... Within the verb domain where there are overt markers for both subject-verb agreement and for ... more ... Within the verb domain where there are overt markers for both subject-verb agreement and for finiteness all the L2 groups tested here were able to show both native-like knowledge and processing. ... Performance on gender showed a strong effect of transfer. ...
ABSTRACT The Stroop task has become a popular paradigm in investigations of bilingual cognitive c... more ABSTRACT The Stroop task has become a popular paradigm in investigations of bilingual cognitive control. While several studies show a cognitive control advantage for bilinguals, recent studies have countered these findings. The present study investigates two factors that may account for conflicting results: participant grouping and task difficulty. While we find no differences between simultaneous and early bilinguals (age groups traditionally both classified as “early” bilinguals) when the task uses only one language, we find a significant difference between the two when languages are mixed. We suggest treating the two groups as distinct, and note the importance of the bilingual context.
Some of the current issues in the field of language research include how language is organized in... more Some of the current issues in the field of language research include how language is organized in the brain, how we learn our first language (L1) as a child, whether we learn other languages (L2s) differently as we grow older, whether there are effects of critical or sensitive periods ...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2012
The aim of the experiment was to determine whether language learning experience contributes to th... more The aim of the experiment was to determine whether language learning experience contributes to the development of enhanced speech perception abilities. Monolinguals, bilinguals and multilinguals were compared in their ability to discriminate a non-native contrast behaviorally using an AX task. The experiment was based on a "pre-test-training-post-test" design and performance was tested before and after receiving training on the voiceless aspirated dental/retroflex stop contrast. At post-test, participants were also tested on their ability to transfer training to a similar contrast (i.e., voiceless unaspirated dental/retroflex stop contrast). While no group differences were found at pre-test, analyses of the trained-on contrast at post-test revealed that multilinguals were more accurate than monolinguals and that both the multilingual and bilingual groups were more accurate than a control group that received no training. The results of the experiment not only suggest that multilinguals and bilinguals have enhanced speech perception abilities compared to monolinguals, but they also indicate that bi-/multilingualism helps develop superior learning abilities. This provides support for the idea that learning more than one language has positive effects on the cognitive development of an individual (e.g., Bialystok et al., 2004).
Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2... more Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2) neural processing for two grammatical constructions (verbal domain dependency and grammatical gender), focusing on the event-related potential P600 effect, which has been ...
Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2... more Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2) neural processing for two grammatical constructions (verbal domain dependency and grammatical gender), focusing on the event-related potential P600 effect, which has been ...
... Within the verb domain where there are overt markers for both subject-verb agreement and for ... more ... Within the verb domain where there are overt markers for both subject-verb agreement and for finiteness all the L2 groups tested here were able to show both native-like knowledge and processing. ... Performance on gender showed a strong effect of transfer. ...
ABSTRACT The Stroop task has become a popular paradigm in investigations of bilingual cognitive c... more ABSTRACT The Stroop task has become a popular paradigm in investigations of bilingual cognitive control. While several studies show a cognitive control advantage for bilinguals, recent studies have countered these findings. The present study investigates two factors that may account for conflicting results: participant grouping and task difficulty. While we find no differences between simultaneous and early bilinguals (age groups traditionally both classified as “early” bilinguals) when the task uses only one language, we find a significant difference between the two when languages are mixed. We suggest treating the two groups as distinct, and note the importance of the bilingual context.
Some of the current issues in the field of language research include how language is organized in... more Some of the current issues in the field of language research include how language is organized in the brain, how we learn our first language (L1) as a child, whether we learn other languages (L2s) differently as we grow older, whether there are effects of critical or sensitive periods ...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2012
The aim of the experiment was to determine whether language learning experience contributes to th... more The aim of the experiment was to determine whether language learning experience contributes to the development of enhanced speech perception abilities. Monolinguals, bilinguals and multilinguals were compared in their ability to discriminate a non-native contrast behaviorally using an AX task. The experiment was based on a "pre-test-training-post-test" design and performance was tested before and after receiving training on the voiceless aspirated dental/retroflex stop contrast. At post-test, participants were also tested on their ability to transfer training to a similar contrast (i.e., voiceless unaspirated dental/retroflex stop contrast). While no group differences were found at pre-test, analyses of the trained-on contrast at post-test revealed that multilinguals were more accurate than monolinguals and that both the multilingual and bilingual groups were more accurate than a control group that received no training. The results of the experiment not only suggest that multilinguals and bilinguals have enhanced speech perception abilities compared to monolinguals, but they also indicate that bi-/multilingualism helps develop superior learning abilities. This provides support for the idea that learning more than one language has positive effects on the cognitive development of an individual (e.g., Bialystok et al., 2004).
Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2... more Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2) neural processing for two grammatical constructions (verbal domain dependency and grammatical gender), focusing on the event-related potential P600 effect, which has been ...
Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2... more Abstract In this article we investigate the effects of first language (L1) on second language (L2) neural processing for two grammatical constructions (verbal domain dependency and grammatical gender), focusing on the event-related potential P600 effect, which has been ...
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Papers by Laura Sabourin