Search Results (1,038)

The bilingual advantage hypothesis proposes that bilingual children will display greater executive function (EF) skills compared to their monolingual peers. However, most research on this topic neglects to include monolingual children from both language groups for comparison, thus confounding language status and cultural context. To address this gap, we administered an extensive battery of EF tasks to 189 typically developing children ages 47–95 months (M_age = 71.47, SD = 11.68, 42.9 % Female) drawn from three language status groups: Korean-English Bilingual and English Monolingual (both in the northwestern United States) and Korean Monolingual (South Korea). Korean-English Bilingual children scored significantly higher on the EF composite than Korean Monolingual children, even after controlling for child age and verbal ability. Both English Monolingual and Korean-English Bilingual children waited significantly longer during a delay-of-gratification task than Korean Monolingual children when controlling for age and verbal ability. Korean-English Bilingual children outperformed English Monolingual and Korean Monolingual children on the Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence. There were no significant differences between language status groups on the other individual EF tasks after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Taken together, we did not find consistent support for a bilingual advantage in EF skills: Country of residence also played a role, with children living in the United States outperforming children living in Korea in some cases. Full article

Language embodies traditions, values, and collective identity, bridging gaps between generations and geographies. Maintaining consistent language policies at home and in communities remains challenging, with research showing that only a few families have explicit rules about language use and few enforce them regularly. The study explores strategies for heritage language maintenance (HLM) to mitigate language attrition among Anaañ bilinguals residing in the Akpabuyo and Calabar South Local Government Areas of Cross River State, Nigeria. The study draws on social identity theory, which links language use to identity, motivation, and group affiliation, thereby influencing language maintenance. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 40 participants, selected purposively from Anaañ speakers in the study areas. Thematic analysis is employed to identify patterns and themes, revealing approaches for heritage language maintenance to curb language attrition. Findings reveal that despite some Anaañ speakers’ negative attitude towards their HL, others value it, keep it alive, and are ready to pass it to the future generations. This will preserve cultural identity and foster a sense of pride, belonging and shared values among Anaañ people, especially those residing in Southern Cross River State. Full article

Spanish–English bilingual learners in U.S. dual language and bilingual education programs develop Spanish orthographic competence while receiving literacy instruction across two writing systems that differ in phonological transparency, orthographic depth, and grammatical marking. This study examined experts’ perceptions of the clarity, instructional coherence, pedagogical relevance, applicability, and refinement priorities of a pedagogical framework for Spanish orthographic development in contexts where Spanish is used as a language of instruction and literacy. The framework conceptualizes Spanish orthographic decision-making as the coordinated activation of phonological mapping, orthographic–grammatical reasoning, and visual–lexical retrieval within biliteracy development. Using a qualitative evaluative design, the study analyzed open-ended questionnaire and interview data from 44 experts in bilingual education and Spanish literacy-related fields. Findings show broad convergence regarding the framework’s clarity, instructional coherence, and relevance for bilingual contexts. Participants emphasized pre-dictation preparation, explicit metalinguistic analysis, visual-memory activation and retrieval routines, and cross-linguistic comparison between Spanish and English. They also identified refinement priorities, including classroom-ready examples, clearer articulation of error and autocorrection, and stronger integration with reading, writing, and oracy practices. This study positions Spanish orthographic instruction as a cognitively guided biliteracy practice and identifies design principles for strengthening orthographic, metalinguistic, and cross-linguistic instruction in bilingual programs. Full article

Play is a universal activity. Yet there are cultural and linguistic differences in how families engage in adult–child play. In the present study, Thai–English bilingual mother–child dyads completed a toy play task in both languages. The results revealed cross-linguistic differences in bilingual mothers’ and children’s conversation styles. When speaking Thai, the nature of bilinguals’ dyadic play was more adult-centered, characterized by the use of directives by the mothers and use of repetitions by the children, which was congruent with parent–child interpersonal dynamics in high-power-distance Asian cultures. When speaking English, the play session was more child-centered, evidenced by children’s use of directives and encouragements, which was congruent with behavioral norms in low-power-distance Western cultures. Bilingual mothers and children exhibited positive associations in their narrative styles during both the Thai and English sessions. Additionally, the preliminary results provided evidence that cross-linguistic differences in mother–child speech patterns may be moderated by child gender. These findings suggest that the communicative and interactional patterns that bilingual caregivers modeled for bilingual children varied across languages and that preschoolers aligned their behaviors with those exemplified by their mothers. We conclude that bilingualism influences early social communication, with theoretical and applied implications for researchers, educators, and clinicians. Full article

