Article published in:
Cognitive Control and Consequences of Multilingualism
Edited by John W. Schwieter
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 2] 2016
► pp. 71–96

Chapter 3. The role of executive function in the perception of L2 speech sounds in young balanced and unbalanced dual language learners

| University of Houston, United States
| University of Houston, United States
| University of Houston, United States
This fMRI study investigated neural activity evoked by L2 speech syllables in brain regions associated with executive function typically recruited by bilinguals in cognitive control tasks. The main areas examined were the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral supplementary motor area, bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, and bilateral middle frontal gyrus. Based on the degree of discrepancy between L1 and L2 proficiency scores, twenty-nine children classified as balanced (smaller discrepancy) or unbalanced (larger discrepancy) dual language learners were matched for age, socioeducational background, years of education in L2, and L2 age of acquisition. Children passively listened to L2 syllables while a muted film was presented. The results showed that unbalanced learners had increased activity in multiple frontal regions bilaterally relative to balanced learners. Balanced learners showed increased activity in a region of the right temporal lobe. The results suggest that unbalanced learners who have more difficulty learning the second language engage regions of executive function to support the perception of L2 speech sounds.
Published online: 03 August 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.2.04arc
References

References

Abutalebi, J.
(2008) Neural aspects of second language representation and language control. Acta Psychologica, 128(3), 466-478. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Abutalebi, J., Brambati, S., Annoni, J., Moro, A., Cappa, S., & Perani, D.
(2007) The neural cost of the auditory perception of language switches: An event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study in bilinguals. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(50), 13762-13769. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Archila-Suerte, P., Bunta, F., & Hernandez, A.
(2014) Speech sound learning depends on individuals’ ability, not just experience. International Journal of Bilingualism.Google Scholar
Archila-Suerte, P., Zevin, J., Bunta, F., & Hernandez, A.
(2011) Age of acquisition and proficiency in a second language independently influence the perception of non-native speech. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15(1), 190-201. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Archila-Suerte, P., Zevin, J., & Hernandez, A.
(2015) The effect of age of acquisition, socioeducational status, and proficiency on the neural processing of second language speech sounds. Brain & Language, 141, 35-49. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Archila-Suerte, P., Zevin, J., Ramos, A., & Hernandez, A.
(2013) The neural basis of non-native speech perception in bilingual children. NeuroImage, 67, 51-63. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Best, C., McRoberts, G., & Goodell, E.
(2001) Discrimination of non-native consonant contrasts varying in perceptual assimilation to the listener's native phonological system. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 109(2), 775-794. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Best, C., McRoberts, G., & Sithole, N.
(1988) Examination of perceptual reorganization for nonnative speech contrasts: Zulu click discrimination by English-speaking adults and infants. he Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14(3), 345-360. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E.
(2009) Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(1), 3-11. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biermann-Ruben, K., Salmelin, R., & Schnitzler, A.
(2005) Right rolandic activation during speech perception in stutterers: A MEG study. NeuroImage, 25(3), 793-801. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Binder, J.
(2000) The new neuroanatomy of speech perception. Brain, 123(12), 2371-2372. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Boersma, P.
(2001) Praat, a system for doing phonetics by computer. Glot International, 5(9/10), 341-345.Google Scholar
Botvinick, M., Cohen, J., & Carter, C.
(2004) Conflict monitoring and anterior cingulate cortex: an update. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(12), 539-546. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Breier, J., Fletcher, J., Denton, C., & Gray, L.
(2004) Categorical perception of speech stimuli in children at risk for reading difficulty. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88(2), 152-170. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Breier, J., Simos, P., Fletcher, J., Castillo, E., Zhang, W., & Papanicolaou, A.
(2003) Abnormal activation of temporoparietal language areas during phonetic analysis in children with dyslexia. Neuropsychology, 17(4), 610-621. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Brown, S., Laird, A., Pfordresher, P., Thelen, S., Turkeltaub, P., & Liotti, M.
(2009) The somatotopy of speech: Phonation and articulation in the human motor cortex. Brain Cogn, 70(1), 31-41. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Burgaleta, M., Baus, C., Diaz, B., & Sebastian-Galles, N.
(2014) Brain structure is related to speech perception abilities in bilinguals. Brain Struct Funct, 219(4), 1405-1416. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bushara, K., Weeks, R., Ishii, K., Catalan, M., Tian, B., Rauschecker, J., & Hallett, M.
(1999) Modality-specific frontal and parietal areas for auditory and visual spatial localization in humans. Nature Neuroscience, 2(8), 759-766. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Carter, C., Braver, T., Barch, D., Botvinick, M., Noll, D., & Cohen, J.
