Bilinguals in the making: Language exposure and neural specialization in the first years of life

Descrizione del progetto

Prevedere i risultati linguistici del futuro mediante un’esposizione precoce al bilinguismo?

Crescere in un ambiente bilingue non è più una rarità, tanto che circa la metà dei bambini nel mondo impara due o più lingue nelle prime fasi della propria vita. Secondo precedenti ipotesi, l’esposizione al bilinguismo causerebbe un ritardo nello sviluppo del linguaggio; ciononostante, tali effetti non sono stati osservati, motivo per cui i modelli teorici esistenti in materia di acquisizione del linguaggio non riescono a fornire previsioni accurate sullo sviluppo linguistico futuro dei bambini esposti a un ambiente multilingue. Il progetto Bilingual-LENS, finanziato dal CER, mira a studiare l’esposizione precoce al bilinguismo, nonché la sua qualità e natura, ricorrendo all’impiego di tecniche di neuroimaging, neurofisiologiche e osservazionali con l’obiettivo di studiare gli effetti esercitati dall’esposizione al linguaggio e dallo sviluppo neurale sui bambini dalla nascita fino ai due anni di età.

Obiettivo

Most infants in the world grow up acquiring two languages, and they succeed in this task despite receiving language exposure that is quantitatively and qualitatively different from monolinguals. Based on previous monolingual-centered research, bilingual exposure patterns are expected to lead to delays in the acquisition of language-specific competence, but this effect is not observed across bilingual populations. Thus, existing language acquisition frameworks do not allow for accurate prediction of individual language outcomes for infants growing up in complex multilingual environments. Bilingual-LENS is the first large-scale longitudinal and multidisciplinary investigation to determine the quantity, quality, and timing of early bilingual exposure that accurately predict bilingual infants’ individual language outcomes.
I will combine neuroimaging, neurophysiological, and observational methods in three longitudinal studies to assess bilingual infants’ language development from birth until 24 months of age. I will focus on three core components: (1) neural maturation, (2) stimulation through language exposure, and importantly, (3) the maturation-exposure interaction. Specifically, I will investigate the development of the maturation-exposure interaction over time, and its role in the continuous fine-tuning of infants’ perceptual sensitivities to their native languages and their developing dual-language competence. I predict that individual differences in the quantity and quality of infants’ speech input will determine their neural specialization for language processing with consequences for linguistic attainment later in childhood. As a result, Bilingual-LENS will capture bilingual language development as it unfolds over time, and it will produce a novel framework of language acquisition that systematically weighs the maturational and environmental factors predicting individual children’s dual-language proficiency.