Background/Objectives: A current debate addresses where syntactic Merge primarily resides: the left-hemisphere posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) or the temporo-parietal cortex. For proponents of the former, the temporo-parietal cortex supports more effortful processing; for the latter, the IFG supports integration and conflict resolution. We examine aperiodic activity in processing wh-filler-gap dependencies in French for evidence from network dynamics addressing engagement in syntax across L1 and L2. Methods: We extracted aperiodic activity 1/f components (considering offsets as a reflection of neuronal spiking and exponents as a reflection of excitatory–inhibitory balance) out of power spectrum density at 0.5–40 Hz across occipital and bilateral frontal and temporo-parietal regions of interest (ROIs) in reading. Results: Greater exponents arose in temporo-parietal than frontal ROIs in L1 and L2, with strong spiking and regulation suggested by greater offsets and exponents in the occipital ROI in L2—unlike L1—and with potential modulation by L1–L2 representation overlaps. These patterns suggest distributed cell assemblies for L1 and L2 processing. Increased regulation in temporo-parietal ROIs across L1 and L2 cell assemblies might suggest a structural function across temporo-parietal cortices in syntactic processing. Conclusions: Aperiodic activity reflecting connectivity in L1 and L2 processing supports distinct L1 and L2 cell assemblies, with L2 patterns suggesting potential overlap between L1 and L2 circuit modules. Greater exponents in bilateral temporo-parietal ROIs across L1 and L2 indicate increased regulation, supporting the engagement of lateralized temporo-parietal cortices in computations. These effects are discussed by considering advances in syntactic theory and the biology of language readiness. Full article

Orthographic depth varies across alphabetic writing systems and plays a central role in spelling acquisition. In immersion education, a second language (L2) is used as a language of instruction for part of the curriculum, such that learners are primarily confronted with its writing system during the initial stages of literacy development. This early exposure may shape the spelling strategies subsequently deployed in the first language (L1), which also corresponds to the dominant language of the surrounding community. This article provides a structured review of key mechanisms involved in spelling acquisition, orthographic depth, and cross-linguistic influence in bilingual and immersion contexts. On this basis, it proposes a conceptual and predictive framework specifying how the orthographic depth of the instructional language modulates spelling strategies and spelling error profiles in L1. Focusing on French-speaking pupils enrolled in immersion programmes with L2s characterised by either predominantly phonemic or opaque orthographies, the framework integrates strategy-based models of orthographic development. The model distinguishes phonological, lexical, and morphographic components of orthographic knowledge and predicts that immersion in phonemic-dominant orthographies favours phonographic dominance and regularisation patterns, whereas immersion in opaque orthographies promotes greater reliance on lexical–orthographic strategies, resulting in distinct and systematic spelling error profiles in French. Full article

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transitioning from a specialized technology to an everyday socio-technical infrastructure, yet public acceptance remains shaped by a trade-off between perceived benefits and risks. This study examines how individuals from varied demographic and professional backgrounds perceive, use, and evaluate AI-enabled systems using a mixed-method research design. A bilingual (English/Arabic) online survey ($N=115$) captured demographics, awareness, usage patterns, perceived impact, self-assessed understanding, domain-specific trust, concerns, and attitudes toward regulation, complemented by open-ended reflections. In parallel, semi-structured face-to-face interviews provided deeper insight into AI conceptualization, lived experiences, trust boundaries, and conditions for acceptable use. Quantitative results show frequent AI engagement embedded in daily life, with strong domain dependence in trust: education is the most trusted domain, whereas healthcare and finance attract substantially lower trust. Prominent concerns include overreliance (“brain rot”), privacy and data misuse, job displacement, and misinformation. Support for stronger AI regulation is high, indicating that governance is viewed as a prerequisite for sustainable adoption rather than a constraint on innovation. Qualitative findings triangulate these results, revealing a pattern of conditional acceptanceunderstood as the simultaneous valuation of AI’s practical utility alongside the imposition of explicit trust prerequisites whereby participants value AI for productivity and learning support while emphasizing confidentiality, transparency, human oversight in high-stakes contexts, and clear boundaries to mitigate misuse and erosion of human judgment. The study offers empirically grounded insights for policymakers, educators, and industry stakeholders into how AI acceptance is negotiated through utility, literacy, perceived risk, and expectations of accountability. Full article

