Evy Ceuleers

Verbal and Nonverbal Cognitive Control in Bilinguals and Interpreters.

The present study explored the relation between language control and nonverbal cognitive control in different bilingual populations. We compared monolinguals, Dutch-French unbalanced bilinguals, balanced bilinguals, and interpreters on the Simon task (Simon & Rudell, 1967) and the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002). All bilingual groups showed a smaller congruency effect in the Simon task than the monolingual group. They were also faster overall in the ANT. Furthermore, interpreters outperformed unbalanced, but not balanced, bilinguals in terms of overall accuracy on both tasks. In the ANT, the error congruency effect was significantly smaller for interpreters and balanced bilinguals. Using a measure of switching fluency in language production, this study also found direct evidence for a relation between language control and executive control. This relation was only observed in balanced bilinguals, where fluent switching was correlated with the Simon effect. These findings support the existence of a bilingual advantage and also indicate that different patterns of bilingual language use modulate the nature and extent of a cognitive control advantage in multilingual populations.

Variable Identities in Brussels. The Relationship Between Language Learning, Motivation and Identity in a Multilingual Context

Abstract In Belgium and Brussels, macrocontextual features such as language policy and language legislation have a profound impact on peoples language use and on the way languages are learned. In order to explain this impact, the political and economic developments that have determined the current context of learners in Brussels are discussed. Secondly, a number of recent events that are the result of the interplay of language legislation and sociolinguistic mechanisms are presented. These contextual issues are linked to some theoretical insights which allow us to look at: (1) how the specific context of Brussels influences instructed and non-instructed L2 learning; (2) what the implications are for learners’ identification processes; and (3) how this relates to their L2 learning motivation. These questions are addressed in an empirical study carried out in a Dutch-speaking secondary school in Brussels. The results suggest that adolescents in Dutch-speaking schools in Brussels have variable identity profiles and specific L2 learning motivations, depending on their language use in different contexts.

The use of Citétaal among adolescents in Limburg: the role of space appropriation in language variation and change

Abstract The term Citétaal was originally used to refer to the language spoken by Italian immigrants in the Eastern part of Flanders (Limburg) and diffused in the former ghettoised mining areas (the cité). It is a melting pot language, based on Dutch but with a high amount of code mixture from immigrant languages, mostly Italian and Turkish. Recently, its use seems to be spreading among speakers in Limburg and particularly in the area of Genk, which is the city with the highest concentration of speakers with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In this paper, we investigate to what extent and in what contexts Citétaal is currently used by adolescents in Limburg by means of a quantitative questionnaire study and qualitative analysis of focus group interviews. The quantitative results show that both speakers with immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds use Citétaal and consider it primarily as intended for peer communication. Furthermore, the interview data suggests that Citétaal is shifting from marking ethnicity to indexing a new, localised identity of which its emergence seems to be related to the mechanism of enregisterment. Based on our findings, we conclude that the appropriation of space functions as a catalyst force for language variation and change.