(1998) Anterior cingulate cortex, error detection, and the online monitoring of performance. Science, 280(5364), 747-749. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Casaponsa, A., Carreiras, M., & Dunabeitia, J.
(2014) Discriminating languages in bilingual contexts: The impact of orthographic markedness. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Celsis, P., Boulanouar, K., Doyon, B., Ranjeva, J., Berry, I., Nespoulous, J., & Chollet, F.
(1999) Differential fMRI responses in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus to habituation and change detection in syllables and tones. NeuroImage, 9(1), 135-144. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., Perlstein, W., Braver, T., Nystrom, L., Noll, D., Jonides, J., & Smith, E.
(1997) Temporal dynamics of brain activation during a working memory task. Nature, 386(6625), 604-608. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Costa, A., & Santesteban, M.
(2004) Lexical access in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching in highly proficient bilinguals and L2 learners. Journal of Memory and Language, 50(4), 491-511. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Courtney, S., Ungerleider, L., Keil, K., & Haxby, J.
(1997) Transient and sustained activity in a distributed neural system for human working memory. Nature, 386(6625), 608-611. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cui, X., Li, J., & Song, X.
(2011) Xjview: A viewing program for SPM. Retreived from www​.alivelearn​.net​/xjview8.
Cummins, J.
(1984) Wanted: A theoretical framework for relating language proficiency to academic achievement among bilingual students. Language proficiency and academic achievement, 10, 2-19.Google Scholar
De Groot, A.
(2011) Language and cognition in bilinguals and multilinguals: An introduction. New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Démonet, J.-F., Chollet, F., Ramsay, S., Cardebat, D., Nespoulous, J.-L., Wise, R.…, & Frackowiak, R.
(1992) The anatomy of phonological and semantic processing in normal subjects (Vol. 115).Google Scholar
Diaz, B., Baus, C., Escera, C., Costa, A., & Sebastian-Galles, N.
(2008) Brain potentials to native phoneme discrimination reveal the origin of individual differences in learning the sounds of a second language. Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences, 105(42), 16083-16088. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fabbro, F., Skrap, M., & Aglioti, S.
(2000) Pathological switching between languages after frontal lesions in a bilingual patient. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 68(5), 650-652. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fernandez, R., & Nielsen, F.
(1986) Bilingualism and Hispanic scholastic achievement: Some baseline results. Social Science Research, 15(1), 43-70. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fernandez, S., Feijoó, S., Balsa, R., & Barros, N.
(1998) Recognition of vowels in fricative context. ICSLP (0452).Google Scholar
Flege, J.
(2003) Assessing constraints on second language segmental production and perception. In N. Schiller & A. Meyer (Eds.), Phonetics and phonology in language comprehension and production. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gaab, N., Gaser, C., & Schlaug, G.
(2006) Improvement-related functional plasticity following pitch memory training. NeuroImage, 31(1), 255-263. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Garbin, G., Costa, A., Sanjuan, A., Forn, C., Rodriguez-Pujadas, A., Ventura, N.,… Avila, C.
(2011) Neural bases of language switching in high and early proficient bilinguals. Brain & Language, 119(3), 129-135. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, G.
(1985) Supplementary motor area structure and function: Review and hypotheses. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8(4), 567-588. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Golestani, N., Molko, N., Dehaene, S., LeBihan, D., & Pallier, C.
(2007) Brain structure predicts the learning of foreign speech sounds. Cereb Cortex, 17(3), 575-582. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Golestani, N., Paus, T., & Zatorre, R.
(2002) Anatomical correlates of learning novel speech sounds. Neuron, 35(5), 997-1010. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Golestani, N., Price, C., & Scott, S.
(2011) Born with an ear for dialects? Structural plasticity in the expert phonetician brain. J Neurosci, 31(11), 4213-4220. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gollan, T., Fennema-Notestine, C., Montoya, R., & Jernigan, T.L.
(2007) The bilingual effect on Boston Naming Test performance. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13(02), 197-208.Google Scholar
Gollan, T., & Ferreira, V.
(2009) Should I stay or should I switch? A cost-benefit analysis of voluntary language switching in young and aging bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(3), 640-665. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Grosjean, F., & Li, P.
(2012) The psycholinguistics of bilingualism. New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hazan, V., & Boulakia, G.
(1993) Perception and production of a voicing contrast by French-English bilinguals. Language and Speech, 36(1), 17-38.Google Scholar
Hernandez, A.
(2009) Language switching in the bilingual brain: What’s next? Brain and Language, 109(2), 133-140. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hernandez, A., Dapretto, M., Mazziotta, J., & Bookheimer, S.
