When bilinguals speak, both fluent language systems become activated in parallel and exert an influence on speech production. As a consequence of maintaining separation between the two linguistic systems, bilinguals are purported to develop enhanced executive control functioning. Like bilinguals, individuals who speak two dialects must also maintain separation between two linguistic systems, albeit to a lesser degree. This line of research is dedicated to investigating parallels and differences between bilingual and bidialectal cognitive and linguistic processing. We aim to position bidialectalism on the monolingual-bilingual continuum.
Relevant Publications:
Heggdal Lønes, E., Kamide, Y., & Melinger, A. (2023). Speaking in Dialects: How dialect words are represented and selected for production. Psychology of Learning and Motivation. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2023.02.003
Melinger, A. (2021). Do elevators compete with lifts?: Selecting Dialect Alternatives, Cognition, 206. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104471
Melinger, A. (2018). Distinguishing languages from dialects: a litmus test using the Picture-word interference task, Cognition, 172, 73-83. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.12.006
Ross, J. & Melinger, A. (2017). Bilingual advantage, bi-dialectal advantage or neither?: Comparing performance across 3 tests of executive function in middle childhood. Developmental Science, 20(4), 1-21. DOI: 10.1111/desc.12405
Martin, C.D., Garcia, X., Potter, D., Melinger, A., & Costa, A. (2015). Holiday or vacation? The processing of variation in vocabulary across dialects. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1080/2327398.2015.1100750
Eisner, F., Melinger, A., & Weber, A. (2013). Constraints on the transfer of perceptual learning in accented speech. Frontiers in Cognition. 4:148. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00148
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