VIDEOS

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 15th June 2021 Dávid György (University of Geneva): Rhythmic priming of syntactic processing: a common structure? Abstract Recent empirical evidence has shown several correlations between language and musical rhythm processing in typical and atypical populations (Corriveau & Goswami, 2009; Friederici et al., 2003; Gordon et al., 2015a). One line of studies has reported improved syntactic processing following exposure to a rhythmically regular musical prime compared to an irregular musical prime, environmental noise, or silence (Bedoin et al., 2016; Canette et al., 2020, Chern et al., 2018; Przybylski et al., 2013). However, it cannot be ruled out that part of this rhythmic priming effects lies in a disruption from the irregular rhythm rather than a pure facilitatory effect of the regular rhythm as, to our knowledge, no studies have compared an irregular prime with a baseline condition. The present study aimed to directly compare the effects of regular and irregular primes as well as a silent baseline on syntactic processing. In two experiments, Frenchspeaking typical adults underwent rhythmic priming and completed a grammaticality judgement task in a semi-artificial Jabberwocky language. In both experiments, results showed that rhythmic priming can influence syntactic processing, though only in the first three sentences after a prime rather than six sentences as usually reported for natural language stimuli. Experiment 1 showed a disadvantage of the irregular condition compared to the regular and silence conditions. However, the block design of this experiment may have confounded our findings. Experiment 2 sought to remedy this by using a mixed design. Results showed higher grammaticality judgement accuracy in the regular than in the irregular condition, with a marginal advantage of regular over silence. Furthermore, grammaticality judgement accuracy correlated with performance in a rhythm discrimination task, while participants’ ability to anticipate a metronome beat showed a relationship with the number of languages they spoke. These findings are discussed in the frameworks of Dynamic Attending (Large & Jones, 1999) and hierarchical structure building in musical rhythm and language processing (Fitch & Martins, 2014; Heard & Lee, 2019). Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 8th June 2021 Johanne Paradis (University of Alberta): Bilingual development in first generation Syrian refugee children: What factors contribute to successes and challenges? Abstract The number of refugees worldwide is the highest ever recorded and over half are children (UNHCR, 2017). Children from refugee families can have experiences that set them apart from other migrant children, e.g., interrupted schooling, witnessing and being the victims of violence, loss of and separation from family members, displacement and frequent transitions, residing in refugee camps or detention centres (Graham et al. 2016; Sirin & Rogers-Sirin 2015; Kaplan et al. 2016). Post-migration, refugee families can also face economic and social integration difficulties and many child refugees struggle with socioemotional wellbeing and mental health post- migration (Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011; Stewart et al., 2019). Such adverse experiences could well impact these children’s development of both their first language (L1) and their second language (L2). For example, interrupted schooling could result in lower than age-expected abilities in the L1. In addition, since mental distress interferes with cognitive functioning and learning (Yasik et al., 2007), it could, in turn, interfere specifically with language learning. To date, little research has focused on the bilingual development in refugee children separate from other populations of bilingual children. Furthermore, while much recent research has focused on sources of individual differences in bilingual development such as, age, cognitive and input factors (Chondrogianni, 2018; Paradis, 2016; Unsworth, 2016), very little research has examined the influence of wellbeing and adversity factors in particular. In this talk, I will present research from a longitudinal study on the bilingual development of Syrian refugee children recently arrived in Canada. The focus will be on sources of individual differences in their Arabic-L1 and English-L2 development, including age of arrival, quality and quantity of input- output, parental education, family size, as well as pre-migration adversity factors and concurrent socioemotional wellbeing. The influence of these factors on children’s lexical, morphosyntactic and narrative abilities in both languages across time will be discussed. The overall goal of the talk is to reveal what poses challenges to these children’s dual language development as well as what underlies their successes. The educational and clinical implications of this research will be discussed. