Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals

Suet Mui Ma

doi:doi:10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

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Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals

Suet Mui Ma

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 4)

Received: 1 July 2016 Published: 7 July 2016

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Abstract

Many researchers demonstrated the causal effect of bilingualism for working memory ability; bilinguals have higher executive functions in maintaining higher working memory ability. The present research examined the effect of different language types college bilinguals—Chinese–English (two dispersed languages) and Spanish–English (two similar languages) bilinguals for their working memory abilities. Chinese–English and Spanish–English bilinguals have been compared in many studies. Spanish–English bilinguals are superior learning English with similar consonant, vowel, alphabetic orthographic system and phonetic structure. Therefore, they are outperformed in many language-related tasks because they use less switching and transferring cost in both languages. On the other hand, learning English for Chinese-English bilinguals is much challenging because of the greater language structure differences. They need to visually practice in Chinese logograph and English alphabetic orthographic system to achieve high levels of competencies in both languages. Hence, it implies Chinese–English bilinguals acquire a higher working memory ability to deal with languages and daily tasks than those Spanish–English bilinguals who exercise working memory less in languages. To evaluate how language can shape on human’s working memory ability without language proficiency issue, a visual working memory (Paper Folding Test) was presented. By comparing the visual working memory test scores, Chinese–English bilinguals scored statistically higher than Spanish–English bilinguals, while controlling for gender and self-reported English level. Further research should investigate the relationship between bilingualism and working memory, and continuously assess the definitions on very shared languages and very dispersed languages.

Published in	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
Page(s)	104-112
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bilingualism, Working Memory, Paper Folding Test, Visualization, Chinese–English, Spanish–English

References

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APA Style

Suet Mui Ma. (2016). Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 104-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

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Suet Mui Ma. Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2016, 5(4), 104-112. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

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AMA Style

Suet Mui Ma. Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals. Psychol Behav Sci. 2016;5(4):104-112. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

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@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15,
  author = {Suet Mui Ma},
  title = {Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {104-112},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20160504.15},
  abstract = {Many researchers demonstrated the causal effect of bilingualism for working memory ability; bilinguals have higher executive functions in maintaining higher working memory ability. The present research examined the effect of different language types college bilinguals—Chinese–English (two dispersed languages) and Spanish–English (two similar languages) bilinguals for their working memory abilities. Chinese–English and Spanish–English bilinguals have been compared in many studies. Spanish–English bilinguals are superior learning English with similar consonant, vowel, alphabetic orthographic system and phonetic structure. Therefore, they are outperformed in many language-related tasks because they use less switching and transferring cost in both languages. On the other hand, learning English for Chinese-English bilinguals is much challenging because of the greater language structure differences. They need to visually practice in Chinese logograph and English alphabetic orthographic system to achieve high levels of competencies in both languages. Hence, it implies Chinese–English bilinguals acquire a higher working memory ability to deal with languages and daily tasks than those Spanish–English bilinguals who exercise working memory less in languages. To evaluate how language can shape on human’s working memory ability without language proficiency issue, a visual working memory (Paper Folding Test) was presented. By comparing the visual working memory test scores, Chinese–English bilinguals scored statistically higher than Spanish–English bilinguals, while controlling for gender and self-reported English level. Further research should investigate the relationship between bilingualism and working memory, and continuously assess the definitions on very shared languages and very dispersed languages.},
 year = {2016}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals
AU  - Suet Mui Ma
Y1  - 2016/07/07
PY  - 2016
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 104
EP  - 112
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
AB  - Many researchers demonstrated the causal effect of bilingualism for working memory ability; bilinguals have higher executive functions in maintaining higher working memory ability. The present research examined the effect of different language types college bilinguals—Chinese–English (two dispersed languages) and Spanish–English (two similar languages) bilinguals for their working memory abilities. Chinese–English and Spanish–English bilinguals have been compared in many studies. Spanish–English bilinguals are superior learning English with similar consonant, vowel, alphabetic orthographic system and phonetic structure. Therefore, they are outperformed in many language-related tasks because they use less switching and transferring cost in both languages. On the other hand, learning English for Chinese-English bilinguals is much challenging because of the greater language structure differences. They need to visually practice in Chinese logograph and English alphabetic orthographic system to achieve high levels of competencies in both languages. Hence, it implies Chinese–English bilinguals acquire a higher working memory ability to deal with languages and daily tasks than those Spanish–English bilinguals who exercise working memory less in languages. To evaluate how language can shape on human’s working memory ability without language proficiency issue, a visual working memory (Paper Folding Test) was presented. By comparing the visual working memory test scores, Chinese–English bilinguals scored statistically higher than Spanish–English bilinguals, while controlling for gender and self-reported English level. Further research should investigate the relationship between bilingualism and working memory, and continuously assess the definitions on very shared languages and very dispersed languages.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Suet Mui Ma

Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Laie, Hawaii, United States

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Suet Mui Ma. (2016). Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 104-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Suet Mui Ma. Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2016, 5(4), 104-112. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

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AMA Style

Suet Mui Ma. Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals. Psychol Behav Sci. 2016;5(4):104-112. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15,
  author = {Suet Mui Ma},
  title = {Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals},
  journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {104-112},
  doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20160504.15},
  abstract = {Many researchers demonstrated the causal effect of bilingualism for working memory ability; bilinguals have higher executive functions in maintaining higher working memory ability. The present research examined the effect of different language types college bilinguals—Chinese–English (two dispersed languages) and Spanish–English (two similar languages) bilinguals for their working memory abilities. Chinese–English and Spanish–English bilinguals have been compared in many studies. Spanish–English bilinguals are superior learning English with similar consonant, vowel, alphabetic orthographic system and phonetic structure. Therefore, they are outperformed in many language-related tasks because they use less switching and transferring cost in both languages. On the other hand, learning English for Chinese-English bilinguals is much challenging because of the greater language structure differences. They need to visually practice in Chinese logograph and English alphabetic orthographic system to achieve high levels of competencies in both languages. Hence, it implies Chinese–English bilinguals acquire a higher working memory ability to deal with languages and daily tasks than those Spanish–English bilinguals who exercise working memory less in languages. To evaluate how language can shape on human’s working memory ability without language proficiency issue, a visual working memory (Paper Folding Test) was presented. By comparing the visual working memory test scores, Chinese–English bilinguals scored statistically higher than Spanish–English bilinguals, while controlling for gender and self-reported English level. Further research should investigate the relationship between bilingualism and working memory, and continuously assess the definitions on very shared languages and very dispersed languages.},
 year = {2016}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Working Memory in Spanish–English and Chinese–English Bilinguals
AU  - Suet Mui Ma
Y1  - 2016/07/07
PY  - 2016
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
SP  - 104
EP  - 112
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7845
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.15
AB  - Many researchers demonstrated the causal effect of bilingualism for working memory ability; bilinguals have higher executive functions in maintaining higher working memory ability. The present research examined the effect of different language types college bilinguals—Chinese–English (two dispersed languages) and Spanish–English (two similar languages) bilinguals for their working memory abilities. Chinese–English and Spanish–English bilinguals have been compared in many studies. Spanish–English bilinguals are superior learning English with similar consonant, vowel, alphabetic orthographic system and phonetic structure. Therefore, they are outperformed in many language-related tasks because they use less switching and transferring cost in both languages. On the other hand, learning English for Chinese-English bilinguals is much challenging because of the greater language structure differences. They need to visually practice in Chinese logograph and English alphabetic orthographic system to achieve high levels of competencies in both languages. Hence, it implies Chinese–English bilinguals acquire a higher working memory ability to deal with languages and daily tasks than those Spanish–English bilinguals who exercise working memory less in languages. To evaluate how language can shape on human’s working memory ability without language proficiency issue, a visual working memory (Paper Folding Test) was presented. By comparing the visual working memory test scores, Chinese–English bilinguals scored statistically higher than Spanish–English bilinguals, while controlling for gender and self-reported English level. Further research should investigate the relationship between bilingualism and working memory, and continuously assess the definitions on very shared languages and very dispersed languages.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

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