Unbalanced bilinguals often exhibit reduced emotionality in their non-native language, although the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. This fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) study investigated neural differences during a silent reading task where late Spanish–English bilinguals read happy, fearful and neutral fiction passages in their first (L1) and second (L2) languages. We observed a significant language-by-emotionality interaction in the left hippocampus while participants read fearful texts, indicating a stronger limbic system response in L1. Functional connectivity analyses revealed lower coupling between semantic (left anterior temporal lobe) and limbic (left amygdala) regions when reading fearful texts in L2, suggesting less integrated emotional processing. Overall, these findings show that emotional reading in unbalanced bilinguals is strongly influenced by language, with a higher emotional response and more integrated connectivity between semantic and affective areas in the native language.

A central question in foreign language (LX) learning is how vocabulary acquisition is affected by using image versus orthographic referents. According to the picture superiority effect (PSE) and bilingual/dual coding theory (b/DCT), images should lead to better novel word encoding and retrieval. We tested this prediction using behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures. Thirty Polish native speakers learned 40 LX (artificial language) words using either image or L1/orthographic referents. After 24 hours, participants were tested using a translational priming paradigm in congruent and incongruent training-testing modalities. Behavioral results showed higher accuracy and faster responses for LX words learned and tested with images, in line with the PSE and b/DCT. ERP results revealed smaller Late Positive Complex (LPC) amplitudes for words preceded by image compared to lexical primes, likely reflecting less cognitively demanding lexical retrieval. These results provide converging evidence that visual referents provide a more salient modality for L2 learning.

We investigated whether executive functions (EFs) are engaged in bilingual language control in Finnish speakers with different degrees of Swedish language experience and proficiency, including early bilinguals, late high-proficiency bilinguals and low-proficiency learners of Swedish. In an online experiment, language switching was measured with a cued naming (CN) paradigm, and a Simon task was used to assess EF performance. Following the skill-learning (task specificity) hypothesis, we expected that language switching may be automatized and no longer rely on EFs in bilinguals with high language proficiency, but not for those with lower proficiency. Thus, we expected significant associations between the tasks in the lower proficiency participants only. Our results showed no CN switching–EF associations in the more experienced L2 speakers, but a significant association in lower-proficiency participants. This suggests that language switching engages EFs only in participants with lower proficiency in whom these processes are not yet automatized.

Word frequency has long been considered an essential aspect of psycholinguistic theory. However, research has shown that measures of contextual and semantic diversity provide a better fit to lexical decision and naming data than word frequency. The current study examines the role of contextual and semantic diversity in picture naming ability across aging and bilingualism. A picture naming experiment was conducted with six groups of participants: younger monolinguals, older monolinguals, younger L1 English bilinguals, older L1 English bilinguals, younger L2 English bilinguals and older L2 English bilinguals. Consistent with previous findings, the contextual diversity measure accounted for more variance in the picture naming data than word frequency. Furthermore, older adults and L1 English bilinguals were more sensitive to semantic diversity information, while younger adults and L2 English bilinguals relied more on age of acquisition in their lexical organization.

Visual word recognition is constrained by writing systems. The orthographic depth hypothesis (ODH) was proposed to account for phonological activation in various degrees depending on how transparent the grapheme–phoneme conversion rule is in a writing system. This current study extends the investigation of ODH in bilingualism to understand the cross-language cognitive processes in bi-script readers. In two cross-language masked priming experiments, we show asymmetrical cognate facilitation effects, which are typically reported as a result of shared phonology and/or orthography between languages, in addition to meaning equivalence. That is, with the same set of items, when the primes were Chinese and the targets English (Experiment 1), there was no cognate facilitation effect; however, when we switched the languages in prime–target pairs (Experiment 2), the cognate facilitation effects emerged. These results indicate that shared phonology across languages is not sufficient to induce cognate facilitation effects and that language-dependent processing mechanisms play a crucial role.

