Adults differ in the ease with which they acquire lexical tones in a non-native language. Individual differences have been attributed to several factors, such as the role that pitch plays in a learner's L1 to signal lexical meaning (L1 tonal status), the shape of the tones to be acquired (tone types), as well as extralinguistic factors (such as musical experience and working memory). Here, we ask whether learners from a spectrum of L1 tonal statuses (Dutch, Swedish and Japanese, and Thai) differ in their tone word learning facility, whilst we simultaneously investigate the effects of tone type, and musical experience and working memory. Our findings suggest that above and beyond L1 tonal status, the strongest predictor of tone word learning was pre-lexical tone processing (measured by a tone categorization task), although the strength of the link between pre-lexical and lexical processing may be modulated by L1 tonal status.

Learners can track word-referent co-occurrences across individually-ambiguous naming events to form correct word-referent mappings, termed statistical word learning (SWL). Prior research largely focuses on learning from a single language input, where a referent co-occurs with a single word (1:1 mapping). Here, we tested adults’ SWL from a simulated bilingual environment, where one referent co-occurred with two words (2:1 mapping) and the two words were either differentiated by a linguistic cue (Mandarin lexical tones, Cued condition) or not (Uncued condition). Results showed that in the Cued condition, Chinese–English bilinguals (N = 38) outperformed Spanish–English bilinguals (N = 56) and English monolinguals (N = 55), while Spanish–English bilinguals and English monolinguals performed similarly. The three groups did not differ in the Uncued condition. Self-reported learning confidence and strategies showed limited conscious awareness of learning. Results demonstrate that familiarity with a linguistic cue boosts overall statistical word learning from bilingual input.

The moral foreign-language effect (M-FLE) translates into more utilitarian choices, even when given the option of self-sacrifice. We explore the M-FLE in 85 children, who were presented with seven moral dilemmas varying in utilitarianism, aversiveness, and whether they allowed the option of self-sacrifice; 42 answered to the dilemmas in their native language (Spanish), and 43 in a foreign language (English). Participants were more utilitarian and willing to sacrifice themselves when using their foreign language. Educational and developmental implications are discussed, especially in the context of bilingual education.

Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (BLC) is now in its seventeenth year, and what started out as a new interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the study of bilingualism has now become the leading journal in its field. The first issue of BLC was published in 1998 with François Grosjean, Jürgen M. Meisel, Pieter Muysken and Judith Kroll as founding editors. Over the years, the editorship has passed to David Green, Ping Li and Carmen Silva-Corvalán, with Jürgen M. Meisel staying on. The journal has not merely survived for almost 17 years but has thrived, enjoying a steady increase in readership and submissions, suggesting that the interdisciplinary approach of the journal and the breadth of topics that it covers are hitting the mark. The 2013 impact factor mirrors this upsurge of interest: BLC's 2013 impact factor is quoted as 2.229, which makes it the 5th ranked out of 160 journals in linguistics and the 27th out of 83 experimental psychology journals. Hence it is a pleasure to report to the BLC readership that the journal is in excellent shape. This is primarily due to the outstanding dedication of the outgoing team of editors (Ping Li, David Green, Jürgen M. Meisel and Carmen Silva-Corvalán), to whom we would like to extend our gratitude. Under their tenure BLC has grown to be the leading journal in the field. We will continue to count on their advice.

Language mixing is a common feature of many bilingually-raised children's input. Yet how it is related to their language development remains an open question. The current study investigated mixed-language input indexed by observed (30-second segment) counts and proportions in day-long recordings as well as parent-reported scores, in relation to infant vocal activeness (i.e., volubility) when infants were 10 and 18 months old. Results suggested infants who received a higher score or proportion of mixed input in one-on-one social contexts were less voluble. However, within contexts involving language mixing, infants who heard more words were also the ones who produced more vocalizations. These divergent associations between mixed input and infant vocal development point for a need to better understand the causal factors that drive these associations.

