Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives

Agnes Groba; Annick De Houwer; Jan Mehnert; Sonja Rossi; Hellmuth Obrig

doi:10.1017/S1366728917000232

Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives

Standard

Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives. / Groba, Agnes; Houwer, Annick De; Mehnert, Jan; Rossi, Sonja; Obrig, Hellmuth.

In: BILING-LANG COGN, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2018, p. 384-402.

Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Groba, A, Houwer, AD, Mehnert, J, Rossi, S & Obrig, H 2018, 'Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives', BILING-LANG COGN, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 384-402. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000232

APA

Groba, A., Houwer, A. D., Mehnert, J., Rossi, S., & Obrig, H. (2018). Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives. BILING-LANG COGN, 21(2), 384-402. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000232

Vancouver

Groba A, Houwer AD, Mehnert J, Rossi S, Obrig H. Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives. BILING-LANG COGN. 2018;21(2):384-402. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000232

Bibtex

@article{6a0805aead5142b89cffa2030d460bce,

title = "Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives",

abstract = "Previous studies have shown bilingually and monolingually developing children to differ in their sensitivity to referential pragmatic deixis in challenging tasks, with bilinguals exhibiting a higher sensitivity. The learning of adjectives is particularly challenging, but has rarely been investigated in bilingual children. In the present study we presented a pragmatic cue supporting the learning of novel adjectives to 32 Spanish–German bilingual and 28 German monolingual 5-year-olds. The children's responses to a descriptive hand gesture highlighting an object's property were measured behaviorally using a forced choice task and neurophysiologically through functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). While no group differences emerged on the behavioral level, fNIRS revealed a higher activation in bilingual than monolingual children in the vicinity of the posterior part of the right superior temporal sulcus (STS). This result supports the prominent role of the STS in processing pragmatic gestures and suggests heightened pragmatic sensitivity for bilingual children.",

keywords = "adjective learning, bilingual preschoolers, fNIRS, pragmatic gestures",

author = "Agnes Groba and Houwer, {Annick De} and Jan Mehnert and Sonja Rossi and Hellmuth Obrig",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.1017/S1366728917000232",

language = "English",

volume = "21",

pages = "384--402",

journal = "BILING-LANG COGN",

issn = "1366-7289",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Bilingual and monolingual children process pragmatic cues differently when learning novel adjectives

AU - Groba, Agnes

AU - Houwer, Annick De

AU - Mehnert, Jan

AU - Rossi, Sonja

AU - Obrig, Hellmuth

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Previous studies have shown bilingually and monolingually developing children to differ in their sensitivity to referential pragmatic deixis in challenging tasks, with bilinguals exhibiting a higher sensitivity. The learning of adjectives is particularly challenging, but has rarely been investigated in bilingual children. In the present study we presented a pragmatic cue supporting the learning of novel adjectives to 32 Spanish–German bilingual and 28 German monolingual 5-year-olds. The children's responses to a descriptive hand gesture highlighting an object's property were measured behaviorally using a forced choice task and neurophysiologically through functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). While no group differences emerged on the behavioral level, fNIRS revealed a higher activation in bilingual than monolingual children in the vicinity of the posterior part of the right superior temporal sulcus (STS). This result supports the prominent role of the STS in processing pragmatic gestures and suggests heightened pragmatic sensitivity for bilingual children.

AB - Previous studies have shown bilingually and monolingually developing children to differ in their sensitivity to referential pragmatic deixis in challenging tasks, with bilinguals exhibiting a higher sensitivity. The learning of adjectives is particularly challenging, but has rarely been investigated in bilingual children. In the present study we presented a pragmatic cue supporting the learning of novel adjectives to 32 Spanish–German bilingual and 28 German monolingual 5-year-olds. The children's responses to a descriptive hand gesture highlighting an object's property were measured behaviorally using a forced choice task and neurophysiologically through functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). While no group differences emerged on the behavioral level, fNIRS revealed a higher activation in bilingual than monolingual children in the vicinity of the posterior part of the right superior temporal sulcus (STS). This result supports the prominent role of the STS in processing pragmatic gestures and suggests heightened pragmatic sensitivity for bilingual children.

KW - adjective learning, bilingual preschoolers, fNIRS, pragmatic gestures

U2 - 10.1017/S1366728917000232

DO - 10.1017/S1366728917000232

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

VL - 21

SP - 384

EP - 402

JO - BILING-LANG COGN

JF - BILING-LANG COGN

SN - 1366-7289

IS - 2

ER -