The Impact of Bilingualism on Working Memory: A Null Effect on the Whole May Not Be So on the Parts

Frontiers in Psychology

Noelia Calvo¹ 

关键词: bilingualism;    bilingual advantage;    executive functions;    working memory;    L2 proficiency;    simultaneous interpreting;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00265

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Abundant research has examined the relationship between bilingualism and working memory (WM), a system that keeps information accessible while dealing with concurrent processes, distractions, or attention shifts (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974; Engle et al., 1999; Conway et al., 2002). Some studies have reported no WM differences between bilinguals and monolinguals (Bialystok et al., 2008; Feng, 2009; Bialystok, 2010; Namazi and Thordardottir, 2010; Bonifacci et al., 2011; Engel de Abreu, 2011), leading top scholars to maintain that this domain is impervious to bilingualism. For instance, Bialystok (2009) first claimed that WM is indifferent to the development of a non-native language (L2). Later, she slightly reframed her position, stating that WM is only occasionally enhanced by the bilingual experience (e.g., Bialystok et al., 2009, 2012). Likewise, in another study, Engel de Abreu (2011: p. 6) concluded that “bilingual experience does not seem to convey any advantage in working memory abilities,” which aligns with recent criticism on the very notion of bilingual benefits (Duñabeitia and Carreiras, 2015; Calvo et al., 2016; Paap et al., 2016).

【 授权许可】

CC BY