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 1st June 2021 Maren Eikerling (IRCCS - Associazione La Nostra Famigli 'Istituto scientifico Eugenio Medea'): Computerized bilingual screenings of developmental language disorder and developmental dyslexia in bilingual children ​ Abstract Distinguishing Developmental Dyslexia (DD) or Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in bilinguals from variation in language acquisition due to heterogenous language input challenges clinicians (Grimm & Schulz, 2014). To reliably identify the risk of DLD/DD in bilingual children, both languages spoken should be assessed (see Position Paper MULTI-SLI, 2015). This can be done through computer- ized screening tasks that are automatically administered in both languages while accuracy and speed are measured (cf. Bigagli & Lorusso, 2014). The MuLiMi web-application has been developed with this aim, in a collaboration between IRCCS Medea and Politecnico di Milano, within the MultiMind project. Current projects related to MuLiMi focus on a) the evaluation of user-friendliness of the web-applica- tion and b) evaluation of its diagnostic accuracy through analyses of the correlations with results in standardized tests and of its capacity to discriminate between typical and atypical development (as emerging from formal diagnoses with the help of parental questionnaires). The child’s performance is automatically evaluated and measured based on response times and accuracy. Among others, screenings for Italian children living in Germany aged 4 to 6 (study 1 on DLD risk) and for 7-9-year-old children (study 2 on DD risk) were created using language-specific and language-uni- versal clinical markers. Based on these, Italian and German screening tasks were implemented on Mu- LiMi. Additionally, standardized German tests (using bilingual norms where available) were adminis- tered. Furthermore, parents as well as Speech and Language Therapists or teachers filled in question- naires on the child’s (language) development. Preliminary results show convergent information from performances in experimental and standardized tests. Platform features, screening contents and preliminary results will be presented. Implications regarding the potential reduction of misdiagnoses as well as limitations concerning the testing modalities will be discussed. References Bigagli, A. & Lorusso, M. L., (2014). Predittori della lettura in italiano L2 in bambini di madre- lingua cinese. Lucca, Italy: XXIII Congresso Nazionale AIRIPA. Grimm, A. & Schulz, P. (2014). Specific Language Impairment and Early Second Language Ac- quisition. The Risk of Over- and Underdiagnosis, Child Indicators Research, 7: 821 – 841. MULTI-SLI (2015). Position paper on language impairment in multilingual children. http://www.code.thomasmore.be/sites/www.code.thomasmore.be/files/media/Position-statement- MULTI-SLI.pdf (access 31.03.2021) Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 25th May 2021 Jia’en Yee (University Putra Malaysia): Multilingualism effects on brain structure Abstract A growing body of research has suggested that the acquisition and processing of a second language leads to structural changes in the brain (Hayakawa & Marian, 2019; Pliatsikas, 2019). However, the trajectory and limits of these adaptations remain unclear, particularly so with increasing language experience and expertise such as the acquisition and processing of a third or fourth language. This talk highlights the structural adaptations relating to bilingualism and reviews the available evidence in the effects of multilingualism. Parallels and contrasts will be drawn between bilingualism and multilingualism using theoretical frameworks like the Dynamic Restructuring Model (Pliatsikas, 2020). Finally, some fresh evidence from monolinguals, bilinguals and multilinguals will be presented to show the dynamic process of subcortical restructuring, and more specifically demonstrate the concept of structural renormalisation with increasing language experience. