LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 10 October 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIAL

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2012
M. S. Thirumalai
Custom Search

Effect of Bimodal Bilingualism on the Performance of Selective Attention, Attention Switching Task and Attention Network Task

Thingom Medamni Devi, Intern (B.Sc. Speech & Hearing)
Rija Kuriakose, Intern (B.Sc. Speech & Hearing)
Theaja Kuriakose, MSc (Speech and Hearing)
Suma Raju, MASLP

Abstract

Introduction

Bilingualism is thought to be strongly associated with higher order cognitive processing such as attention switching under cognitive load. According to a code-switching theory (Peal & Lambert, 1962), switching between languages provides the bilingual individual with a higher degree of mental flexibility and concept formation. This cognitive advantage may be based on use of inhibitory functions of the frontal lobe such that interference from another language is inhibited and one can selectively attend to the language that is currently in use (Green, 1998).

Bialystok, Craik, Klein, and Viswanathan (2004) found that complex attention performance under a cognitive load among bilingual adults exceeded that of the same-age monolingual adults. In a study with children, Yang (2007) reported higher performance among bilinguals compared to monolinguals on an attention network test that involves several aspects of executive control and attention shifting skills.

Research suggests that that the cognitive advantage associated with bilingualism is specific to languages that share output modalities. When a bimodal-bilingual user simultaneously uses two languages with different output modalities (e.g., spoken language and Sign Language), neither language is actively suppressed, as compared to bilingual speakers who can only use one spoken language at a time, hence it is expected that deaf people will perform similarly on selective attention tasks, but may show variation on attention-switching task due to bilingual proficiency level. Emmorey et al. (2008) proposed that deaf people who are users of two same-modality signed languages (e.g., ASL and ISL) should demonstrate similar cognitive benefits to those observed in dual spoken-language bilinguals. The effect of these differences on the cognition of deaf readers and proficient signers has not been explored. It is essentially ‘‘uncharted territory”.

Need for the study

Early deafness is thought to affect low level sensorimotor processing such as selective attention, whereas bilingualism is thought to be strongly associated with higher order cognitive processing such as attention switching under cognitive load. Empirical studies on bilingualism and cognition thus far have been limited to participants whose hearing ability falls within normal limits especially in Indian population. This study explores the effects of bimodal-bilingualism (in ASL and Spoken Kannada) on attention control skills.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Thingom Medamni Devi, Intern (B.Sc. Speech & Hearing)
JSS Institute of Speech and Hearing
Mysore
Karnataka
India
thmedha08@gmail.com

Rija Kuriakose, Intern (B.Sc. Speech & Hearing)
JSS Institute of Speech and Hearing
Mysore
Karnataka
India
rijadudu90@yahoo.co.in

Theaja Kuriakose, MSc (Speech and Hearing)
Lecturer
JSS Institute of Speech and Hearing
Mysore
Karnataka
India
thejakuriakose@gmail.com

Suma Raju, MASLP
Lecturer
JSS Institute of Speech and Hearing
Mysore
Karnataka
India
sumaraju.mys@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.