Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T12:27:08.296Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter One - Theories and Methods in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Bilingualism

An Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2023

John W. Schwieter
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario
Julia Festman
Affiliation:
University College of Teacher Education Tyrol
Get access

Summary

In this chapter, we consider different definitions of bilingualism, underscoring the reality that there are various aspects which should be taken into account when investigating bilingualism, particularly when designing studies and choosing participants. Bilingualism is a complex construct and should be viewed on a continuum. Crucially, many key details about bilinguals’ backgrounds need to be reported in studies to make results comparable and clearly linkable to the specific study sample. Relative proficiency level seems to be the most influential factor, but it is by no means the only factor relevant for studying bilingualism. Rather, individual differences and their variability, dynamically related dimensions and their interaction over time, speech environment and their changes, language use habits, socioeconomic background, and so on have been reported to influence language processing and even brain function to some extent.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

De Groot, A., & Hagoort, P. (Eds.). (2018). Research methods in psycholinguistics and the neurobiology of language: A practical guide. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Field, A., & Hole, G. (2003). How to design and report experiments. SAGE.Google Scholar
Li, W., & Moyer, M. (2008). The Blackwell guide to research methods in bilingualism and multilingualism. Blackwell.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A. (2014). The bilingual mind: And what it tells us about language and thought. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwieter, J. W. (Ed.). (2019). The handbook of the neuroscience of multilingualism. Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×