Publication
Title
Neural differences in bilingual children's arithmetic processing depending on language of instruction
Author
Abstract
Many children in bilingual regions follow lessons in a language at school (school-language) that they hardly ever speak at home or in other informal settings. What are the neural effects of this phenomenon? This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigates the effects of using school-language on brain activity during a high cognitive task in two groups of French/Dutch bilingual children. Participants were asked to assess the correctness of 3-operand (e.g., 5 − 2 = 3) and 4-operand (e.g., 3 − 2 = 1 + 4) equations, respectively. Instructions about the task were given either in the children's school-language or in another language that they only used at home. It was found that although both groups recruited a visuomotor occipitofrontal network in the left hemisphere, the children who performed the task in their school-language showed less activation than the children who did not, indicating the importance of language of instruction for bilingual children's arithmetic processing.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Mind, brain and education. - -
Publication
2011
ISSN
1751-2271
DOI
10.1111/J.1751-228X.2011.01113.X
Volume/pages
5 :2 (2011) , p. 79-88
ISI
000290763400004
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 10.06.2011
Last edited 14.02.2023
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