Multilinguals face greater challenges than monolinguals in speech perception tasks, such as processing noisy sentences. Factors related to multilinguals’ language experience, such as age of acquisition, proficiency, exposure and usage, influence their perceptual performance. However, how language experience variability modulates multilinguals’ listening effort remains unclear. We analyzed data from 92 multilinguals who completed a listening task with words and sentences, presented in quiet and noise across participants’ spoken languages (Arabic, Hebrew and English). Listening effort was assessed using pupillometry. The results indicated higher accuracy and reduced effort in quiet than in noise, with greater language experience predicting better accuracy and reduced effort. These effects varied by stimulus and listening condition. For single words, greater language experience most strongly reduced effort in noise; for sentences, it had a more pronounced effect in quiet, especially for high-predictability sentences. These findings emphasize the importance of considering language experience variability when evaluating multilingual effort.

This study examined the variability of language profiles in Spanish–English bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). The data included 529 children between the ages of 5 and 10 years. Eighty-eight of these children were identified as having DLD. A latent profile analysis was conducted based on children’s morphosyntax and semantics performance in Spanish and English. The optimal model identified five different profiles, illustrating the heterogeneity in bilingual development. Children with DLD were observed across all profiles, but most were classified in the only two profiles where lower morphosyntax than semantic performance was observed across languages. These results show the variability in both bilingual children with and without DLD. Additionally, the hallmark deficit of DLD in morphosyntax was confirmed, with the morphological weakness being observed in each of the bilingual children’s languages. Children’s background factors (age, maternal education and language exposure) were associated with profile characteristics.

Language mixing is a common phenomenon in the language input of bilingual children. However, the relation between the frequency of parental language mixing and children’s language development remains unclear. The present study investigates the relation between language mixing as observed in daylong audio recordings (LENA) and as reported by parents in the questionnaire for Quantifying Bilingual Experience (Q-BEx) and children’s language outcomes in the majority and minority language. Participants were 52 3-to-5-year-old Polish-Dutch and Turkish-Dutch children in the Netherlands and Bayesian informative hypothesis evaluations were applied. In 14 out of 15 regression analyses, the LENA and Q-BEx measures yielded similar associations with children’s language outcomes. Parental language mixing was not related to majority language outcomes, but a negative relation was found with expressive vocabulary in the minority language. Longitudinal studies are needed to pinpoint the directionality of this negative relation.

This study investigated the influence of language context on creative thinking, mental imagery vividness and the use of representational hand gestures among Turkish-English bilinguals. Participants solved verbal divergent and convergent thinking tasks in both their native (L1) and second languages (L2) and self-reported their mental imagery vividness during each task. Results revealed that participants were more creative and experienced more vivid mental imagery in L1 compared to L2. Surprisingly, L2 proficiency was not associated with L2 imagery. Gestures in L1 had a positive association, while gestures in L2 had a negative association with divergent thinking. Higher gesture rates were related to lower convergent thinking performance in both languages, especially when imagery vividness was high. These findings suggest that creativity and mental imagery vividness might depend on the language context. The role of gestures for verbal creativity might also differ according to the language used.

Comparing the performance of bilinguals to monolinguals can introduce bias in language assessment. One potential impact is misidentification of developmental language disorder (DLD). Nonlinguistic cognitive processing tasks may reduce assessment bias because they measure underlying DLD weaknesses without relying on linguistic stimuli. This study examined the extent to which nonlinguistic cognitive processing tasks showed bias, compared to a traditional language assessment, sentence repetition. Participants were 161 five-to-seven-year olds from diverse language backgrounds who completed nonlinguistic auditory and visual assessments of processing speed, sustained selective attention and working memory. We examined psychometric properties and performance on each task among bilingual and monolingual children. We also conducted bilingual-to-bilingual comparisons to examine performance differences by first-language typology and exposure amount. Results suggest minimal assessment bias in the nonlinguistic cognitive processing tasks, particularly in comparison to sentence repetition. Nonlinguistic cognitive processing tasks may ultimately contribute to less-biased identification of DLD in diverse populations.