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 18th May 2021 Marco Calabria ( Open University of Catalonia): How is cognitive neuropsychology contributing to bilingualism research? Abstract Neuropsychology may contribute to bilingualism research from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes psycholinguistics and brain imaging studies. On one side, the psycholinguistic approach offers the advantage of guiding the experimental study of linguistic processes in patients with brain damage. On the other, neural models define the underlying brain areas of such processes and help to predict language deficits in patients. However, neural models of bilingualism do not provide accurate predictions about brain damage because they have not been tested with patient data in a systematic way. Nevertheless, they offer the roadmap of the underlying cognitive and linguistic processes of bilingual language control and speech production that are mostly based on findings from healthy individuals. In this talk, I propose how the neurolinguistic approach to bilingualism may be implemented, by including: a) the extension of traditional cognitive neuropsychology to bilingualism, b) the use of psycholinguistic methods in neuropsychology, and c) how neurodegenerative diseases may be a neuropsychological paradigm to study language in bilingualism. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 11th May 2021 Napoleon Katsos (University of Cambridge): Bilingualism in Children with Developmental Disorders: From Language and Cognition to Human Rights Abstract Among parents and professionals there is a common albeit empirically unsupported belief that multilingual exposure may be detrimental to the development of children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. In this presentation I will first review studies that capture the lived experience of multilingualism by autistic children and their carers and then I will report on a systematic meta-analysis of the emerging literature which reveals that multilingualism has no adverse effect on the linguistic and cognitive development of children with autism. Moreover, I will outline in what ways multilingualism may actually be beneficial for autistic children and report some unpublished trends in recent work with colleagues. The interplay of qualitative and quantitative methods and the benefits of participant-informed research will set the background for this presentation. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 4 May 2021 Francesca Costa & Maria Teresa Guasti (University of Milano-Bicocca): Double or single literacy in different contexts Abstract: This study aimed to establish whether (1) biliteracy negatively affects literacy education in L2 Italian children and (2) biliterates with an alphabetic script differ from biliterates with a logographic script in Italian. We recruited 95 monoliterate and 86 biliterate bilingual children, attending Grade 1st, 3rd , and 5th They were administered Raven, an expressive vocabulary task and reading tasks (words, nonwords and text). Analyses revealed that biliterates had a higher Raven score than monoliterates (Biliterates: M=28.2 SD=4.6; monoliterates: M=22.4, SD=6.4); the two groups did not differ in expressive vocabulary. From 3rd Grade, both groups read words faster than pseudowords, proving that reading had started to be automatized as in monolingual development. In general, we did not find penalty in reading in biliterate. Some advantages in text comprehension was found among biliterate. Then, the group of biliterates was split with 36 children belonging to the Group with an alphabetic script (A_BL) and 50 children to the logographic script (L_BL). We found that A_BL children obtained a higher score in expressive vocabulary (F(1,80) = 8.84, η2 = 0.10, p less than 0.05). Both groups read the word faster than pseudowords from 3rd Grade; L_BL improved faster than A_BL, as indicated by the Group by Grade interaction (F(2,80) = 5.15, η2 = 0.1, p less than 0.05). Small differences were found, due mostly to grades. Our results indicate that biliteracy may provide some advantages for text comprehension. This may be due to biliterates’ higher experience with written texts in two languages (see also Rolstad et al. 2005) or to their higher non-verbal reasoning ability. The comprehension of a text is a complex ability that involves different skills. No consistent difference between A_BL and L_BL was found, likely due to the fact that literacy in the L1 is not well-advance, as these children attend L1 classes only on the weekend and in summer. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 27. April 2021 Merel Keijzer (University of Groningen): Language learning as a vaccine to promote healthy aging: the linguistic, social and cognitive effects of third-age language learning Abstract: Bilingualism has been put forward as a life experience that, similar to musical training or being physically active, may boost cognitive performance and slow down age-related cognitive decline. In more recent years, bilingualism has come to be acknowledged not as a trait but as a highly individual experience where the context of use strongly modulates any cognitive effect that ensues from it (cf. van den Noort et al., 2019). In addition, modulating factors have been shown to interact in intricate ways (Pot, Keijzer and de Bot, 2018). Adding to the complexity is the fact that control processes linked to bilingualism are bidirectional—just as language control can influence cognitive control, individual differences in cognitive functioning predict language learning outcomes and control. