Bilingual Effect on Cognition: A Study on Azari- Farsi Bilinguals

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 MA. Student of General Linguistics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, I.R. Iran

2 Associate Professor, General Linguistics Department, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, I.R. Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, I.R. Iran

Abstract

Cognitive aspects of bilingualism have been recently studied by many
researchers and lots of them have reported bilingual advantage over
monolinguals in some aspects of cognition. Given the multitude of bilinguals in
Iran, further and deeper studies of various aspects of this phenomenon seem to
require. In order to study bilingualism in Iran from a cognitive point of view,
the present study examines the effect of bilingualism on executive functions
among Azari- Persian bilinguals. To serve this purpose, Wisconsin Card Sorting
task was administered to 72 university students (36 bilinguals and 36
monolinguals). Results suggested bilingual advantage in executive functions in
general and flexibility in particular. While the findings confirm those of
previous similar studies, they can indicate that bilingual advantage is an
outcome of bilingualism in general and is not dependent on the types of
languages used.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Foreign Language Research
Volume 3, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
Spring & Summer
April 2014
Pages 1-18

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