Chapter published in:
Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond: Questions and insights
Edited by Irina A. Sekerina, Lauren Spradlin and Virginia Valian
[Studies in Bilingualism 57] 2019
► pp. 49–66

Chapter 4
Adaptive control and brain plasticity

A multidimensional account of the bilingual experience and its relation to cognition

| The Pennsylvania State University
| The Pennsylvania State University

A central question in cognitive neuroscience concerns how individuals’ cognitive abilities are shaped by learning from experience. This paper presents a critical overview of the discoveries that have emerged from the study of bilingualism, and the implications that they hold for language, cognition, and the brain. In particular, we review the range of cognitive control processes that appear to be influenced by bilingualism and the theoretical frameworks that have been proposed to account for the differences between bilinguals and monolinguals as well as among bilinguals themselves. We discuss current research directions on the consequences of bilingualism, and report emerging findings on the role of bilingual experience in the adaptation of the bilingual language system.

Keywords: bilingualism, cognitive control, parallel activation, inhibition, conflict monitoring
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Bilingual language activation
    • 1.2Bilingual language adaptation
  • 2.The cognitive underpinnings of the consequences of bilingualism
    • 2.1Inhibition-based approaches
    • 2.2Conflict monitoring approaches
  • 3.Towards an ecological approach to bilingualism
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 12 June 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.57.04bea
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