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the bidirectional and individual cognitive, social and linguistic factors in relation to bilingualism and second language learning, with a special focus on older adulthood. On the basis of past and ongoing studies conducted at the Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB) at the University of Groningen, (1) we first show the intricate clustering of modulating individual factors as deterministic of cognitive outcomes of bilingual experiences at the older end of the lifespan; (2) we then briefly present a meta-study of work in the emergent field of third-age language learning, the results of which are related to lifelong bilingualism. We focus on linguistic, cognitive and social outcomes of third-age language learning; (3) we then turn to our own (ongoing) studies which make use of randomized controlled trials to show the cognitive and social effects of introducing a bilingual experience later in life as opposed to other intervention types such as musical training. We investigate this in healthy older adult cohorts but also in (pre)clinical populations of elderly experiencing memory and/or mood problems. By investigating the effects of late-life second language learning as opposed to lifelong bilingualism, we aim to shed more light on the mechanisms underlying the benefits of bilingualism as a life experience, especially as it pertains to cognitive reserve in older adulthood. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines' 20. April 2021 Núria Sebastián Gallés (Pompeu Fabra University): How bilingualism shapes the infants' mind/brain Abstract: The present talk reviews our current knowledge about how infants growing up in bilingual environments learn their two (or more) languages and how such experience shapes nonlinguistic domains. I will fist discuss and analyze methodological challenges and then I will review selected topics in language acquisition (language discrimination, word learning) and in cognitive and social development. As we compare with research on monolingual infant language acquisition, we show that our bilingual knowledge is much more limited and fragmented. I will make some suggestions about future good practices to help advance the field. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines.' 13.04.21 Erika Hoff (Florida Atlantic University): Why bilingual development is not easy, but possible Abstract All normal children in normal environments acquire language. However, all normal children in normal bilingual environments do not acquire two languages. Focusing on data from studies of second- generation immigrant children and young adults from Spanish-speaking homes in the U.S., this talk asks why the acquisition of two languages is more difficult than the acquisition of one. The evidence points to multiple ways in which the environmental supports that language acquisition requires are not equally available for both languages in minority-majority language bilingual communities. Organised by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Jagiellonian University, University of Konstanz, University Milano-Bicocca, University of Reading and the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

Angličan nazývá zvíře, které má čtyři nohy, ocas, mňouká a loví myši, a cat. Čech by to samé zvíře nazval kočka a Portugalec gato. Pokud někdo mluví všemi těmito jazyky, jsou v jeho mozku na to samé zvíře napojeny tři rozličné názvy, jak je možné jej pojmenovat. Výzkumy ukazují, že všechny jazyky, které známe, jsou v mozku aktivovány vždy, když používáme alespoň jeden z nich. Mnohojazyční lidé tak ve svých hlavách řeší každodenní konflikt na mnoha jazykových frontách, a to neustále… Lidský mozek dokáže uplatnit tento trénink v jazykovém konfliktu spojeném s používáním dvou jazyků i při jiných myšlenkových aktivitách. V této přednášce se dozvíte, jak dvojjazyčnost trénuje náš mozek, proč jsou bilingvní mluvčí zpravidla kreativnější, mají zlepšenou pozornost a schopnost řešit konflikt, ale i to, jak znalost více jazyků oddaluje projevy neurodegenerativních onemocnění, jakým je například stařecká demence. Přednášející Mgr. Michal Kořenář University of Reading, Univerzita Karlova Vystudoval magisterské obory Nizozemský jazyk a literatura a Obecná lingvistika na Filozofické fakultě UK. Dále absolvoval několik výzkumných stáží na univerzitách v Norsku a Nizozemsku, kde se věnoval vlivu jazyka na myšlení. V současné době působí jako doktorand programu Neurovědy a vědecký pracovník na Univerzitě v Readingu. Zároveň je afilovaný k Ústavu germánských studií na FFUK.

