The structure of the bilingual mind has been the focus of many studies, especially regarding how different languages are stored and interact. Using the same sample pool of 101 Turkish–English bilinguals across eight experiments involving the masked priming paradigm, this extensive study investigated non-cognate translation priming, along with the potential effects of language direction (L1-to-L2 vs. L2-to-L1), task type (lexical decision task vs. semantic categorization task), prime duration (50 ms vs. 83 ms), individual differences (L2 proficiency, L2 immersion, and L2 dominance), and word frequency. The results revealed a prominent translation effect for both language directions across tasks and prime durations, with semantic categorization tasks eliciting more priming. Since 83-ms primes were largely visible, the findings reveal important differences between pre-conscious (50-ms primes) and conscious (83-ms primes) word processing. Overall, the findings support the quantitative models, Multilink in particular, highlighting that native-like L2 word processing can emerge in late bilinguals.

This study examined whether changes in proficiency balance between the source languages and the target language of trilinguals modulate the cognate facilitation effect. Participants were Arabic–Hebrew–English different-script trilinguals who were partially immersed in an L2 speaking environment. For three consecutive years, 88 university students completed a battery of subjective and objective proficiency tasks in each of their languages and a semantic relatedness task in English, including cognate and control primes. Results showed that the comparable cognate facilitation across double (L1–L3 and L2–L3) and triple (L1-L2-L3) cognate items remained stable across all three timepoints, despite increases in L2 proficiency. These findings indicate that in a semantic task, facilitation can occur through the L1, the L2 or both, and that increases in source-language proficiency do not necessarily lead to increases in cross-language influences from that language.

Research on the foreign language effect suggests that language context can shape judgement, although evidence varies across tasks and populations. We examined whether perceived accuracy of personality feedback differs across languages among 170 Polish native speakers with advanced English proficiency. Participants rated the accuracy of either genuine or enhanced feedback on their self-actualisation. Enhanced feedback was judged as more accurate than genuine feedback across language conditions, indicating a robust self-enhancement effect. The overall effect of language and the language × favourability interaction were not statistically significant, suggesting that L2 use did not reliably reduce self-enhancement in explicit self-judgement. In exploratory analyses, a significant language × feedback component interaction suggested that language context may be associated with variation in how different types of self-relevant information are evaluated. These findings suggest that explicit self-evaluation may be relatively resistant to foreign language effects globally, while showing tentative, component-specific variation that requires further investigation.

This study investigates whether individual differences (IDs) in speakers’ perceptions of psycholinguistic dimensions (familiarity, knowledge, transparency, ambiguity, valence, arousal) predict idiom processing advantage over matched novel control phrases in L1 and L2 speakers in a phrase judgment task. Bayesian multilevel models showed that item-level average norms from L1 speakers for familiarity, valence, and arousal facilitated idiom judgment in both groups, whereas transparency and ambiguity had inhibitory effects. Beyond item means, deviations in speaker-specific perceptions from the item-level average norm predicted idiom judgment advantage. In both groups, individuals who rated an idiom as more positive and more ambiguous than its item-level average norm showed larger idiom judgment advantages. In L1–L2 comparisons, individual-level deviation effects of valence and transparency were stronger in L2 than in L1 speakers, whereas ambiguity deviation effects were stronger in L1 speakers. Overall, modeling ID effects beyond group norms reveals finer-grained L1–L2 differences in language processing.

Neuromyths persist as pseudoscientific misconceptions in education despite repeated debunking. This study examines the foreign language effect (FLe) on neuromyth discernment through two sub-studies. Using mixed experimental designs, we found task-dependent patterns of language effects: FL enhanced discernment of highly discernible neuromyths, while native language facilitated identification of low-discernibility neuromyths. Negative framing amplified FL advantages, whereas information richness suppressed discernment, an effect mitigated by FL for medium-discernibility neuromyths. These findings suggest that neuromyth susceptibility may vary across language and contextual conditions, providing preliminary theoretical and empirical implications for future language-sensitive approaches to teacher training and neuromyth mitigation.

