The overarching aim of the proposed research is to understand READING--and the development of the core cognitive, phonological, and syntactic processes that underlie reading-in BILINGUAL children, and adults. Here we investigate the neurodevelopment, neural systems, and functional neuroanatomy of bilingual reading and concomitant cognitive abilities using state-of-the-art neuroimaging and behavioral techniques. Much controversy exists in education, science, and bilingual homes regarding when (what age) to expose young children to two languages and when and how best to teach such children to read in each of their two reading systems, which we address here: (1) Does bilingual language exposure give rise to concomitant cognitive advantages (such as select enhancement of attention and inhibition abilities), what is its basis, and does it positively transfer to other domains of learning such as reading? (2) Is it best to teach bilingual children their two reading systems sequentially (first one, then the other) or at the same time (simultaneously)? (3) What is the neurodevelopmental time course, functional neuroanatomy, and neural systems underlying bilingual children and adults' cognitive attention and inhibition, phonological and syntactic processing that form the heart of reading in each of their two languages? To answer these questions in a manner that is most widely generalizable, our studies involve children and adults across 4 distinct regions of the United States and Canada, whom use among 5 different world languages, including sign languages. The results of these studies will provide fundamental """"""""evidence-based"""""""" knowledge about the multitude of variables (cognitive, phonological, syntactic) underlying skilled reading acquisition in young bilinguals and the developmental trajectories of these important variables to predict better reading outcome. These studies may directly benefit teachers, clinicians, and parents of bilingual children by informing us about when and how best to teach reading to young bilinguals, and they may fundamentally impact educational policy on the teaching of reading in the United States.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01HD045822-04
Application #
7498073
Study Section
Language and Communication Study Section (LCOM)
Program Officer
Mccardle, Peggy D
Project Start
2005-06-01
Project End
2010-05-31
Budget Start
2007-11-06
Budget End
2008-05-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$192,007
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Toronto
Department
Type
DUNS #
259999779
City
Toronto
State
ON
Country
Canada
Zip Code
M5 1-S8
Jasi?ska, Kaja K; Petitto, Laura-Ann (2018) Age of Bilingual Exposure Is Related to the Contribution of Phonological and Semantic Knowledge to Successful Reading Development. Child Dev 89:310-331
Jasi?ska, K K; Berens, M S; Kovelman, I et al. (2017) Bilingualism yields language-specific plasticity in left hemisphere's circuitry for learning to read in young children. Neuropsychologia 98:34-45
Berens, Melody S; Kovelman, Ioulia; Petitto, Laura-Ann (2013) Should bilingual children learn reading in two languages at the same time or in sequence? Biling Res J 36:35-60
Petitto, L A; Berens, M S; Kovelman, I et al. (2012) The ""Perceptual Wedge Hypothesis"" as the basis for bilingual babies' phonetic processing advantage: new insights from fNIRS brain imaging. Brain Lang 121:130-43
Shalinsky, Mark H; Kovelman, Iouila; Berens, Melody S et al. (2009) Exploring Cognitive Functions in Babies, Children & Adults with Near Infrared Spectroscopy. J Vis Exp :
Petitto, Laura-Ann; Dunbar, Kevin Niall (2009) Educational Neuroscience: New Discoveries from Bilingual Brains, Scientific Brains, and the Educated Mind. Mind Brain Educ 3:185-197
Kovelman, Ioulia; Shalinsky, Mark H; White, Katherine S et al. (2009) Dual language use in sign-speech bimodal bilinguals: fNIRS brain-imaging evidence. Brain Lang 109:112-23
Kovelman, Ioulia; Baker, Stephanie A; Petitto, Laura-Ann (2008) Age of first bilingual language exposure as a new window into bilingual reading development. Biling (Camb Engl) 11:203-223
Kovelman, Ioulia; Baker, Stephanie A; Petitto, Laura-Ann (2008) Bilingual and monolingual brains compared: a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of syntactic processing and a possible ""neural signature"" of bilingualism. J Cogn Neurosci 20:153-69
Kovelman, Ioulia; Shalinsky, Mark H; Berens, Melody S et al. (2008) Shining new light on the brain's ""bilingual signature"": a functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy investigation of semantic processing. Neuroimage 39:1457-71

Showing the most recent 10 out of 12 publications