The impact of multiple language exposure on cognition during childhood: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Jonathan D Clayden; Steven Hope; Froso Argyri; Sezgi Goksan; Artemis Stefani; Li Wei; Frederique Jeanne Liegeois

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1158333

The impact of multiple language exposure on cognition during childhood: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Front Psychol. 2023 May 18:14:1158333. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1158333. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jonathan D Clayden¹, Steven Hope², Froso Argyri³, Sezgi Goksan^{1

3}, Artemis Stefani¹, Li Wei³, Frederique Jeanne Liegeois¹

Affiliations

¹ Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
² Population Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
³ Centre for Applied Linguistics, UCL Institute of Education, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Introduction: Many studies argue that exposure to, and use of, multiple languages in childhood has beneficial effects beyond the linguistic domain, including on executive functions (EFs), although recent evidence remains controversial. EFs encompass abilities necessary for regulating goal-directed behaviours in everyday life and, in children, EFs strongly predict later academic achievement and wellbeing. One theoretical framework distinguishes "hot" EFs, which have a reward or affective component, from "cool" EFs that do not. How exposure to more than one language in early childhood modulates hot and cool EFs in later childhood, alongside other environmental and cognitive factors, remains poorly understood.

Methods: We analysed data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a large-scale, nationally representative longitudinal cohort study, which provides information on perinatal and environmental factors (e.g., languages spoken in the home, maternal education) alongside cognitive measures assessed in English. At 3 years, we examined the effect of multiple language exposure on the Bracken school readiness assessment (knowledge of shapes, letters, etc.), and on naming vocabulary. At age 11, we examined the predictors of cool EF, measured with a spatial working memory task; hot EF, measured using a gambling task; and vocabulary, measured using a verbal reasoning task.

Results: Data from 16,134 children were analysed. At age 3, a negative effect of multiple language exposure on school readiness and vocabulary was observed, but the difference was smaller with higher maternal education. At age 11, there was also a negative effect on vocabulary, but smaller than that observed at age 3. There were no direct effects of language exposure on either spatial working memory or gambling scores. For hot EF, the multiple language exposure effects were indirect, mediated by early cognition, and the most significant predictor of gambling strategy was sex. For cool EF, school readiness and vocabulary at age 3 were the strongest predictors.

Discussion: Our findings, based on a UK population sample, highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic status and early-life abilities when interpreting the effects of language environments on hot and cool EFs.

Keywords: Millennium Cohort Study; cognitive development; cohort studies; early cognition; executive function; language exposure.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Child Health Research Charitable Incorporated Organisation (reference 20-21/SI4). All research at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is made possible by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre.