Question 1

Suppose you are testing children who are monolingual English speakers and children who are fluent in both English and Spanish. Assuming that their other characteristics are similar, you are likely to find that

Accepted Answer

Bilinguals often develop enhanced metalinguistic skills, including a heightened awareness of the listener's needs in communication, due to their experience navigating between languages. This can make them more attentive to situations where additional information is necessary for effective communication.

Question 2

Suppose that you have a summer job in which you work with both monolingual and bilingual children, although the two groups are otherwise similar. You would expect to find that

Accepted Answer

Bilingual children often develop enhanced cognitive skills, such as better attention and task-switching capacities, due to their experience of using two languages. This can make them better at following complex instructions compared to monolingual children.

Question 3

What can we conclude about age of acquisition and mastery of a second language?

Accepted Answer

The research on second language acquisition indicates that various factors, including the similarity between the learner's first language and the second language, can influence the ease and speed of learning. This suggests that there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer, and outcomes can vary based on individual circumstances.

Question 4

Hsi-Yen came to the United States from China when she was 14. Compared to her brother, who was 5 when he arrived, Hsi-Yen is most likely to have difficulty with

Accepted Answer

Phonology, which involves the sounds of a language, is typically harder to master for individuals who learn a new language after early childhood. Hsi-Yen, having arrived at 14, would likely find phonology more challenging than her younger brother, who would more easily pick up native-like pronunciation due to the critical period for language acquisition.

Question 5

Which of the following students' statement is the best summary of the research on bilingualism?

Accepted Answer

Research on bilingualism has shown that bilingual individuals often have cognitive and metalinguistic advantages over monolinguals, such as better attention control and problem-solving skills, though they may face slight disadvantages in other areas.

Question 6

Imagine that an elementary teacher has two classes, one monolingual and the other bilingual-though their other characteristics are similar. The bilingual class is more likely to

Accepted Answer

Bilingual individuals often develop a better understanding of the structure of their first language because learning a second language provides them with a point of comparison, enhancing their metalinguistic awareness. This awareness helps them understand that words and structures can vary across languages, leading to a deeper understanding of their own language's grammar and vocabulary.

Question 7

Suppose you have a 22-year-old friend who came to North America from Korea when he was 15 and then began to learn English. If he is like the participants in Flege's study on bilingualism, he will find that

Accepted Answer

Flege's study on bilingualism suggests that the age at which a second language is learned can influence proficiency, but with sufficient education and immersion, learners can achieve high levels of mastery in grammar, even if they start learning the language later than others.

Question 8

Chapter 10 examines the relationship between age of acquisition and ability to learn a second language. Before we can draw conclusions about this topic, which of the following questions needs further attention?

Accepted Answer

C  D  These questions address different aspects of second language acquisition, such as the influence of the specific language being learned, the impact of formal training on grammar, and the effect of age on phonology, all of which are crucial for understanding the relationship between age of acquisition and language learning ability.

Question 9

Which of the following students provides the most accurate information about bilingual people and monolingual people?

Accepted Answer

Amelie's statement is accurate because bilingual individuals often have enhanced awareness of pragmatic aspects of language, such as understanding nuances and context, due to their experience navigating multiple linguistic systems.

Question 10

You are testing the cognitive abilities of three groups of bilingual French-English speakers in Montreal, whose native language is French: university students, English teachers, and French-English interpreters. On a test of reading span, administered in English, you would expect that

Accepted Answer

Interpreters, due to the nature of their work, often have superior language processing and memory skills, especially in their non-native languages, compared to individuals in professions that do not require constant bilingual or multilingual engagement. This would likely result in interpreters performing significantly better on a test of reading span in English, compared to English teachers, whose focus might be more on pedagogy and grammar than on the cognitive processing of language, and university students, who may not have developed such specialized skills to the same extent.

Question 11

On which of the following tasks is a bilingual child likely to have some difficulty, compared with a monolingual child?

Accepted Answer

Bilingual children often process language slightly slower than monolingual children, especially when they are switching between languages or accessing vocabulary that is less frequently used in one of their languages. This is due to the fact that they are managing two linguistic systems simultaneously, which can lead to a slight delay in language processing speed.

Question 12

Which of the following is true about bilingual individuals?

Accepted Answer

Bilingual individuals often perform better on concept-formation tasks due to enhanced cognitive flexibility and executive control, which are developed through managing two languages.

Question 13

Chapter 10 examined a study by Flege and his colleagues (1999), concerning the pronunciation skills of people who had emigrated from Korea to the United States. According to this research,

Accepted Answer

The answer of Chapter 10 examined a study by Flege...

Question 14

Suppose that you are listening to a lecture by a speaker who supports the critical period hypothesis for a particular motor skill in children. The speaker is likely to say that

Accepted Answer

The critical period hypothesis suggests that there is a specific time frame during which learning a particular skill or knowledge (such as a language or, in this case, a motor skill) is significantly easier. After this period, the ability to learn or acquire the skill declines. Therefore, a speaker supporting this hypothesis would likely mention that there is an abrupt drop in the ability to acquire the skill competently as the age of acquisition increases, aligning with choice D.

Question 15

Chapter 10 discussed a study that compared the working-memory skills of three groups of Dutch-English bilinguals. This study concluded that

Accepted Answer

The study concluded that simultaneous interpreters had the best working-memory scores, likely due to the high demands of their job requiring them to actively listen, comprehend, translate, and convey messages in real time, which can significantly enhance working-memory skills.

Question 16

What can we conclude about the relationship between a person's age of acquisition of a second language and his or her mastery of grammar?

Accepted Answer

The results are complicated, because the answer depends on the match between the two languages, as well as the amount of education in the second language.

Quiz 10: Language Ii: Language Production and Bilingualism