Digital participation in higher education increasingly depends on flexible short-format learning designs that support engagement under varied access conditions. This study examines Moodle-supported microlearning through an extended Information Systems Success (IS-Success) framework and treats sustainable digital participation as an interpretive lens rather than a directly measured construct. The model analyzes how system quality, information quality, service quality, privacy and ethics, training readiness, engagement, and barriers/access relate to satisfaction, usage intention, and perceived learning outcomes. Data were collected through a bilingual Arabic–English questionnaire from 219 undergraduate students at the University of Kassala, Sudan, and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that system quality, information quality, service quality, and privacy and ethics were positively associated with satisfaction. Satisfaction, training readiness, and engagement positively predicted usage intention, whereas barriers/access negatively predicted usage intention. Satisfaction and usage intention were positively associated with perceived learning outcomes. The model showed acceptable explanatory and predictive power. The findings suggest that perceived microlearning success depends on platform quality, ethical confidence, learner readiness, engagement, and access conditions. The results should be interpreted as perception-based associations rather than evidence of causal effects, objective academic performance, or long-term educational sustainability. Full article

As online social networks (OSNs) evolve into multilingual ecosystems, rumors can cross language boundaries through translation and bilingual re-expression, increasing governance difficulty. To characterize cross-lingual coupling and response delay, this study proposes a time-delay S2LCHR dynamical model for bilingual OSNs, in which the coupled spreader state C describes cross-lingual coupled rumor transmission and a fixed response delay represents cross-lingual comprehension, judgment, and re-expression. The basic reproduction number $R_0$ is derived using the next-generation matrix method. Lyapunov analysis, the Routh–Hurwitz criterion, characteristic-equation analysis, and numerical simulations are combined to examine equilibrium stability, delay-induced Hopf bifurcation, parameter sensitivity, and social-impact indicators. A real-world aggregate trend-fitting case study using English–Spanish COVID-19-related tweet data is further conducted to assess empirical plausibility. The results show that $R_0$ determines the threshold between rumor extinction and persistence in the delay-free system, while an excessive response delay can destabilize the rumor-prevailing equilibrium and induce bounded oscillatory behavior. Sensitivity and social-impact analyses indicate that $\alpha$ and $\beta$ promote rumor persistence, whereas $\sigma$ and $\phi$ associated with state C are key inhibitory factors. These findings suggest that coupled spreaders should be prioritized in cross-lingual rumor governance. Full article

Urban ethnic enclaves are historically layered cultural landscapes whose public signage encodes community vitality, power relations, and cultural identity in ways that conventional land-use inventories cannot capture. Addressing the absence of scalable, longitudinal computational methods for monitoring such at-risk landscapes, this study develops a reproducible digital-mapping pipeline that operationalises linguistic-landscape analysis as a cultural-heritage monitoring tool for heritage-sensitive land-use planning. Taking Daerim-dong—Seoul’s primary Joseonjok (Korean Chinese) enclave—as a case, we process 38,640 Kakao Map Road View images across 17 annual cross-sections (2008–2024). The pipeline integrates four methodological components: a bounded Spatial Weighting Correction that adjusts for uneven historical coverage; zero-shot semantic sign-function classification using the Qwen2-7B-Instruct model; an exploratory Difference-in-Differences design probing the 2016–2017 THAAD geopolitical disruption; and a Boundary Permeability Ratio (BPR) for tracking enclave edge dynamics. The results document a three-phase trajectory—rapid bilingual expansion (2008–2016), stabilisation (2016–2019), and a COVID-period contraction (2019–2024)—and show that raw sign-count metrics can systematically overstate minority-language decline during economic crises once crisis-period signage is isolated. The BPR is presented as a candidate leading indicator of enclave contraction whose operational thresholds remain to be calibrated through multi-enclave validation. As a methodological proof-of-concept, the study illustrates how computational street-view analysis can support cultural-landscape governance, offering urban planners and heritage managers an actionable, transparent baseline for monitoring at-risk multicultural urban landscapes. Full article

This study focuses on the Spanish spoken in the Basque Autonomous Community, where Spanish and Basque, two typologically distant languages, have coexisted for centuries. The research explores how specific morphosyntactic features result from pattern replication, i.e., changes in the target language (Spanish) inspired by structures of the source language (Basque) and triggered by the communicative needs of bilingual speakers. The analysis focuses on three key features: object-verb word order, non-standard gender agreement constructions, and the use of le/s for human female direct objects. Data from previous studies support these features as contact-induced changes, as they are either absent in non-contact varieties or follow different constraints. Specifically, in the Basque-Spanish variety, these phenomena exhibit higher frequency, a simplification of a paradigm, and the relaxation of grammatical restrictions, frequently aligning with Basque structures. Beyond internal factors, other empirical evidence supports contact as the primary driver. The paper explains how linguistic convergence leads to a shifting of constraints on these phenomena to reduce the cognitive load of processing two languages. Ultimately, these contact-induced changes went beyond individual bilingual strategies to become established features of the wider community, eventually reaching even monolingual Spanish speakers. Full article

