We therefore use the term ambient linguistic diversity in describing how these contexts are different, yet the term encompasses the many other consequences for the speakers in those contexts as well.Monolingual Differences Importantly, the ambient nature of linguistic diversity can be largely passive, and does not necessarily require community members to actively engage in learning or seek out these opportunities to be impacted by it. For example, those living in linguistically diverse contexts may have greater exposure to non-native languages, more opportunities to learn and practice using other languages, more interactions with accented speakers of the majority language, and changes in the perceived value of knowing more languages or in what it means to be bilingual. However, this context does not exist in a vacuum, but instead has many natural consequences for those living within the context that require the definition of linguistic diversity to be extended. In a strict sense, linguistic diversity refers to a plethora of different languages spoken within the same context. At the same time, the study was not designed explicitly to investigate this issue and in the results and discussion that follow we consider some of the resulting limitations. In the findings that we report, we focus on participants in each context who considered themselves functionally monolingual. Data were collected as part of a larger project in which both bilingual and monolingual speakers were recruited. The opportunity to examine the consequence of the linguistic context for learning was serendipitous, the result of a lab move across the country. We compared monolinguals in two different contexts: a relatively homogeneous unilingual context in which English is the predominant language (central Pennsylvania), and a linguistically diverse community in which multiple languages are spoken (southern California). Here we report data on the impact of ambient linguistic diversity on the ability of monolinguals to acquire a novel language. While many past studies have shown that learning can proceed under implicit conditions ( Morgan-Short, Steinhauer, Sanz, & Ullman, 2012), few have addressed how the contexts from which learners are drawn may contribute to the pattern of observed results. Monolinguals living in linguistically diverse communities regularly overhear languages that they neither understand nor speak, but may still learn something about their sounds and features. Critically, learning can occur even in the absence of attention or intention to learn, with increasing sensitivity to novel languages though exposure alone ( Gullberg, Roberts, Dimroth, Veroude, & Indefrey, 2010 Saffran, Newport, Aslin, Tunick, & Barrueco, 1997). Others studies have shown changes to the native language in late second language learning, even at early stages of learning ( Bice & Kroll, 2015 Kroll, Dussias, Bice, & Perrotti, 2015). Some studies have demonstrated that monolinguals are less homogeneous than assumed by revealing large individual differences in electrophysiological responses during language processing ( Pakulak & Neville, 2010 Tanner & Van Hell, 2014). Yet an emerging body of research has cast doubt on this assumption. Monolinguals’ language processing is assumed to be relatively stable and homogeneous. In contrast, little attention has focused on the impact of language context for monolinguals. Keywords: language learning, linguistic diversity, ERPs, language exposureĪccumulating evidence shows how language context shapes bilingual language use ( Elston-Güttler & Gunter, 2009 Kreiner & Degani, 2015) and its consequences for broader cognition ( Green & Abutalebi, 2013). The results suggest that linguistic diversity promotes new language learning. Monolinguals in the diverse context revealed an anterior late positivity, whereas monolinguals in the unilingual context showed no effect. Monolinguals in both contexts demonstrated similar learning of studied words however, their ERPs differed for generalization. The current study used behavioral and ERP measures to compare monolinguals living in a linguistically diverse environment and a unilingual environment in their ability to learn vowel harmony in Finnish. Monolinguals living among linguistic diversity regularly overhear languages they do not understand, and may absorb information about those languages in ways that shape their language networks. Although monolinguals’ language processing is assumed to be relatively stable and homogeneous, some research has shown novel learning through exposure alone. However, few studies have considered the impact of language context for monolinguals. Accumulating evidence shows how language context shapes bilingual language use and its cognitive consequences.
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