Stephanie M. Carlson|Andrew N. Meltzoff
Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children
University of Washington|University of Washington
advanced inhibitory control skills found bilingual speakers compared monolingual controls bialystok 1999 examined whether effect generalized unstudied language group spanishenglish bilingual multiple measures executive function administering battery tasks 50 kindergarten children drawn three language groups native bilinguals monolinguals english english speakers enrolled secondlanguage immersion kindergarten despite significantly lower verbal scores parent educationincome level spanishenglish bilingual childrens raw scores differ peers statistically controlling factors age native bilingual children performed significantly better executive function battery groups importantly relative advantage significant tasks appear call managing conflicting attentional demands conflict tasks advantage impulsecontrol delay tasks results advance understanding generalizability specificity compensatory effects bilingual experience childrens cognitive development