Speakers of pitch-accent languages, such as Japanese, are often overly sensitive to pitch cues, which may affect second language (L2) suprasegmental learning. The present study examined whether sensitivity to non-pitch cues (i.e., second formant, duration and amplitude rise time) is associated with more accurate perception of L2 English word stress following phonetic training. A total of 115 Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language learners were assessed on pitch and non-pitch dimensions of auditory processing and assigned to experimental or control groups. The experimental groups received perceptual phonetic training on English word stress, cued not only by pitch, but also by non-pitch information (duration, intensity and vowel quality). Results showed that brief training significantly enhanced prosodic perception of trained words. Importantly, auditory processing exhibited dimension-specific effects: more precise processing of non-pitch cues was associated with superior perception and greater training gains, whereas pitch sensitivity was unrelated to learning outcomes.

Employing a self-paced reading experiment, a read-aloud production task and a pen-and-paper questionnaire, we examined if Turkish (L2) and native (L1) speakers of English rely on similar or different mechanisms in comprehending and producing English subject–verb number agreement. The results showed that the syntactic distance of an attractor to the head noun affected the L1 speakers’ parsing decisions, while the L2 speakers were influenced by its linear proximity to the verb. The results also showed singular attraction in comprehension for both groups and (a tendency for) plural attraction in production. We argue that L1 and L2 speakers differ in the sources of attraction and in their cue weighting/encoding while processing and producing S-V agreement. Whereas syntactic proximity is more crucial in the L1 speakers’ agreement computation, L2 speakers weigh linear distance cue more heavily. We also argue that S-V agreement computation is governed through different mechanisms in comprehension and production.

Comprehenders must accommodate variable speech rates during real-world communication, including rapid speech that necessitates rapid processing. This research investigated whether non-native comprehenders predict (i.e., what will come next) even when hearing rapid speech. Native and non-native participants heard predictive and non-predictive sentences (e.g., “ride…” vs. “spot…”) at normal and fast speech rates (e.g., averaging ~3 vs. 9 syllables per second) while viewing visual arrays with predictable and unrelated objects (e.g., bike vs. kite). Across both groups and rates, participants made predictive mouse cursor movements to predictable objects (e.g., before hearing “bike”). In addition, these groups and rates differed quantitatively. These results suggest that prediction has a qualitatively similar function in native and non-native sentence processing, which supports speeded comprehension.

It has been widely suggested in recent years that exposure to and use of multiple languages can affect cognitive performance, with bilinguals frequently being argued to demonstrate superior cognitive performance to their monolingual peers. The current study investigates whether there are any effects of minimal exposure to second-language (L2) Welsh on the cognitive skills of English-speaking emergent bilingual primary school children in Wales. Participants were divided into two language groups based on their school year, with performance between monolingual (N = 25) and emergent bilingual (N = 38) children compared on a variety of executive function (EF) tasks. Results revealed superior performance for the bilingual children in Reception and Year 1 on all EF tasks aside from the Forward digit recall compared to monolingual peers, with no differences between groups in Year 2. This suggests that the cognitive benefits of bilingualism emerge at very early stages of second-language exposure.

This study investigated cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in spoken word recognition in a typologically distinct language pair. Japanese–English bilinguals performed auditory lexical decision tasks in both L1 (Japanese) and L2 (English), presented in counterbalanced order, responding to cognates varying in cross-linguistic overlap and to matched nonwords. This design allowed direct comparison of L1 and L2 processing within the same individuals. Response times measured from stimulus onset and offset were compared to capture changes in effects across the time course of processing. In both languages, phonological and semantic similarities significantly facilitated responses, though phonological similarity effects varied slightly over time. Cognate frequency inhibited responses later in time, varying by language, and L2 proficiency further modulated performance. Importantly, these effects emerged spontaneously, without priming, demonstrating bidirectional cognate facilitation even across linguistically distant languages. The results support the applicability of the BIA+ model to auditory processing, even for different-script bilinguals.