This study investigated phonetic backward transfer in the ethnolinguistic minority of first-generation bilingual immigrant Indians in Glasgow ‘Glasgow-Indians’ in relation to Flege’s Speech Learning Model, which predicts ‘assimilation’ and ‘dissimilation’ of sound categories. The study explored whether and how sounds of Glasgow-Indian native language (Hindi) and dialect (Indian English) are influenced by sounds of the dominant host language/dialect (Glaswegian English). The role of their Glaswegian and Indian Identity was also examined. Two control groups (Indians and Glaswegians) and the experimental group (Glasgow-Indians) were recorded reading in English and Hindi words containing two phones (/t/ and /d/− voice onset time (VOT)). In both languages, Glasgow-Indian VOT became more Glaswegian-like (assimilation) and to a greater degree in English than Hindi in /t/. Increasing Glaswegian Identity increased assimilation in /t/ but had no effect on /d/, whereas increasing Indian Identity decreased assimilation in /d/ but had no effect on /t/.

What makes lexical tones challenging for second language (L2) learners? Several recent studies suggest that two phonological universals, the Obligatory Contour Principle and the Tonal Markedness Scale, may constrain the L2 acquisition of Mandarin lexical tones, regardless of learners’ first language. We assessed the role of these universals in L2 tonal acquisition by learners from a non-tonal background (L1 Portuguese). We implemented a perceptual testing protocol, which contained a number of methodological and analytical improvements relative to previous studies, including the use of Bayesian mixed-effects models to assess evidence for null hypotheses. The results provided evidence for the null effects of both phonological universals. Instead, a clear determinant of tonal identification accuracy was the participants’ pitch acuity, suggesting that domain-general auditory processing underlies the learning of L2 phonological categories. All materials, data and code are publicly available in the OSF repository at https://osf.io/ezadw.

The bilingual advantage hypothesis, which associates bilingualism with benefits in executive functioning (EF), has been challenged by studies demonstrating inconsistent results. Considering explicit calls to revise the hypothesis, research has turned toward understanding which specific bilingualism-related aspects might impact bilinguals’ EF. Notably, patterns of everyday language use, referred to as interactional contexts in the adaptive control hypothesis (ACH), have emerged as a prominent factor modulating the association between bilingualism and EF. This scoping review synthesizes findings from 49 studies investigating interactional contexts and bilinguals’ EF. The results indicate that the current literature is highly heterogeneous regarding the operationalization, measurement, experimental manipulations of interactional contexts, the EF tasks employed and sample characteristics. This variability limits definitive conclusions about the adaptation of bilinguals’ EF to the demands of interactional contexts. More studies with comparable research designs and clearer predictions on the associations between EF domains and bilinguals’ language-use patterns are needed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of acoustic filtering and modality on speech-in-noise recognition for Spanish-English late bilinguals (who were exposed to English after their 5th birthday) and English monolinguals. All speech perception testing was conducted in English. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were estimated at 50% recognition accuracy in an open-set sentence recognition task in the presence of speech-shaped noise (SSN) in both low-pass and no-filter conditions. Consonant recognition was assessed in a closed-set identification task in SSN in four conditions: low-pass and no-filter stimuli presented in auditory-only (AO) and audiovisual (AV) modalities. Results indicated that monolinguals outperformed late bilinguals in all conditions. Late bilinguals and monolinguals were similarly impacted by acoustic filtering. Some data indicated that monolinguals may be more adept at integrating auditory and visual cues than late bilinguals. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

We investigate agreement attraction effects in the L2 English of native speakers of Czech, a language that has little-to-no evidence of attraction effects. Our experiments involve two groups of participants. The first group (N = 415) participated in an L2 English-only experiment, and the second group (N = 183) participated in both L2 English and L1 Czech versions of the experiment (in a randomized order with a two-week interval). Standard attraction effects were observed in L2 English, contrasting with the absence of such effects in L1 Czech. Our results provide unique evidence that an L2 can significantly attract, even when the L1 does not. However, our results also revealed that the attraction effect in L2 English disappeared when the L1 Czech version was completed first. These findings are discussed in relation to the Unified Competition Model and the effects of L2-induced increases in working memory demands.