(2001) Language switching and language representation in Spanish-English bilinguals: an fMRI study. NeuroImage, 14(2), 510-520. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hernandez, A., Martinez, A., & Kohnert, K.
(2000) In search of the language switch: An fMRI study of picture naming in Spanish-English bilinguals. Brain & Language, 73(3), 421-431. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hickok, G., & Poeppel, D.
(2000) Towards a functional neuroanatomy of speech perception. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(4), 131-138. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2007) The cortical organization of speech processing. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 8(5), 393-402. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Holt, L., & Lotto, A.
(2006) Cue weighting in auditory categorization: implications for first and second language acquisition. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119(5 Part 1), 3059-3071. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hutzler, F.
(2014) Reverse inference is not a fallacy per se: cognitive processes can be inferred from functional imaging data. NeuroImage, 84, 1061-1069. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Iverson, P., Hazan, V., & Bannister, K.
(2005) Phonetic training with acoustic cue manipulations: a comparison of methods for teaching English /r/ - /l/ to Japanese adults. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118(5), 3267-3278. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Joanisse, M., Robertson, E., & Newman, R.
(2007) Mismatch negativity reflects sensory and phonetic speech processing. NeuroReport, 18(9), 901-905. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Joanisse, M., Zevin, J., & McCandliss, B.
(2007) Brain mechanisms implicated in the preattentive categorization of speech sounds revealed using FMRI and a short-interval habituation trial paradigm. Cereb Cortex, 17(9), 2084-2093. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, M.
(2001) Functional brain development in humans. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(7), 475-483. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, J., & de Groot, A.
(Eds.) (2005) Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kuhl, P.
(2008) Linking infant speech perception to language acquisition: Phonetic learning predicts language growth. In P. McCardle, J. Colombo, & L. Freund (Eds.), Infant pathways to language: Methods, models, and research directions (pp. 213-243). New York, NY: Lafwrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Kuhl, P., Conboy, B., Padden, D., Nelson, T., & Pruitt, J.
(2005) Early speech perception and later language development: Implications for the “critical period.” Language Learning and Development, 1(3), 237-264. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kushalnagar, P., Hannay, H., & Hernandez, A.
(2010) Bilingualism and attention: A study of balanced and unbalanced bilingual deaf users of American Sign Language and English. Journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 15(3), 263-273. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lancaster, J., Woldorff, M., Parsons, L., Liotti, M., Freitas, C., Rainey, L.…, & Fox, P.
(2000) Automated Talairach atlas labels for functional brain mapping. Human Brain Mapping, 10(3), 120-131. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Liebenthal, E., Binder, J., Spitzer, S., Possing, E., & Medler, D.
(2005) Neural substrates of phonemic perception. Cerebral Cortex, 15(10), 1621-1631. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Luk, G., Green, D., Abutalebi, J., & Grady, C.
(2011) Cognitive control for language switching in bilinguals: A quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27(10), 1479-1488. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Maldjian, J., Laurienti, P., Kraft, R., & Burdette, J.
(2003) An automated method for neuroanatomic and cytoarchitectonic atlas-based interrogation of fMRI data sets. NeuroImage, 19(3), 1233-1239. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, G., Blamire, A., Puce, A., Nobre, A., Bloch, G., Hyder, F.…, & Shulman, R.
(1994) Functional magnetic resonance imaging of human prefrontal cortex activation during a spatial working memory task. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 91(18), 8690-8694. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Moss, H., Abdallah, S., Fletcher, P., Bright, P., Pilgrim, L., Acres, K., & Tyler, L.
(2005) Selecting among competing alternatives: selection and retrieval in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Cerebral Cortex, 15(11), 1723-1735. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pallier, C., Bosch, L., & Sebastian-Galles, N.
(1997) A limit on behavioral plasticity in speech perception. Cognition, 64(3), B9-17. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Poldrack, R.
(2006) Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(2), 59-63. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Price, C., Green, D., & von Studnitz, R.
(1999) A functional imaging study of translation and language switching, 122(12), 2221-2235.Google Scholar
Prior, A., & Gollan, T.
(2011) Good language-switchers are good task-switchers: Evidence from Spanish-English and Mandarin-English bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17(4), 682-691. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Prior, A., & Macwhinney, B.
(2010) A bilingual advantage in task switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(2), 253-262. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Lugt, A., Rotte, M., Britti, B., Heinze, H.-J., & Münte, T.
(2005) Second language interferes with word production in fluent bilinguals: Brain potential and functional imaging evidence. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(3), 422-433. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Roland, P., Larsen, B., Lassen, N., & Skinhoj, E.
