The Relationship between Bilingualism and Control Aspect of intelligence: A Study of Persian-Speaking Individuals

Abstract

Introduction: The study of the relation between Bilingualism and the possible impact it might have on control aspect of intelligence of adults in general and a preschool child in particular has always been the subject of controversy for the researchers. This research, following the related findings and gaps in the literature and inspiring from Craik and Bialystok’s (2005) framework, tries to divulge whether bilingualism could be related to control aspect of intelligence. As our secondary goal, we also tried to see whether there are correlations between different tests assessing control. Methods: In doing so, 10 age- gender matched monolinguals and the same matched bilinguals have been selected. Moreover, literacy and socio-economic status of subjects have been controlled. The tests for assessing subjects’ executive control included Day-Night Stroop, the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), and A Computerized Attention Network Test (ANT). Results: The results showed that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in all control tests except DCCS. Conclusion: Bilingualism could provide children with executive control advantage promoting them in tasks demanding thought and action control.