Am 6. März 2021 feiern wir den Europäischen Tag der Logopädie/Sprachtherapie. Das Ziel ist es, Eltern und die Öffentlichkeit für die Arbeit der Logopäden zu sensibilisieren und damit auch für Patient*innen und, die tagtäglich behandelt werden, ein Bewusstsein zu schaffen. Sprachentwicklungsstörungen (SES) sind die am häufigsten auftretenden Entwicklungsstörungen, aber sie sind Störungen, die man den Kindern nicht ansieht und die weniger besorgniserregend erscheinen als andere, offensichtlichere Störungen. Deshalb bleiben sie auch in der Gesellschaft oft unsichtbar: Sprachentwicklungsstörungen sind relativ unbekannt. Für viele Logopäd*innen und Sprachtherapeut*innen hingegen ist die Diagnose und Behandlung von Sprachentwicklungsstörungen die tägliche Haupttätigkeit. Eine besondere Schwierigkeit liegt in der Diagnose und Behandlung von Sprachstörungen bei bilingualen Kindern. Für diese Besonderheit wächst das Bewusstsein von Fachärzt*innen und Logopäd*innen und Sprachtherapeut*innen. Im Rahmen von MultiMind befassen sich damit die ESRs Theresa Bloder und Maren Eikerling und kooperieren mit verschiedenen Forschungseinrichtungen, darunter das IRCCS Medea, La Nostra Famiglia in Bosisio Parini und das Carlo Besta Institut in Mailand, unterstützt auch von Logopädiestudentinnen der Zentren und des Studiengangs der Universität Mailand. Zusätzlich zu einer Broschüre (multilingualmind.eu/flyers) , die zum Tag der primären Sprachstörung am 16.10.20 veröffentlicht wurde und inspiriert von einem Video zu Sprachentwicklung(sstörungen) von Silvia Gosewinkel (hsg Bochum), sind nun Videos entstanden, die über den normalen und eingeschränkten Spracherwerb bei zweisprachigen Kindern informieren. Sie erfahren, wie Sie Ihr (zweisprachiges) Kind in der Sprachentwicklung unterstützen können und wie festgestellt werden kann, ob Ihr Kind eine Sprachtherapie benötigt.

Am 6. März 2021 feiern wir den Europäischen Tag der Logopädie/Sprachtherapie. Das Ziel ist es, Eltern und die Öffentlichkeit für die Arbeit der Logopäden zu sensibilisieren und damit auch für Patient*innen und, die tagtäglich behandelt werden, ein Bewusstsein zu schaffen. Sprachentwicklungsstörungen (SES) sind die am häufigsten auftretenden Entwicklungsstörungen, aber sie sind Störungen, die man den Kindern nicht ansieht und die weniger besorgniserregend erscheinen als andere, offensichtlichere Störungen. Deshalb bleiben sie auch in der Gesellschaft oft unsichtbar: Sprachentwicklungsstörungen sind relativ unbekannt. Für viele Logopäd*innen und Sprachtherapeut*innen hingegen ist die Diagnose und Behandlung von Sprachentwicklungsstörungen die tägliche Haupttätigkeit. Eine besondere Schwierigkeit liegt in der Diagnose und Behandlung von Sprachstörungen bei bilingualen Kindern. Für diese Besonderheit wächst das Bewusstsein von Fachärzt*innen und Logopäd*innen und Sprachtherapeut*innen. Im Rahmen von MultiMind befassen sich damit die ESRs Theresa Bloder und Maren Eikerling und kooperieren mit verschiedenen Forschungseinrichtungen, darunter das IRCCS Medea, La Nostra Famiglia in Bosisio Parini und das Carlo Besta Institut in Mailand, unterstützt auch von Logopädiestudentinnen der Zentren und des Studiengangs der Universität Mailand. Zusätzlich zu einer Broschüre (multilingualmind.eu/flyers) , die zum Tag der primären Sprachstörung am 16.10.20 veröffentlicht wurde und inspiriert von einem Video zu Sprachentwicklung(sstörungen) von Silvia Gosewinkel (hsg Bochum), sind nun Videos entstanden, die über den normalen und eingeschränkten Spracherwerb bei zweisprachigen Kindern informieren. Sie erfahren, wie Sie Ihr (zweisprachiges) Kind in der Sprachentwicklung unterstützen können und wie festgestellt werden kann, ob Ihr Kind eine Sprachtherapie benötigt.