Researchers have speculated that proficiency in a language could affect the production of both referential and beat gestures. The primary purpose of the present study was to test whether bilinguals produced more referential and beat gestures than monolinguals, particularly in their second language. We also tested for possible effects of culture on gesture production by comparing speakers of both Farsi and Canadian French (on the one hand; English on the other). In the present study, Farsi–English bilinguals’ gesture production when telling a story was compared to that of French–English bilinguals and English monolinguals. We found effects of proficiency on gesture production: participants tended to use more beats in their second language than in their first. We also found effects of culture: Farsi–English bilinguals used fewer referential gestures in both languages than the other participants. We discuss these results in light of the multiple factors that contribute to gesture production.

Interpreting requires regular and frequent language switching and is thus likely beneficial to cognitive flexibility. However, advantage research found mixed results, probably due to two confounding factors: interpreter expertise and task differences. This study targeted the critical period of intermediate interpreter expertise and compared participants’ switching performance in the rule–based Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the cue-based colour–shape switching tasks (uni-/bivalent versions). Results showed that interpreting students at the pre-intermediate level outperformed bilingual controls in switch cost, and in WCST errors and global RT. With the same participants tested 1 year later and with interpreting students at the post-intermediate level, interpreters outperformed in mixing cost in the bivalent task and in WCST global RT. The findings of the colour–shape switching tasks (further confirmed by cue-based analysis) revealed a developmental transition of interpreters’ advantage from local switching to global monitoring, and a differential sensitivity of the tasks, with implications for studies on bilingual advantage.

Preterm-born children are at increased risk for executive function (EF) deficits, particularly in inhibitory control. While bilingualism has been linked to enhanced EF in term-born children, its effects on preterm populations are less understood. This study explored whether bilingualism supports inhibitory control in preterm-born children using behavioral and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data during a Go/No-Go task. Sixteen preterm-born children (ages 6–7), both bilingual and monolingual, were assessed. Bilingual participants demonstrated faster reaction times (RTs) without compromising accuracy and showed lower levels of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) in the frontal lobe, indicating more efficient neural effort. Results underscore a distinct neural and behavioral profile in bilingual preterm children during inhibitory control tasks, emphasizing the role of language experience in shaping EF outcomes. These findings suggest that bilingualism may offer cognitive benefits for inhibitory control in preterm-born children and highlight the potential for bilingualism to support EF development in at-risk groups.

This study examined emotional interference and facilitation in cognitive processing among heritage bilingual and monolingual young adults across six tasks varying in emotional and linguistic demands. Results showed that bilinguals often exhibited comparable or more efficient processing than monolinguals in more demanding conditions (i.e., nonword rejection, high-load working memory tasks). Emotional valence effects were task-dependent and rarely differed across language groups, likely reflecting bilinguals’ dominance in English. Moreover, heritage bilingual performance was shaped by both English and Spanish language proficiency, as well as the age of second-language acquisition (AoA). Cognitive cost and valence effects varied by task, highlighting the interaction between task demands and bilingual language background. Findings emphasize the importance of individual bilingual experiences and task context in understanding cognitive and emotional processing, suggesting that group differences are not uniform but depend on nuanced language and task factors.

The emotion triggered by emotion words is usually reduced in a second language (L2) compared with a first language (L1). In L1, several features contribute to the representation of affective meaning in highly emotion prototypical words (e.g., valence, arousal), particularly feelings and interoception (internal bodily sensations). We had English-Spanish L2 users to rate Spanish words on various features to examine whether the prototypicality of emotion words is determined by the same features in L1 and L2. Prototypicality obtained higher ratings in L2 than in L1, in contrast, all the other features had lower ratings in L2. Interoception predicted prototypicality significantly less in L2 than in L1, suggesting that L2 users do not rely on body sensation as much as L1 users when evaluating emotional prototypicality and supporting the theory of disembodied emotion in L2. The ratings provide a database of emotion words in L2 Spanish with new features like prototypicality, feelings and interoception.

