Multilingualism and verbal short-term/working memory: Evidence from academics
Journal
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
Date Issued
May 2023
DOI
10.1017/S1366728922000621
Abstract
To date, the evidence regarding the effect of bilingualism/multilingualism on short-term
memory (STM) and working memory (WM) capacity is inconclusive. This study investigates
whether multilingualism has a positive effect on the verbal STM and WM capacity of neurotypical middle-aged and older individuals. Eighty-two L1-Norwegian sequential bilingual/
multilingual academics were tested with tasks measuring verbal STM/WM capacity. Degree
of bilingualism/multilingualism for each participant was estimated based on a comprehensive
questionnaire. Different measures of bilingualism/multilingualism were used. Data on potentially influencing non-linguistic factors were also collected. Correlation and regression analyses showed that multilingualism impacts both verbal STM and verbal WM. In particular,
all analyses showed that number of known foreign languages was the strongest predictor of
verbal STM and WM capacity. The results are discussed in light of recent studies on the
impact of bilingualism on STM/WM and on recent proposals regarding the mechanism
underlying so-called bilingual advantage.
memory (STM) and working memory (WM) capacity is inconclusive. This study investigates
whether multilingualism has a positive effect on the verbal STM and WM capacity of neurotypical middle-aged and older individuals. Eighty-two L1-Norwegian sequential bilingual/
multilingual academics were tested with tasks measuring verbal STM/WM capacity. Degree
of bilingualism/multilingualism for each participant was estimated based on a comprehensive
questionnaire. Different measures of bilingualism/multilingualism were used. Data on potentially influencing non-linguistic factors were also collected. Correlation and regression analyses showed that multilingualism impacts both verbal STM and verbal WM. In particular,
all analyses showed that number of known foreign languages was the strongest predictor of
verbal STM and WM capacity. The results are discussed in light of recent studies on the
impact of bilingualism on STM/WM and on recent proposals regarding the mechanism
underlying so-called bilingual advantage.
Subjects
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