Large language models (LLMs) increasingly require robust evaluation under realistic instruction-following conditions, particularly for fine-tuned task-specific adapters operating in multilingual environments. This study proposes a scenario-adaptive evaluation framework for assessing the reliability of fine-tuned text models across two application regimes: misinformation detection (disinfo) and knowledge-grounded factual biography generation (heroes). The framework integrates automated generation of balanced risk-oriented scenarios, bilingual evaluation in English and Ukrainian, the LLM-as-a-Judge paradigm, and multidimensional robustness analysis through the Alignment Robustness Index (ARI). Six LoRA-adapted models based on Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct, SmolLM2-1.7B-Instruct, and TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0 were evaluated. The implemented pipeline generated 2052 scenarios and 6156 model responses, producing a final bilingual analytical subset of 4104 judged records. Experimental results show that task-specific adaptation produces task-dependent robustness profiles. In the disinfo case, Qwen2.5-3B achieved the strongest overall performance, combining the highest safety and classification accuracy. In contrast, the heroes case revealed a more compressed and multidimensional vulnerability space without a single dominant model. The results further demonstrate the importance of multilingual evaluation, as weaker adapters exhibited more pronounced cross-lingual safety gaps. Overall, the framework provides a reproducible and practically applicable methodology for evaluating fine-tuned language models under imperfect instruction conditions. Full article

Background: Bilingual children are frequently exposed to accented speech, yet it remains unclear how accent familiarity affects their ability to learn new words. This study examined Spanish–English bilingual children’s (n = 46) novel word learning from speakers with familiar and unfamiliar accents and investigated individual differences related to learning from accented input. Methods: Children completed an experimental word-learning task in which they learned novel word–object pairings produced by three speakers: a speaker of General American English, a Spanish-accented English speaker (familiar accent), and a Korean-accented English speaker (unfamiliar accent). Individual-differences analyses examined associations between learning outcomes and children’s language skills, length of bilingualism, and characteristics of language input in the home environment. Results: Children showed more difficulty learning novel words from the unfamiliar Korean-accented speaker than from the familiar Spanish-accented speaker and the General American-English speaker. Language skills were associated with learning from the familiar accent but not the unfamiliar accent. Length of bilingualism was positively associated with learning from the unfamiliar accent, whereas greater strength of foreign-accented English in the environment was negatively associated with learning from the native speaker. Conclusions: These findings suggest that accent familiarity facilitates bilingual children’s word learning and that experience-related factors contribute to their ability to accommodate accent variability. Full article

Translation and post-editing both integrate reading into bilingual text production, yet it remains unclear which computational predictors from multilingual pre-trained models best account for translators’ reading patterns across task types and translation directions. We recruited twenty-six Chinese L1 translators who completed en→zh and zh→en translation and post-editing tasks, yielding 104 eye-tracking sessions. Dependent measures were source reading time (TrtS), target reading time (TrtT), and target production duration (Dur). Predictors were derived from two model architectures, a decoder-only language model (LM) and an encoder–decoder neural machine translation (NMT) model, and they included monolingual surprisal, translation surprisal with source context, and attention features computed from models’ internal weights. Analyses showed that LM surprisal provided the strongest account of target reading, while source reading was most strongly predicted by encoder self-attention with LM surprisal, a robust secondary predictor, and target production duration drew on both LM and NMT translation surprisal. Direction effects were broader than task effects, especially on target measures. These findings suggest that although translation reading is bilingual in task structure, cumulative reading time is best explained by monolingual LM surprisal, whereas production duration additionally reflects NMT translation surprisal and revision behavior. Full article

Tourism destinations increasingly serve both domestic and international visitors whose geographic behaviors may differ substantially, yet most analytical frameworks treat visitor distributions as spatially homogeneous. Few studies compare how domestic and international tourists cluster spatially within the same destination. Those differences matter enormously for destinations where visitor segments follow distinct geographic patterns. We analyzed 1547 bilingual TripAdvisor reviews from Chanthaburi Province, Thailand (2014–2023), combining Random Forest classification (83.26% accuracy for Thai, 96.45% for English) with Incremental Spatial Autocorrelation (ISA), Global Moran’s I, and Getis-Ord Gi* hotspot analysis. International visitors clustered more intensely overall (I = 0.253 vs. 0.213), but domestic visitors spread across all six tourism areas including agrotourism, while international visitors were concentrated in heritage, coastal recreation, and nature-temple zones with agrotourism absent. Both segments clustered strongly at cultural heritage sites and at beach destinations, contradicting the common assumption that coastal areas primarily serve international visitors, while agrotourism clustered exclusively among domestic visitors despite active policy promotion. These patterns reflect differential information access rather than attraction quality. The zone-level framework is transferable to secondary heritage destinations across Southeast Asia, where platform-based monitoring offers a practical alternative to large-scale visitor surveys. Full article