Second language (L2) processing places substantial demands on working memory (WM). Because WM training programs are time-consuming and effortful, the present study examined whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region associated with WM, can facilitate L2 comprehension. Intermediate L2 learners of Spanish were randomly assigned to an active or sham group. Both groups completed pre- and posttests of listening and reading comprehension; between tests, the treatment group received two 20-minute sessions of 2.0 mA anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC, whereas the sham group received only brief stimulation. Results showed no improvement in reading comprehension, but the treatment group exhibited significant gains in listening comprehension from pre- to posttest and relative to the sham group. These findings suggest that anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC facilitates L2 listening comprehension under the present experimental conditions, offering a potential neuromodulatory aid for adult learners.

This study examined how newly learned emotional meanings influence word processing in first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) speakers. Participants learned Chinese pseudowords paired with disgusted, sad or neutral faces. Generalization and refreshing tests assessed whether the learned meanings extended beyond specific pairings, and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a modified lexical decision task to probe neural processing. Both groups successfully learned and generalized the emotional associations, although L2 speakers showed reduced cross-modal generalization for sadness. ERP analyses revealed that unlearned pseudowords elicited stronger early posterior negativity (EPN) while emotional pseudowords elicited larger late positive complex (LPC). Also, L2 participants exhibited greater LPC amplitudes and broader cortical recruitment than L1 counterparts. Moreover, disgust and sadness diverged in early neural responses, with disgust eliciting enhanced EPNs. These findings indicate rapid affective binding to novel words and greater neural effort for L2 processing, suggesting similar temporal dynamics but increased resource demands in L2.

Multilingual experience is seen as a cognitive reserve factor that may protect against neurodegeneration. Accurate language use measurement is essential to understand its cognitive and neural effects. Traditional assessments often rely on a single retrospective questionnaire, which may not reflect the dynamic, context-dependent nature of multilingualism. This study introduces complementary tools – Language History Questionnaire (LHQ), Daily Report Form (DR), Online Messages (OM) and In-lab Language Tasks (EXP) – to assess language use across social contexts in native and non-native languages. Correlational, ANOVA and network analyses showed that self-report tools had high internal consistency, while objective and experimental methods varied in sensitivity to context and modality. Consistency across tools was higher for native language use, especially when aggregating data across contexts. In contrast, non-native English assessments were more affected by contextual variability and tool-specific biases. Findings highlight the need for multimodal, context-rich assessments to improve validity and comparability in real-world multilingual research.

This study examines how linguistic differences between Chinese and European languages influence cognitive functions. Two experiments compared cognitive performance between Chinese and European undergraduates. Experiment 1 compared Chinese and European bilinguals (e.g., Chinese-English versus French-English) studying at an English university. Chinese bilinguals exhibited stronger executive control, inhibitory control and mental rotation, suggesting that greater linguistic distance enhances cognitive control. Experiment 2 examined native Chinese and English speakers in their respective countries, isolating language-script effects. Chinese speakers performed better in visual attention (i.e., orienting and facilitation) and mental rotation, while English speakers exhibited superior performance in auditory attention (i.e., attentional switching). These differences likely stem from language-script characteristics: logographic Chinese engages visuospatial processing, while alphabetic English reinforces auditory attention flexibility. Collectively, these findings underscore specific cognitive effects associated with linguistic distance and language script and provide comprehensive insights into how language structure modulates domain-specific cognitive adaptations.

Recent research suggests that a cognitive bias, the illusion of causality, can be attenuated when the task is presented in a foreign language (Díaz-Lago & Matute, 2019a, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72(1), 41–51), supporting the well-known foreign language effect on decision making and reasoning. We conducted a replication study with a large sample (N = 220), determined through a Bayes factor design analysis, but our results did not support the original findings. This finding challenges the generalizability of the foreign language effect on reducing cognitive biases. Additionally, we found that the magnitude of the illusion decreased with increasing years of formal education and was generally weaker among male participants compared to females. These findings emphasize the importance of using samples with balanced demographic characteristics to avoid potential confounds in between-group comparisons. Overall, our study highlights the need for further research to clarify the conditions under which the foreign language effect can influence cognitive biases.