster Session 19

Abstract

Introduction: The context that forms the setting of a particular stimulus or event has been shown to affect memory retrieval (e.g., Godden & Baddeley, 1975). The encoding specificity principle suggests that matching contexts between encoding and retrieval facilitates later recall of episodic memories (Tulving & Tomson, 1973). This principle was later extended to the linguistic context in the study of bilingual memory (e.g., Marian & Neisser, 2000). To date, most studies on language-dependent memory have been conducted with adults and adolescents, and memory was assessed only using an immediate test. An important question remains whether young children demonstrate the same language dependency upon memory retrieval and whether such pattern can also be observed after a delay. The current addresses this research gap by investigating whether Mandarin-English bilingual children demonstrate language-dependent word learning from storybooks at an immediate test as well as at a delayed test.

Procedure: 52 Mandarin-English bilingual children between the age of 4 and 6 will participate in this study. Data collection will occur virtually via Zoom in a single session. Demographic and bilingualism questionnaires will be sent via email and collected via Qualtrics. During the learning phase, participants will read a pre-recorded picture book twice in succession, either in Mandarin or English (Figure 1). After reading the book, children in the matched learning condition will be tested on the novel object-word pairings in the same language as the book is read both immediately after the learning phase and at a 10-minute delay. Children in the mismatched learning condition will be tested in a different language. At test, children will be presented with two objects from the book simultaneously and will be asked to identify the target object while given the corresponding label (e.g., “Which one is the Teebu? Is it 1 or 2?”). Upon the completion of the 10-minute delay test, the study will be complete.

Analyses: Based on prior research (e.g., Marian & Fausey, 2006), we predict that bilingual children’s performance on the word learning task would be better when tested in the same language as the book is read than a different language. We also predict that the effect of language dependency will be larger at the delay test compared to the immediate test. To address these hypotheses, we will compute a two-way ANOVA with learning condition (matched, mismatched) as a between-subject factor and posttest (immediate, delay) as a within-subject factor. Moreover, we will compute an exploratory regression analysis to assess the role of bilingual children’s proficiency and experiences in Mandarin and English in mediating the relationship between language and memory.

Feasibility: To date, 57 children participated in the pilot studies. Most of the data will be collected and analyzed by March 2023.

Significance. This study will be the first empirical investigation of language-dependent memory in young children using both an immediate and a delay test. This work will critically inform classroom practices with bilingual learners.

Authors

• Yi Tong, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Haley A Vlach, University of Wisconsin - Madison