Previous studies that contrasting bilinguals with monolinguals on Theory of Mind (ToM) have shown mixed results. We present a relatively large (N = 102) study comparing Polish–English sequential bilinguals living in the UK with Polish monolinguals living in Poland. Going beyond a simple group comparison, we explored the role of language proficiency and input in ToM abilities. A battery of eight tasks was used to measure ToM, and the groups were matched on age, gender, SES, IQ and L1 word comprehension. Although bilinguals did not differ from monolinguals in accuracy in ToM tasks, they demonstrated better reasoning abilities when providing justification for ToM responses. ToM accuracy scores were best predicted by L1 proficiency, but the justification scores were best predicted by both L1 and L2 proficiency. The findings suggest that the nuances of bilingual experience provide an important scaffolding context for ToM development.

In their keynote paper, Dijkstra, Wahl, Buytenhuijs, van Halem, Al-jibouri, de Korte, and Rekké (2018) present a computational model of bilingual word recognition and translation, Multilink, that integrates and further refines the architecture and processing principles of two influential models of bilingual word processing: the Bilingual Activation Model (BIA/BIA+) and the Revised Hierarchical model (RHM). Unlike the earlier models, Multilink has been implemented as a computational model so its design principles and assumptions can be compared with human processing data in simulation studies – which is an important step forward in model development and refinement. But Multilink also leaves behind an important theoretical advancement that was touched upon in extending BIA to BIA+ (Dijkstra & Van Heuven, 2002): how linguistic context influences word processing. In their presentation of BIA+, Dijkstra and Van Heuven (2002) hypothesized that syntactic and semantic aspects of sentence context may affect the word identification system. Theoretically, this was an important step forward, as none of the bilingual word processing models (and few monolingual word processing models, for that matter) had incorporated linguistic context, and at that time only a handful of empirical studies had examined how linguistic context affects bilingual word processing. However, in the past 15 years a significant body of empirical work has been published that examines how semantic and syntactic information in sentences impacts word processing in bilinguals. These important insights are not incorporated in the Multilink model.

The present study asked whether oral vocabulary training can facilitate reading in a second language (L2). Fifty L2 speakers of English received oral training over three days on complex novel words, with predictable and unpredictable spellings, composed of novel stems and existing suffixes (i.e., vishing, vishes, vished). After training, participants read the novel word stems for the first time (i.e., trained and untrained), embedded in sentences, and their eye movements were monitored. The eye-tracking data revealed shorter looking times for trained than untrained stems, and for stems with predictable than unpredictable spellings. In contrast to monolingual speakers of English, the interaction between training and spelling predictability was not significant, suggesting that L2 speakers did not generate orthographic skeletons that were robust enough to affect their eye-movement behaviour when seeing the trained novel words for the first time in print.

The aim of the study is to explore the differential effects of neurodegenerative disorders on cross-language interference and facilitation, by comparing the performance in a bilingual Stroop task of Catalan–Spanish bilinguals with different neurodegenerative disorders [Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), n = 16; Alzheimer's disease (AD), n = 16; and Parkinson's disease (PD), n = 16)] and healthy controls (n = 14). Interference is the difference in naming latencies between the incongruent (colour words not matching with their ink colour) and control (non-colour words) conditions. Facilitation is the difference between the control and congruent conditions (colour words matching with their ink colour).

The results showed that AD and MCI patients, but not PD, showed a larger interference effect than healthy controls. Nevertheless, the patient groups showed the same facilitation effect as healthy controls.

The contribution of cortical and subcortical brain areas to cross-language interference suppression is discussed in relation to the type of brain degeneration.

The article “A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition” by De Bot, Lowie and Verspoor discusses Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), and in particular the benefits of studying second language acquisition (SLA) within the DST framework. The article explains the main characteristics of DST, and goes on to show how various aspects of SLA can be treated from a DST perspective. In particular, the article proposes that the DST framework allows an investigation of how various social and cognitive aspects of SLA interact.

