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Dual-task decrements in mono-, bi-, and multilingual participants: evidence of multilingual advantage

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that language processing in bilinguals is less left-lateralized than in monolinguals. We explored dual-task decrement (DTD) for mono-, bi- and multilinguals in a verbal-motor dual-task paradigm. We expected monolinguals to show greater DTD than bilingual participants, who would show greater DTD than multilingual participants. Fifty right-handed participants (18 monolingual, 16 bilingual, 16 multilingual) completed verbal fluency and manual motor tasks in isolation and concurrently. Tasks were completed twice in isolation (left-handed, right-handed) and twice as dual-tasks (left-handed, right-handed); participants’ motor-executing hands served proxy for hemispheric activation. Results supported the hypotheses. Completing dual-tasks incurred greater cost for manual motor tasks than for verbal fluency tasks. Negative cost of performing dual-tasks diminished as number of languages spoken increased; in fact, multilingual individuals demonstrated a dual-task advantage in both tasks when using the right hand, strongest in the verbal task. Dual-tasking had the greatest negative impact on verbal fluency of monolingual participants when the motor task was completed with the right hand; for bi- and multi-lingual participants, the greatest negative impact on verbal fluency was seen when the motor task was completed with the left hand. Results provide support for the bi-lateralization of language function in bi- and multilingual individuals.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 73-95 (23 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Laterality (Volume 28, Issue 2-3)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 03/02/2023
  • Published - 19/02/2023

Publication status

Published - 19/02/2023

ISSN

1357-650X

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/625853
  • Scopus: 85148591383

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