Multilingualism or Relative Engagement (MoRE): Neurocognitive Outcomes Beyond Bilingualism

This project aims to elucidate whether and how true multilingualism would induce different neurocognitive adaptations from bilingualism. While it may be intuitive to think that managing more than two languages would result in further and/or distinct adaptations, limited available research on multilingualism suggests that any deviation from the bilingual adaptation trajectory may be due to differences in processing and control demands. It is unclear if multilingualism inherently leads to distinct neurocognitive adaptations, or whether differences between bilingual and multilingual engagement only emerge when the control demands on the relevant cognitive mechanisms required in specific cases of multilingualism surpass those of bilingualism. Furthermore, existing research on the neurocognitive effects of multilingualism is scarce and often conflates bilingual and multilingual participants and/or overlooks the effects of engagement. MoRE addresses this gap by comparing three groups of bilingual and multilingual individuals with varying degrees of language engagement, serving as proxies for different control demands. Employing a multifaceted approach, MoRE will incorporate a comprehensive language background questionnaire and combine cognitive behavioural tasks with electroencephalography (EEG) recording. The use of EEG methods to explore multilingualism-induced neurocognitive adaptations remains relatively understudied, positioning MoRE among trending work in the field in demonstrating how cognitive mechanisms calibrate to meet the demands involved in managing more than two languages. MoRE thus seeks to underscore the importance of considering variability in multilingual engagement in brain and cognition studies, and guide stakeholders in facilitating greater diversity and intensity of multilingual engagement practices for broader societal benefit.