Language dominance in bilingual first language acquisition compared to L2 learners
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2012/05/0026/000232Keywords:
neurolinguistics, bilingualism, bilingual first language acuquisition (BFLA), language dominanceAbstract
This fMRI study aims to compare simultaneous and sequential Dutch-French bilinguals with respect to their dominant language. Although simultaneous bilinguals have acquired two languages from birth, it is assumed that one of the two remains more dominant. Three language tasks (a verbal fluency task, a grammatical judgment task, and a semantic categorization task) are utilized to identify differences between both groups, as well as within each group (i.e., Dutch versus French). Significant differences supporting the dominant language hypothesis were found for Dutch versus French in simultaneous bilinguals for GJT-Dutch ($p = 0.042$), SCT-accuracy ($p = 0.012$), and reaction times ($p = 0.004$).
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