Il 6 marzo 2021 si celebra la Giornata internazionale della Logopedia. Questo evento ha lo scopo di sensibilizzare i genitori e il pubblico generale rispetto al lavoro dei logopedisti e quindi dare un riconoscimento anche ai pazienti che ogni giorno vengono trattati. I Disturbi Primari del Linguaggio (DPL) sono i più comuni disturbi dello sviluppo, ma sono disturbi che non si vedono sul volto dei bambini, e sembrano meno preoccupanti di altri disturbi più evidenti. Pertanto, spesso rimangono invisibili anche nella società: il disturbo (primario) del linguaggio è poco conosciuto e spesso poco compreso, confuso con problemi di articolazione e pronuncia. Per i logopedisti invece, la diagnosi e il trattamento dei disturbi primari del linguaggio è la principale attività quotidiana. Una difficoltà particolare è legata alla diagnosi e al trattamento dei disturbi del linguaggio nei bambini bilingui. Questa difficoltà è ben presente agli specialisti e ai logopedisti dei centri clinici di tutto il territorio nazionale, e vari enti di ricerca, tra cui l'IRCCS Medea presso La Nostra Famiglia di Bosisio Parini e l'Istituto Carlo Besta di Milano, in collaborazione con altri centri europei, se ne stanno occupando nell'ambito del progetto di ricerca europeo MultiMind, supportati anche dai logopedisti dei centri e del Corso di Laurea dell'Università di Milano. Oltre a una brochure pubblicata per la giornata del disturbo primario del linguaggio il 16.10.20, sono stati creati due brevi video che danno informazioni sull'acquisizione normale e problematica del linguaggio nei bambini bilingui, su come sostenere il proprio bambino (bilingue) nello sviluppo del linguaggio e su come stabilire se il proprio bambino ha bisogno di un trattamento logopedico.

Il 6 marzo 2021 si celebra la Giornata internazionale della Logopedia. Questo evento ha lo scopo di sensibilizzare i genitori e il pubblico generale rispetto al lavoro dei logopedisti e quindi dare un riconoscimento anche ai pazienti che ogni giorno vengono trattati. I Disturbi Primari del Linguaggio (DPL) sono i più comuni disturbi dello sviluppo, ma sono disturbi che non si vedono sul volto dei bambini, e sembrano meno preoccupanti di altri disturbi più evidenti. Pertanto, spesso rimangono invisibili anche nella società: il disturbo (primario) del linguaggio è poco conosciuto e spesso poco compreso, confuso con problemi di articolazione e pronuncia. Per i logopedisti invece, la diagnosi e il trattamento dei disturbi primari del linguaggio è la principale attività quotidiana. Una difficoltà particolare è legata alla diagnosi e al trattamento dei disturbi del linguaggio nei bambini bilingui. Questa difficoltà è ben presente agli specialisti e ai logopedisti dei centri clinici di tutto il territorio nazionale, e vari enti di ricerca, tra cui l'IRCCS Medea presso La Nostra Famiglia di Bosisio Parini e l'Istituto Carlo Besta di Milano, in collaborazione con altri centri europei, se ne stanno occupando nell'ambito del progetto di ricerca europeo MultiMind, supportati anche dai logopedisti dei centri e del Corso di Laurea dell'Università di Milano. Oltre a una brochure pubblicata per la giornata del disturbo primario del linguaggio il 16.10.20, sono stati creati due brevi video che danno informazioni sull'acquisizione normale e problematica del linguaggio nei bambini bilingui, su come sostenere il proprio bambino (bilingue) nello sviluppo del linguaggio e su come stabilire se il proprio bambino ha bisogno di un trattamento logopedico.

