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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

Published on: February 26, 2020

Dual language exposure and early bilingual development.

Erika Hoff¹, Cynthia Core, Silvia Place

¹Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL 33314, USA. ehoff@fau.edu

Journal of Child Language

|March 23, 2011

Summary

Bilingual children showed slower single-language development than monolingual peers. However, total vocabulary was comparable, and bilingual language acquisition depended on language input amounts.

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Area of Science:

Child Development
Linguistics
Psychology

Background:

Conflicting theories exist on bilingualism's impact on language development rate.
Previous research lacks consensus on bilingual children's linguistic milestones.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare language development in high-SES bilingual and monolingual children.
To investigate the relationship between language input and bilingual development.

Main Methods:

Compared monolingual and bilingual children aged 1 year 10 months to 2 years 6 months.
Assessed vocabulary and grammar in single and total language measures.
Correlated language measures with the proportion of input in each language.

Main Results:

Monolingual children outperformed bilingual children in single-language vocabulary and grammar.
Bilingual and monolingual children showed comparable total vocabulary size.
Language development in bilingual children was linked to the relative amount of input received in each language.

Conclusions:

Bilingualism may influence the rate of development in individual languages.
Total vocabulary acquisition is not necessarily delayed in bilingual children.
Language input is a critical factor in shaping bilingual language development.