(1980) Supplementary motor area and other cortical areas in organization of voluntary movements in man. Journal of Neurophysiology, 43(1), 118-136.Google Scholar
San Francisco, A., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C.
(2006) The role of language of instruction and vocabulary in the English phonological awareness of Spanish–English bilingual children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27(2), 229-246. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, M.
(2014) The impact of the First Language First model on vocabulary development among preschool bilingual children. Reading and Writing, 27(4), 709-732. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sebastián-Gallés, N., Soriano-Mas, C., Baus, C., Díaz, B., Ressel, V., Pallier, C.,… & Pujol, J.
(2012) Neuroanatomical markers of individual differences in native and non-native vowel perception. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 25(3), 150-162. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Shaywitz, B., Shaywitz, S., Blachman, B., Pugh, K., Fulbright, R., Skudlarski, P.,… & Gore, J.
(2004) Development of left occipitotemporal systems for skilled reading in children after a phonologically- based intervention. Biological Psychiatry, 55(9), 926-933. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Shaywitz, B., Shaywitz, S., Pugh, K., Mencl, W., Fulbright, R., Skudlarski, P.,… & Gore, J.
(2002) Disruption of posterior brain systems for reading in children with developmental dyslexia. Biological Psychiatry, 52(2), 101-110. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Simos, P., Pugh, K., Mencl, E., Frost, S., Fletcher, J., Sarkari, S., & Papanicolaou, A.
(2009) Temporal course of word recognition in skilled readers: A magnetoencephalography study. Behavioural Brain Research, 197(1), 45-54. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sjolander, K., & Beskow, J.
(2009) Wavesurfer [ Computer program ] (Version 1.8.5).Google Scholar
St George, M., Kutas, M., Martinez, A., & Sereno, M.
(1999) Semantic integration in reading: engagement of the right hemisphere during discourse processing. Brain, 122(7), 1317-1325. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K., Cunningham, A., & Cramer, B.
(1984) Assessing phonological awareness in kindergarten children: Issues of task comparability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 38(2), 175-190. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Swick, D., Ashley, V., & Turken, A.
(2008) Left inferior frontal gyrus is critical for response inhibition. BMC Neurosci, 9, 102. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Tamm, L., Menon, V., & Reiss, A.
(2002) Maturation of brain function associated with response inhibition. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(10), 1231-1238. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Turkeltaub, P., Gareau, L., Flowers, D., Zeffiro, T., & Eden, G.
(2003) Development of neural mechanisms for reading. Nature Neuroscience, 6(7), 767-773. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Van Veen, V., Holroyd, C.B., Cohen, J.D., Stenger, V.A., & Carter, C.S.
(2004) Errors without conflict: Implications for performance monitoring theories of anterior cingulate cortex. Brain and Cognition, 56(2), 267-276. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Vandenberghe, R., Price, C., Wise, R., Josephs, O., & Frackowiak, R.
(1996) Functional anatomy of a common semantic system for words and pictures. Nature, 383(6597), 254-256. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y., Xue, G., Chen, C., Xue, F., & Dong, Q.
(2007) Neural bases of asymmetric language switching in second-language learners: An ER-fMRI study. NeuroImage, 35(2), 862-870. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Whitfield-Gabrielli, S.
(2010) Artifact detection and QA manual. Retreived from: http://​web​.mit​.edu​/swg​/art​/art​.pdf
Wong, P., Perrachione, T., & Parrish, T.
(2007) Neural characteristics of successful and less successful speech and word learning in adults. Human Brain Mapping, 28(10), 995-1006. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Woodcock, R., & Muñoz-Sandoval, A.
(1995) Woodcock-Johnson Language Proficiency Battery-Revised (Spanish). Itasca, IL: Riverside.Google Scholar
Ylinen, S., Uther, M., Latvala, A., Vepsäläinen, S., Iverson, P., Akahane-Yamada, R., & Näätänen, R.
(2010) Training the brain to weight speech cues differently: A study of Finnish second-language users of English. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(6), 1319-1332. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Zatorre, R., Evans, A., Meyer, E., & Gjedde, A.
(1992) Lateralization of phonetic and pitch discrimination in speech processing. Science, 256(5058), 846-849. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Zevin, J., & McCandliss, B.
(2005) Dishabituation of the BOLD response to speech sounds. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 1(1), 1-4. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, J., Feng, C.-M., Fox, P., Gao, J.-H., & Tan, L.
(2004) Is left inferior frontal gyrus a general mechanism for selection? NeuroImage, 23(2), 596-603. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by other publications

Claussenius-Kalman, Hannah L. & Arturo E. Hernandez
2019.  In The Handbook of the Neuroscience of Multilingualism, ► pp. 655 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 december 2020. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.