We investigated how previous languages and learner individual differences impact L3 word knowledge. The participants were 93 L1-Polish learners of L2-English and L3-Italian. We tested participants’ knowledge of 120 L3-Italian words: 40 L2–L3 cognates, 40 L1–L2–L3 cognates, and 40 non-cognates, controlled for many item-related variables. The knowledge and online processing of the L3 words were measured by a test inspired by the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale and a lexical decision task (LDT), respectively. The results revealed that L1–L2–L3 cognates were known better than L2–L3 cognates, but L2–L3 cognates did not differ from non-cognates. Processing advantage was observed only for low-frequency triple cognates. Moreover, cognitive aptitudes predicted the speed of responding to the keywords in the LDT. However, they did not predict participants’ performance on the vocabulary test, where L3 proficiency effects prevailed. Our results suggest that L1–L2–L3 similarity is more conducive to learning than single-sourced L2–L3 similarity.

Bilingual adults use semantic context to manage cross-language activation while reading. An open question is how lexical, contextual and individual differences simultaneously constrain this process. We used eye-tracking to investigate how 83 French–English bilinguals read L2-English sentences containing interlingual homographs (chat) and control words (pact). Between subjects, sentences biased target language or non-target language meanings (English = conversation; French = feline). Both conditions contained unbiased control sentences. We examined the impact of word- and participant-level factors (cross-language frequency and L2 age of acquisition/AoA and reading entropy, respectively). There were three key results: (1) L2 readers showed global homograph interference in late-stage reading (total reading times) when English sentence contexts biased non-target French homograph meanings; (2) interference increased as homographs’ non-target language frequency increased and L2 AoA decreased; (3) increased reading entropy globally facilitated early-stage reading (gaze durations) in the non-target language bias condition. Thus, cross-language activation during L2 reading is constrained by multiple factors.

We investigated which objective language proficiency tests best predict the language dominance, balance, English and Spanish proficiency scores relative to Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) scores (averaged across 5–6 raters). Eighty Spanish–English bilinguals completed OPIs, picture naming, semantic and letter fluency, lexical decision tests and a language history questionnaire. Except for letter fluency, objective measures explained more variance than self-report variables, which seldom and negligibly improved proficiency prediction beyond objective measures in forward regression models. Picture naming (the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT) Sprint 2.0) was the strongest predictor for most purposes. Lexical decision and category fluency were next best predictors, but the latter was time-consuming to score, while the former was easiest to administer (and does not require bilingual examiners). Surprisingly, self-rated proficiency better predicted the OPI scores when averaged across modalities (i.e., including reading/writing instead of just spoken proficiency), and lexical-decision (a written test) was as powerful as picture naming for predicting spoken Spanish (but not language dominance).

Code-blending is the simultaneous expression of utterances using both a sign language and a spoken language. We expect that like code-switching, code-blending is linguistically constrained and thus we investigate two hypothesized constraints using an acceptability judgment task. Participants rated the acceptability of code-blended utterances designed to be consistent or inconsistent with these hypothesized constraints. We find strong support for the proposed constraint that each modality of code-blended utterances contributes content to a single proposition. We also find support for the proposed constraint that – at least for American Sign Language (ASL) and English – code-blended utterances make use of a single derivation which is realized using surface forms in the two languages, rather than two simultaneous derivations, one for each language. While this study was limited to ASL/English code-blending and further investigation is needed, we hope that this novel study will encourage future research comparing linguistic constraints on code-blending and code-switching.

We investigate the processing of scalar inferences in first language (L1) and second language (L2). Expanding beyond the common focus on the scalar inference from ‘some’ to ‘not all’, we examine six scalar expressions: ‘low’, ‘scarce’, ‘might’, ‘some’, ‘most’ and ‘try’. An online sentence-picture verification task was used to measure the frequency and time course of scalar inferences for these expressions. Participants included native English speakers, native Slovenian speakers and Slovenian speakers who spoke English as their L2. The first two groups were tested in their L1, while the third group was tested in their L2. Results showed that the English-L2 group resembled the Slovenian-L1 group more than the English-L1 group in terms of inference frequency. The time course for scalar inference computation was similar across all groups. These findings suggest subtle pragmatic transfer effects from L1 to L2, varying across different scalar expressions.