Titone and Tiv's Systems Theory of Bilingualism aims to “urge cognitive scientists and neuroscientists to better embrace sociolinguistic and sociocultural experiences as part of their theoretical and empirical purview”. No stronger case for such a framework can be found than in studies of developmental aspects of bilingualism. In fact, inclusion of sociocultural variation has been a common feature of many studies of dual language learning for some time, especially in studies of pre-school and early-school-age learners (see Genesee, 2019, for a review). Young dual language learners – neonates, infants and toddlers, exposed to more than one language – begin life as virtual tabula rasa and are capable of learning any language with facility. As a result, their language acquisition is necessarily tied to the sociocultural parameters of the learning environments they are exposed to. Moreover, as Titone and Tiv emphasize, the immediate and ultimate purpose of language learning is communication. Thus, young dual language learners must be attuned to and acquire the sociocultural constraints and norms for communicating effectively in more than one language. While sociocultural variation is important for understanding language acquisition even among monolingual children living in relatively homogeneous monocultural environments, sociocultural variation is inherent and, indeed, enhanced in the learning environments of children acquiring more than one language insofar as each language is intimately linked with different socio-cultural parameters. Sociocultural variation can be important for understanding bilingualism in yet another way. In studies of the neuro-cognitive consequences of bilingualism, it has been reported that there is a more pronounced association between dual language exposure and activation of certain brain areas among adolescent bilinguals from relatively low SES backgrounds than bilinguals from relatively high SES backgrounds (Brito & Noble, 2018). Inclusion of sociocultural variation in research on the effects of bilingualism can reveal a more nuanced view than emerges if such variation is not considered.

Research among bilinguals suggests a foreign language effect for various tasks requiring a more systematic processing style. For instance, bilinguals seem less prone to heuristic reasoning when solving problem statements in their foreign (FL) as opposed to their native (NL) language. The present study aimed to determine whether such an effect might also be observed in the detection of semantic anomalies. Participants were presented NL and FL questions with and without anomalies while their eye movements were recorded. Overall, they failed to detect the anomaly in more than half of the trials. Furthermore, more illusions occurred for questions presented in the FL, indicating an FL disadvantage. Additionally, eye movement analyses suggested that reading patterns for anomalies are predominantly similar across languages. Our results therefore substantiate theories suggesting that FL use induces cognitive load, causing increased susceptibility to illusions due to partial semantic processing.

Bilinguals experience processing costs when comprehending code-switches, yet the magnitude of the cost fluctuates depending on numerous factors. We tested whether switch costs vary based on the frequency of different types of code-switches, as estimated from natural corpora of bilingual speech and text. Spanish–English bilinguals in the U.S. read single-language and code-switched sentences in a self-paced task. Sentence regions containing code-switches were read more slowly than single-language control regions, consistent with the idea that integrating a code-switch poses a processing challenge. Crucially, more frequent code-switches elicited significantly smaller costs both within and across most classes of switch types (e.g., within verb phrases and when comparing switches at verb-phrase and noun-phrase sites). The results suggest that, in addition to learning distributions of syntactic and semantic patterns, bilinguals develop finely tuned expectations about code-switching behavior – representing one reason why code-switching in naturalistic contexts may not be particularly costly.

This review investigates the complex dynamics of code-switching (CS), the spontaneous alternation between languages within a conversation, particularly its implications for cognitive processes like executive functions (EFs). Analysing post-2015 studies, it critically assesses 23 experiments. Through stringent criteria and comprehensive search strategies, the review identifies factors influencing CS types and their impact on cognition, highlighting methodological inconsistencies and confounds. It highlights the evolving perspectives on CS, ranging from pragmatic approaches emphasizing communicative functions to structural analyses focusing on linguistic constraints. It underscores the importance of considering factors such as language competence, typological proximity and cognitive processes in understanding CS behaviour. It emphasizes the need for precise CS typology assessment to understand the complex link between CS behaviour and cognitive functioning, bridging linguistic and cognitive domains. This review contributes to clarifying inconsistencies in CS research methodology and findings, aiming to elucidate the factors influencing CS types and their implications for cognition.