Champoux-Larsson , M. , Dylman, A. S. , Örnkloo , H. . & Esteves , F. G.
Mid Sweden University
While many studies support the notion of a bilingual advantage, this concept has increasingly been challenged. A possible explanation to the inconsistent results found in this area is that they depend on the nature of the task. Another potential explanation is that the inconcistencies may be due to the type of bilingual the participant is, for instance whether the participant is a balanced or unbalanced bilingual. The current study aimed to investigate this issue further by conducting an experiment where 4-year-old bilingual children were asked to identify facial expressions of emotion (happiness, anger, sadness, and fear). Three groups of children were tested: balanced bilinguals, unbalanced bilinguals, and monolinguals. It was predicted that there would be a difference in performance based on group. Preliminary results seem to support the hypothesis and suggest that type of bilingualism may have an effect on performance in tasks requiring executive functions.