Language use affects proficiency in Italian-Spanish bilinguals irrespective of age of second language acquisition

• Autores: Fabrizio De Carli, Barbara Dessi, Manuela Mariani, Nicola Girtler, Alberto Greco, Guido Rodriguez, Laura Salmon, Mara Morelli
• Localización: Bilingualism: Language and cognition, ISSN 1366-7289, Vol. 18, Nº 2, 2015 (Ejemplar dedicado a: L3 acquisition: a focus on cognitive approaches), págs. 324-339
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The role of age of acquisition (AoA) in reaching native-like proficiency in second language is controversial. The existence of a critical period and the effect of AoA have been questioned by studies testing lexical and/or morphosyntactic skills, and by functional brain exploration. The aim of this study was to verify the effect of AoA and language practice on proficiency in a bilingual pragmatic task and its relationship with cognitive skills. The study involved a group of Italian–Spanish bilinguals, classified according to their AoA and language use. All participants performed a pragmatic bilingual test and a battery of cognitive tests. A multivariate analysis showed significant effects of language use and cognitive skills and a non-significant effect of AoA. These results indicate that continued language practice is a major factor influencing high bilingual proficiency, irrespective of AoA, suggesting that proficiency may be weakened when bilingual experience becomes occasional or ceases.