Browsing by Author "AKTAN-ERCIYES, ASLI"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

The Effects of Second Language Proficiency and Language Distance on Young Adults' Executive Functioning Performance
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2022) Betül Firdevs, Zengin; AKTAN-ERCIYES, ASLI
The bilingual advantage hypothesis suggests that knowing and controlling more than one language enhances cognitive capacities. While there are studies that have shown a positive relationship between bilingualism and various cognitive factors there is also a growing literature finding no difference between monolinguals and bilinguals. Finding pure monolinguals has become almost impossible, especially in the young adult population. Hence, this study aims to investigate two bilingual groups that have different genetic language distances between their first language (L1) and second language (L2) (i.e., L1-Turkish-L2-English and L1-Turkish-L2-Arabic) and examine whether language proficiency plays a role in task performances of executive functioning (henceforth EF). The sample of the study consisted of 108 participants with Turkish as their first language, 55 of which had English as their second language (Female = 40, Male = 15, Mage = 22.96) and 53 with Arabic as their L2 (Female = 40, Male = 13, Mage = 22.05). We collected data in two sessions; the first session included computerized versions of the Stroop task as a measure of inhibition, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task for cognitive flexibility and 2-Back for verbal working memory and both the forward and backward Corsi Block tests for spatial working memory. The second session included the second language proficiency task PPVT-IV, Penn Matrix Analysis Test (PMAT24) as a measure of non-verbal reasoning, and the letter verbal fluency task to control for L1 fluency. The findings suggest that L2 proficiency was not a significant predictor of EF task performance in our sample. Additionally, the genetic language distance score in our study was based on how distant the languages originated from one another. However different aspects of language distance such as orthography and word borrowing can play a role in how language distance effects EF performance therefore, they can be considered for future studies.
Left To Right or Right To Left? Effect of Writing Direction on Time Perception in Bilingual Adults
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2022) ALTIN, ELİF; AKTAN-ERCIYES, ASLI
How do we perceive time? Is there a flow of time, and if so, does it have a direction? Questions such as how time is perceived, expressed, and its relationship with language and culture has been extensively investigated. Individuals need physical world and concrete concepts (e.g., calendars, clocks, timelines) to understand and represent abstract concepts. Spatialization of time, which is a highly abstract concept, is not independent from reading & writing habits. While previous research demonstrated that time can be represented on several axes (vertical, horizontal, and sagittal), this study focused on the horizontal axis and the relationship between writing direction and spatial time representation in three different bilingual groups (L1-Turkish – L2-English, L1- Turkish – L2-Arabic, L1-Arabic – L2-Turkish). We aimed to investigate (1) if the bias parallel to writing direction is replicable in Turkish-Arabic sample, (2) whether learning another language written in a different direction changes the perception of time direction, and (3) which language dominates the directional bias for participants who are familiar with writing in both directions. We examined the effect of L2 writing direction on bilinguals in three different fields (spatial, pictorial, and verbal) based on percentage of time arrangement (spatial pointing task) and reaction time (pictorial and verbal time flow tasks) measurements. Pictorial and verbal tasks showed that regardless of language group, congruent trials were responded faster than incongruent trials indicating a tendency to represent time in line with L1. Spatial pointing task revealed that L1-Turkish speakers tended to arrange time from left to right, and L2 influenced the L1 bias only for the L1-Arabic – L2-Turkish group. This finding suggests that acquired writing habits can influence spatial representation of time when L2 is the society language. Overall findings indicate that L1-writing direction is a determining factor for spatio-temporal representation and the influence of L2 depends on other factors.
The Relationship Between Bilingualism and Creativity in Preschool Children
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2022) KARATAŞ, Pınar; AKTAN-ERCIYES, ASLI
Creativity is producing novel ideas and combining unrelated concepts to generate an original product (Guilford, 1967). Association between bilingualism and creativity can differ depending on the types of creativity (e.g., verbal and figural creativity). Earlier research agrees on a positive relationship between bilingualism and figural creativity; however, there are some discrepancies in the relationship between bilingualism and verbal creativity. Some suggest that bilingual individuals have poorer achievement on verbal creativity tasks; others discuss that bilingual individuals who have high L2 proficiency (second language proficiency) have better performance on verbal creativity tasks. Another aspect of creativity research examines the relationship between executive functions and creativity. Research findings vary on the association between verbal and figural creativity and three core executive functions. Moreover, studies show that bilingualism and executive functions are related. The present study intends to investigate the relationship between bilingualism and creativity taking into account the associations with the executive functions in preschool children. Fifty-six preschool children aged 4-6 (Mage= 65 months) participated in the study. Story Completion Task, Verbal Fluency Task, and Test of Creative Imaginary Abilities were administered to children to measure verbal and figural creativity. Children completed inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory tasks, and language measures. The results suggest that verbal creativity and L2 proficiency are positively related. However, there was no significant association between Verbal Fluency Task and L2 proficiency. Figural creativity was positively related to bilingualism, and highly L2 proficient participants showed better performance on the Test of Creative Imaginary Abilities. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control with any creativity task. On the other hand, working memory capacity was positively related to figural creativity performance while it was negatively associated with verbal creativity. Overall, L2 proficiency was positively related to verbal and figural creativity; on the other hand, working memory was positively associated with figural creativity.