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines.' Prof Li Wei (University College London): Translanguaging: Transforming the way we think and talk about language, bilingualism and education Abstract Translanguaging as a theoretical concept is meant to prompt us to rethink what language is in the 21st century and by implication how bilingualism and bilingual education should be conceptualised, practised, and researched. This talk reviews the origins and developments of the concept of Translanguaging and explores some of the implications by looking at language teaching and learning in diverse contexts. Methodological considerations will also be discussed. Organised by the Dept of Linguistics & Centre for Multilingualism, University of Konstanz & the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines.' Lecture 9: Prof Philippe Prevost (University of Tours): Is growing up with two languages particularly challenging for autistic children? Abstract Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving qualitative impairment in social interaction and communication, and limited, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior (DSM-V, APA 2013). Language is affected in all children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In particular, pragmatics has been shown to be impaired in all autistic children, with many also having difficulties with formal aspects of language, such as morphosyntax. The number of children growing up with more than one language being on the rise across the world, there is an increasing number of bilingual children being diagnosed with ASD. The question thus arises as to whether learning two (or more) languages in parallel is an aggravating factor for autistic children, taking into consideration the fact that to this day families of bilingual children with ASD are often advised that the child should abandon the family language. During this lecture, we will review the literature on language development in bilingual children with ASD, focusing mainly on methodological issues and on the way bilingualism factors (such as age of onset and length of exposure) have been taken into account. This review will also lead us to discuss how language may be assessed in a bilingual context. Organised by the Dept of Linguistics & Centre for Multilingualism, University of Konstanz & the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines.' Lecture 8: Dr Maria Luisa Lorusso (IRCCS, Eugenio Medea): Assessment of developmental language and reading disorders in bilingual children Abstract Distinguishing between the effects of lack of linguistic exposure and a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting language or reading acquisition in multilingual children accessing clinical services can be a challenging task. Many factors contribute to the level of mastery of the two (or more) languages, positive or negative cross-linguistic interactions may occur at several levels and many variables must be taken into account in the assessment process. One of the most effective strategies to disentangle the various factors is assessing all the languages spoken and comparing performances, but practically this may be very difficult (both because very few clinicians have a perfect knowledge of more languages, and because tests and norms developed for the monolingual population could provide misleading results). Moreover, the differences existing between language structures and between orthographic systems make a simple transposition of tasks into various languages an unsatisfactory choice, whereas specific markers may represent more sensitive and reliable targets for assessment. A fully automatized system delivering language-specific tasks and providing a quantitative and qualitative description of the levels of performance across languages is being developed within the framework of the MultMind project. The principles on which the system is based will be described, along with the first results from groups of bilingual children with typical and atypical oral and written language acquisition. Organised by the Dept of Linguistics & Centre for Multilingualism, University of Konstanz & the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines.' Lecture 7: Jasmijn Bosch (University Milano Bicocca): Predictive processing and cross-linguistic influence in bilingual children Abstract Listeners process speech rapidly and incrementally, and monolingual children are known to use morphosyntactic cues to anticipate upcoming words from a very young age. Using a visual world eye-tracking paradigm, the present study investigated linguistic prediction in bilingual children, whose online processing may be different even when offline comprehension is on target. Specifically, we examined whether children could anticipate upcoming nouns on the basis of gender and number agreement on the preceding article. By comparing different groups of bilingual children and monolingual Italian children, we aimed to test the effects of cross-linguistic influence and language proficiency on predictive processing. In Experiment 1, we tested anticipation based on grammatical gender in German-Italian bilingual children (aged 6 to 9) living either in Italy or in Germany. The results showed that children processed sentences fast and efficiently by relying on predictive mechanisms. Furthermore, in an Italian task (but not in a German task), we found that children exhibited a ‘gender congruency effect’, i.e., they experienced cross-linguistic influence when the grammatical gender of the two languages did not overlap, leading to delayed anticipation. Both the efficiency of linguistic predictions and the likelihood of a gender congruency effect were related to children’s relative language proficiency. In Experiment 2 we tested anticipation based on grammatical gender and number in Mandarin-Italian bilingual children as compared to monolingual Italian children (aged 8 to 12), to investigate cross-linguistic influence in languages with greater typological distance. We found efficient prediction based on number in both groups, whereas processing of grammatical gender was significantly delayed for Mandarin-Italian bilinguals. One interpretation is that the discrepancy between gender and number was due to transfer, since Mandarin does not have grammatical gender while it does have a conceptual notion of number. Alternatively, the difference may have been caused by the fact that gender is an arbitrary property that requires lexical knowledge, while number is concretely linked to the referential context. Therefore, the arbitrariness of grammatical gender may be especially difficult for L2 speakers with lower proficiency levels, including bilingual children. Altogether, our results suggest that bilingual children are able to efficiently process speech in their L2 by making use of predictive mechanisms, even when they have to rely on a feature which is expressed differently in their L1. However, depending on their language proficiency, they may experience processing delays related to cross-linguistic influence. Organised by the Dept of Linguistics & Centre for Multilingualism, University of Konstanz & the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).

