Does language similarity affect mental control and language skills?
Speaking highly dissimilar languages is linked to lower native-language accuracy, but it does not reliably boost general executive cognitive control.
Source
Bidialectalism and Bilingualism: Exploring the Role of Language Similarity as a Link Between Linguistic Ability and Executive Control
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Four language-similarity groups compared on German linguistic and executive-function batteries
- N
- N=99 · Monolinguals 25, Swiss-German bidialectals 26, similar bilinguals 24, dissimilar bilinguals 24
- Population
- Young adults (18–33) classified by German and other-language similarity
- Outcome
- German linguistic accuracy and executive-function performance by language profile
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Inspect source passages
Does language similarity affect mental control and language skills?
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
The final analyzed sample included 99 participants.
Thus, the final sample consisted of 99 participants, aged 18–33 years (M = 23.5, SD = 3.69).
There were 25 participants in the monolingual group.
Monolinguals ( n = 25) were native speakers of only Standard German and had limited knowledge of the Swiss German dialect.
What they did
The researchers evaluated 99 young adults classified into four groups based on language similarity to German: monolinguals, Swiss-German bidialectals, similar bilinguals, and dissimilar bilinguals. Participants completed three paper-and-pencil tasks testing German linguistic ability and a computerized battery of 11 cognitive tasks. These tasks assessed five executive function domains: inhibition, shifting, mixing, monitoring, and working memory.
What they found
Linguistic accuracy in German decreased linearly as the similarity of the speaker's other languages decreased, meaning dissimilar bilinguals had the lowest native-language accuracy. Conversely, there was no robust evidence that language similarity improved general executive functions, as evidence for five out of six executive measures supported the null hypothesis. The only exception was a specific working memory benefit found in bidialectals compared to monolinguals.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Because the study used a quasi-experimental, correlational design, it cannot prove that speaking different languages directly causes changes in cognitive performance. The sample was restricted to highly educated university students in Switzerland, meaning the findings may not generalize to other age groups or socio-demographic populations. Additionally, the monolingual control group had some formal exposure to foreign languages in secondary school, which prevents comparisons to completely isolated monolinguals.
Key terms
- Bidialectalism
- The active use of a regional dialect in addition to a standard version of the same language.
- Executive functions
- A set of top-down cognitive processes, including working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control, that help people manage their thoughts and behaviors.
- Parallel activation
- The mental phenomenon where all of a speaker's known languages are constantly active in the brain, even when only one is being used.
- Linguistic accuracy
- A measure of correctness in language processing, such as accurately identifying real words or generating correct category members.
- Non-selective activation
- The automatic retrieval of words or grammatical structures from all known languages when a bilingual tries to speak or read.
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What mechanism is hypothesized to underlie the bilingual executive function (EF) advantage?
Common questions
Why would speaking similar languages help with language tasks?
The researchers suggest that highly similar languages allow for linguistic adaptation, where shared grammar, vocabulary, and sounds make it easier for the brain to process words with less interference.
Did the bilinguals show any cognitive advantages over monolinguals?
Generally no; the bilingual groups did not perform significantly better on tasks measuring inhibition, shifting, mixing, or monitoring, showing mostly ambiguous evidence regarding a general bilingual cognitive advantage.
Why did Swiss-German bidialectals show a working memory advantage?
The authors suggest that regularly managing a spoken-only dialect and a written standard language may specifically train working memory processes, like retrieving currently relevant information, rather than general attention control.
How did the researchers define similarity between languages?
They categorized languages based on language families, assuming that languages within the Indo-European family share more structural properties with German than Non-Indo-European languages.
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