The well achieving, but slow responding, bidialectally literate of Norway

Structural and Developmental Aspects of Bidialectalism Tromsø, 26th of October 2017 Øystein A. Vangsnes1, 2 Göran Söderlund2

1UiT The Arctic University of Norway 2Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Bilingualism has developmental effects

Enhanced executive functions: (e.g. Bialystok, E. 2006; Bialystok, E. 2010; Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Ryan, J. 2006; Gollan, Tamar H., & Ferreira, Victor S. 2009) Earlier acquisition of Theory of Mind: (e.g. Kobayashi, C., Glover, G. H., & Temple, E. 2008; Meristo, M. Et al., 2007; Perner, J., & Aichhorn, M. 2008; Rubio-Fernandez & Glucksberg 2012) Improved metalinguistic competence: (e.g. Bialystok, Craik, & Luk, 2008; Costa et al., 2012; Costa, Roelstraete, & Hartsuiker, 2006; Costa, Santesteban, & Cano, 2005)

Norwegian comes in two written varieties – for historical reasons

•  5.2 mill Norwegians: 350k use Nynorsk only (privately), 250k use both Nynorsk and Bokmål; à600k active Nynorsk users (Grepstad, 2012, 2015)

•  12,5% in elementary and lower secondary school have Nynorsk as their primary variety.

•  Nynorsk mostly used in rural and semi-rural areas of Western Norway and adjacent areas.

•  “Nynorsk pupils” acquire Bokmål simultaneously and obtain Bidialectal Literacy (Wolfram 1991).

Linguistic distance: not huge! Nynorsk: Nynorsk normaltalemål er lite utbreidd utanfor situasjonar der ein er bunden av manus, som nyheitsopplesarar og skodespelarar.

Bokmål: Nynorsk normaltalemål er lite utbredt utenfor situasjoner der man er bundet av manus, som nyhetsopplesere og skuespillere.

Swedish: Nynorskt normaltalspråk är lite spritt utanför situationer där man är bunden av manus, som nyhetsuppläsare och skådespelare.

Danish: Nynorsk normaltalesprog er lidt udbredt udenfor situationer hvor man er bundet av manus, som nyhedsoplæsere og skuespillere.

‘Nynorsk normalized speech is not used much outside of situations where one is using a manuscript, such as news readers and actors.’

The «Nynorsk effect» on scholastic achievement

Inmunicipa

li+eswithmo

rethan50%

Nynorsk

pupils,ther

esultsonst

andardised

testsinread

ing,

arithme+c,a

ndEnglishi

sbe>ertha

nexpected

.

Table 3: Regression results for Norwegian national tests in the years 2009-2012 by linguistic variety and SES factors for 416 Norwegian municipalities.

Model M1 M2 M3 M4

SomeNynorsk(10-50%) -0.069 0.043 0.021 0.011MuchNynorsk(>50%) -0.039 0.094** 0.057** 0.043†EducaDonlevel(%) 0.018** 0.018** 0.018**

Femaleemployment(%) 0.009** 0.006*

Singleparents(%) -0.006*

Constant 3.078** 2.547 1.867 2.188

R2 0.011 0.707 0.724 0.731

Note:*=p<0.05and**=p<0.01(bilateraltests),†=p<0.05(unilateraltest)

Hypothesis

The scholastic effect is caused by the different language environment for the bidialectally literate pupils; it is a transfer effect of a richer linguistic environment yielding a beneficial cognitive development which in turn plays out on the academic performance.

bidialectal literacy à cognitive enhancement à better academic performance

How can we investigate (falsify) this?

Psychometric study

Nord-Trøndelag vs.

Sogn og Fjordane

•  Comparison between the counties Sogn og Fjordane (Nynorsk) and Nord-Trøndelag (Bokmål)

•  1st and 8th grade •  About 100 pupils per grade, per county •  (Also about 40 pupils in 5th grade) •  Cognitive tests:

–  spanboard –  (fish) flanker –  (day/night) Stroop –  Lexical Decision task

•  Testing done in the school year 2013/2014

The well achieving, but slow responding, bidialectally literate of Norway

(Söderlund & Vangsnes, in revision; Frontiers)

Bilingualismandgroupassignment

Familydataandra+ngsGrade1

Nynorsk(N=98)

Bokmål(N=96)

Nynorskvs.Bokmål(p-values)

GenderN(M/F) 98(47/51) 96(54/42) ns**(.249)Age 6.6 6.7 ns.(.311)Mum(work/nowork) - - datamissingParents(two/one) 88/10 76/20 ns**(.061)Otherlanguage 8 7 ns**(.252)Schoolperformance*(1-3)above,average,below

2.2 2.2 ns.(.638)

WriDngability*(1-7)1=low;7=high

4.4 4.4 ns.(.773)

A\enDon(1-7)1=a\enDve;7ina\enDve

3.7 4.1 ns.(.056)

Grade5GenderN(M/F) 39(18/21) 40(21/19) ns**(.575)Age 10.5 10.7 ns.(.068)Mum(work/nowork) 31/2 36/2 ns**(.725)Parents(two/one) 32/7 28/12 ns**(.528)Otherlanguage 3 3 ns**(.974)Schoolperformance*(1-3)above,average,below

2.2 2.3 ns.(.534)

WriDngability*(1-7)1=low;7=high

5.4 5.4 ns.(.885)