As part of The Multilingual Mind lecture series we are interview the speakers and asking them questions about their research and background. We had the chance to speak with Jasmijn Bosch and we asked her the following two questions: 1) What do you find most fascinating about bilingual children? 2) What are the main differences between conducting studies with children compared to adults?

'The Multilingual Mind: Lecture series on multilingualism across disciplines.' Lecture 6: Michal Korenar (University of Reading): Bilingualism and creativity: The effects of bilingual experiences of interpreters and translators on cognitive control and creativity Abstract Mounting evidence suggests that bilinguals have a creative advantage compared to monolinguals. Creativity, that is the production of outcomes that are both original and useful, fuels scientific discovery, promotes societal development, and drives innovation. Evidence offering a possible explanation for the link between creativity and bilingualism comes largely from studies which investigate the effects of bilingualism on cognitive control (CC) —a set of mental processes that enable humans to control their behaviour to achieve goals. CC is thought to (i.) be enhanced in bilinguals due to persistent conflict in their minds from choosing between two competing linguistic alternatives, and to (ii.) play a prominent role in creative thinking. However, research on both cognitive control and creativity in bilinguals has yielded divergent results as not all the previous studies presented evidence that bilinguals hold an advantage in cognitive control (Paap et al., 2016) or creativity (Lange et al., 2020). Notably, studies on CC in bilinguals which considered bilingual experience-based factors such as age of acquisition, frequency and quality of switching between languages, or immersion in a bilingual environment, produced far more consistent results (Luk & Bialystok, 2013). A similar trend can be found in the literature on creativity in bilinguals, since code-switching practices (Kharkhurin & Wei, 2015), language proficiency (Hommel et al., 2011), or training in interpreting (Kim & Lim, 2019) impact on creativity. These results challenge the common assumption that bilinguals are more creative in general and highlight the need to consider individual bilingual experiences when investigating creativity in bilinguals. In the present project, I aim to throw new light on the relationship between bilingual experiences and creative thinking in a study among three groups of Czech-English bilinguals (n=114) who are expected to differ widely in terms of their bilingual experiences: interpreters (n = 29), translators (n = 37) and bilinguals without professional experience (n = 47). The participants completed two commonly used creativity tasks, a CC task, intelligence test, and questionnaires measuring participants’ length of exposure to both languages, the age of onset of language acquisition, language proficiency, immersion in bilingual language use, and engagement in code-switching. Such a wide range of measures of the bilingual experience constitutes an unprecedented opportunity to rigorously investigate the relationship between bilingualism and creative thinking. I will argue that interpreters and translators differ systematically from those who do not use two languages in their professional lives, and that differences in the bilingual experience of these groups impact on their performance on tasks measuring CC and creativity. This study therefore illustrates that the everyday life experience of bilinguals needs to be studied carefully in studies of CC and creativity. The talk concludes by presentation of future directions of this research, including the planned analyses of MRI data, and implications for studies on bilingualism and creativity in general. Organised by the Dept of Linguistics & Centre for Multilingualism, University of Konstanz & the Marie Curie ITN project 'The Multilingual Mind' (765556).