Bilingualism and cognition: analysis of executive function performance in bilingual and monolingual professors and teachers from institutions in Pereira

This quasi-experimental research sought to determine through a quantitative study if there was an EF advantage in socio-demographically matched bilingual professors relative to their monolingual counterparts, and if there was a mediation or confounding effect on EFs due to the role of SES (socioeconomic status). The data was collected using two tests and one task to quantify each element of the tripartite of the EFs, those materials are: 1) the Stroop test to measure the inhibition component, 2) task switching to measure the shifting component, and 3) the Corsi block-tapping task to measure the updating component. These were used to assess the EF outcomes on bilingual and monolingual professors and teachers from institutions in Pereira. They were filtered beforehand with the help of a sociodemographic language questionnaire to match them as much as possible in terms of their background, so that more accurate results could be gathered, and therefore contribute to the current state of the art. There were two hypotheses that this paper sought to determine experimentally 1) there is a bilingual advantage regarding on of the aspects in the EFs tripartite (inhibition, shifting, or updating), 2) there is a bilingual advantage in the executive function performance as a whole, instead of benefiting just one component, or 3) both groups obtain similar results in the overall of the different tasks and test in the tripartite of the EFs. The contri bution of this paper will be useful to widen the current state of the art in this field in the Colombian context, and it will also help to build a stronger foundation by shedding light on the issue about knowing whether bilingualism affects or not the executive function performance.Esta investigación cuasi-experimental buscó determinar a través de un estudio cuantitativo si había una ventaja de funciones ejecutivas en profesores bilingües emparejados sociodemográficamente en relación con sus contrapartes monolingües y si había un efecto de mediación en los funciones ejecutivas debido al rol del estado socioeconómico. Los datos se recopilaron mediante dos pruebas y una tarea para cuantificar cada elemento del tripartito de las funciones ejecutivas, esos materiales son: 1) la prueba de Stroop para medir el componente de inhibición, 2) el cambio de tarea para medir el componente de cambio y 3) el Corsi block-tapping task para medir el componente de actualización. Estos se utilizaron para evaluar los resultados de EF en profesores y docentes bilingües y monolingües de instituciones de Pereira. Fueron filtrados de antemano con la ayuda de un cuestionario de lenguaje sociodemográfico para igualarlos tanto c omo fuera posible en términos de sus antecedentes, de modo que se pudieran recopilar resultados más precisos y, por lo tanto, contribuir a la literatura actual. Hubo tres hipótesis que este trabajo buscó determinar experimentalmente: 1) existe una ventaja bilingüe con respecto a uno de los aspectos en las funciones ejecutivas (inhibición, cambio o actualización), 2) existe una ventaja bilingüe en el desempeño de la funciones ejecutiva en general, en lugar de beneficiar a un solo componente, o 3) ambos grupos tienen un desempeño similiar en las funciones ejecutivas. El porte de este trabajo será útil para ampliar el estado actual de la literatura en este campo en el contexto Colombiano. También ayudará a construir una base más sólida al arrojar luz sobre el tema de saber si el bilingüismo afecta o no el rendimiento en las funciones ejecutivas.PregradoLicenciado(a) en Bilingüismo con Énfasis en InglésTable of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Statement of the problem.............................................................................................................................................. 6 Theorical Framework ................................................................................................................................................... 9 Literature Review..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Conceptual Framework............................................................................................................................................15 Executive Functions.............................................................................................................................................15 Types of Executive Functions..............................................................................................................................17 Bilingualism ........................................................................................................................................................20 Bilingualism and Executive Functions.................................................................................................................21 Neural correlates..................................................................................................................................................25 Methodology ...............................................................................................................................................................28 Hypotheses..............................................................................................................................................................28 Variables.................................................................................................................................................................28 Indicators.................................................................................................................................................................29 Type of Research.....................................................................................................................................................29 Context....................................................................................................................................................................30 Setting.....................................................................................................................................................................30 Participants..............................................................................................................................................................30 Researcher’s role .....................................................................................................................................................32 Data Collection Methods.........................................................................................................................................32 Tests....................................................................................................................................................................32 Language and Socioeconomic Background Questionnaire ...................................................................................38 Vocabulary Size in English Test..........................................................................................................................38 Vocabulary Size in Spanish Test..........................................................................................................................39 Results ........................................................................................................................................................................40 Sociodemographic Characteristics ...........................................................................................................................40 Inhibitory Control....................................................................................................................................................43 Working Memory....................................................................................................................................................45 Attentional Shift......................................................................................................................................................47 Spanish Vocabulary Size .........................................................................................................................................49 Correlations.............................................................................................................................................................50 Discussion...................................................................................................................................................................53 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................................55 References...................................................................................................................................................................5