Does language proficiency modulate oculomotor control? Evidence from Hindi–English bilinguals

Though many previous studies have reported enhanced cognitive control in bilinguals, few have investigated if such control is modulated by language proficiency. Here, we examined the inhibitory control of high and low proficient Hindi–English bilinguals on an oculomotor Stroop task. Subjects were as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBilingualism (Cambridge, England) Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 771 - 781
Main Authors SINGH, NIHARIKA, MISHRA, RAMESH KUMAR
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.10.2012
Subjects
Advantages
Age
Archives & records
Attention
Bilingualism
Color
Conflict resolution
Economic Status
Education
English
English (Second Language)
English language
Error Patterns
Evidence
Eye Movements
Hindi
Hindi language
Indo European Languages
Inhibition
Interference (Learning)
Language Proficiency
Learning transfer
Linguistics
Listening Comprehension
Motor Reactions
Multilingualism
Native Language
Native Speakers
Neurosciences
Programming
Reaction time
Second Language Instruction
Second Language Learning
Stimuli
Stroop Task
Task Analysis
Visual Discrimination
Word meaning
India
oculomotor control
saccades
language proficiency
bilingualism
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Summary:Though many previous studies have reported enhanced cognitive control in bilinguals, few have investigated if such control is modulated by language proficiency. Here, we examined the inhibitory control of high and low proficient Hindi–English bilinguals on an oculomotor Stroop task. Subjects were asked to make a saccade as fast as possible towards the appropriate colour patch among competitors and distractors suppressing an eye movement evoked by the meaning of the word. High proficient bilinguals quickly oriented their attention towards the correct colour patch while effectively controlling the Stroop interference compared with low proficient subjects, on both colour and direction words. High proficient bilinguals also had fewer saccadic errors and demonstrated overall faster saccadic latency on all trial types. The results provide strong evidence for enhanced oculomotor control in proficient bilinguals compared with the less proficient ones.
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ISSN:1366-7289
1469-1841
DOI:10.1017/S1366728912000065