A\enDon(1-7)1=a\enDve;7ina\enDve

2.6 2.9 ns.(.409)

Grade8 GenderN(M/F) 96(47/49) 96(43/53) ns**(.564)Age 13.5 13.8 (<.005)Mum(work/nowork) 83/8 83/10 ns**(.962)Parents(two/one) 64/32 64/32 ns**(.197)Otherlanguage 8 5 ns**(.376)Schoolperformance*(1-3)above,average,below

2.3 2.3 ns.(.439)

WriDngability*(1-7)1=low;7=high

4.4 4.5 ns.(.808)

A\enDon(1-7)1=a\enDve;7ina\enDve

3.8 3.6 ns.(.357)

ParDcipantCharacterisDcs

spanboard

Dependent variable: Number correctly recalled dots

Instruction: remember location and order of the dots as they appear

Visuo-spatial working memory

NT = Nord Trøndelag

SF = Sogn og Fjordane

1 grade N= 98; 96 5 grade N= 39; 40 8 grade N= 94; 96

Results

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

SF1Grade

NT1Grade

SF5Grade

NT5Grade

SF8Grade

NT8Grade

Num

bercorrectlyre

calleddo

ts

County/Grade

Spanboard ns.

ns.

ns.

Flanker test – look at the one in the middle

Congruent - incongruent

Flanker test – look at the “flankers”

Congruent - incongruent

Nord Trøndelag

Sogn og Fjordane

1 Grade N= 98; 95 5 Grade N= 39; 39 8 Grade N= 95; 95

p=.058

ns.

500

700

900

1100

1300

1500

SF1GradeNT1Grade SF5GradeNT5Grade SF8GradeNT8Grade

Meanrespon

se+meinm

s

County/Grade

Flankermeanresponse+me

p=.002

Maineffects:Grade p<.0005Languagegroup p=.003

Fish flanker – congruent vs. incongruent

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

Congruent Incongruent Congruent Incongruent Congruent Incongruent

1stGrade 5thGrade 8thGrade

MEA

NRESPO

NSETIM

EINSEC

ONDS

Nynorsk Bokmålns.

ns.

ns. p=.071

p=.003 p=.017

1 Grade N= 98; 95 5 Grade N= 39; 39 8 Grade N= 95; 95

Day – Night Stroop test sun => night moon => day boy => girl

Dependent variables: Number correct Number errors Response time Interference and inhibition

Nord Trøndelag

Sogn og Fjordane

1 Grade N= 98; 95 5 Grade N= 30; 38 8 Grade N= 94; 96

ns.

p=.003

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

SF1Grade

NT1Grade

SF5Grade

NT5Grade

SF8Grade

NT8Grade

Respon

se+meinse

cond

s

County/Grade

Stroopresponse+me

p=.013

InteracDongradeandlanguagep=.055

Maineffects:Gradep<.0005Languagep=.003

Lexical Decision task

Tendens Frats Hage Bynt Rykte Salat

Instruction: 60 words 2 sec/word, (40 words, 20 non-words) Cilck (Y) for words; Click (N) for non-words Dependent variable: hits, mistakes, response time

Nord Trøndelag

Sogn og Fjordane 5 klasse N= 39; 39 8 klasse N= 95; 95

p=.074

500

700

900

1100

1300

1500

SF5Grade NT5Grade SF8Grade NT8Grade

Respon

se+meinse

cond

s

County/Grade

Lexicaldecsionresponse+me(words+non-words)ns.

Nord Trøndelag

Sogn og Fjordane 5 Grade N= 39; 39 8 Grade N= 95; 95

ns.

p=.041

500

700

900

1100

1300

1500

SF5Grade NT5Grade SF8Grade NT8Grade

Respon

se+meinse

cond

s

County/Grade

Onlycorrectwords,response+me

Summary

•  1st grade = no difference •  Accuracy (no. of correct and wrong) = same across ±bidialectal in all

grades

•  8th grade = difference in Response Time •  Results for 5th grade show a tendency towards the results for 8th grade

•  Is nynorsk a drawback??

Score on National tests (reading, arithmetic, English, grade 8)

SubjectGroup

N ReadingM(SD)

N Arithme+cM(SD)

N EnglishM(SD)

Nynorsk(NyN)Bokmål(Bok)NyNvs.Bokd

8493

30.8(7.6)30.3(8.1)ns.(.689)

8492

33.3(9.9)30.0(9.6)p=.024

8593

30.7(11.6)29.4(11.6)ns.(.247)

Correlations

school achievements – response times

Ceiling effects à harder tests

The tests were possibly much to easy for the older children: a clear ceiling effect. Morales et al. (2012): AX-continuous performance task (AX-CPT). “[B]ilinguals performed better than monolinguals in the condition that required a dynamic interaction between proactive and reactive control. Interestingly, this enhanced performance resulted in RTs that were greater in bilinguals than in monolinguals. As Morales et al. explain, inhibition takes time to act, and the larger RTs are likely to reflect a lapse of time where the participant hesitates but then makes the correct decision.”

Bokmål and Nynorsk groups from the same area (decreases effect of region) preliminary data 8th grade Data are yet to be properly analyzed – preliminary findings suggest few effects of ±nynorsk

1)Stroop–classic(BlueXXXXGreen)2)ConDnuousPerformanceTask(CPT)3)LexicalDecisionTask(LDT)4)SpanboardTask

Replication 2016 in Hordaland county