The bilingual advantage effect on executive control and its moderators: Evidence from meta–analysis

Abstract: The executive control advantage brought by bilingual experience has long attracted much attention. However, the theoretical explanation and specific performance of the bilingual advantage effect are still inconsistent. In order to further clarify the internal mechanism of bilingual advantage effect, the current research distinguished interference control and response inhibition, as well as included moderating variables of both age and languages family. Finally, through the meta–analysis of 102 literatures, it was found that the bilingual advantage of executive control was significant, albeit marginal (g = 0.11), but the bilingual advantage disappeared after controlling the publication bias. Furthermore, the bilingual advantage of interference control component was significant, albeit marginal (g = 0.08). After controlling the publication bias, the bilingual advantage of response inhibition component disappeared. The bilingual advantage of cognitive flexibility was moderated by the subjects' age and the year of publication. To sum up, the results suggest future research can pay more attention to the differences between interference control and response inhibition in the bilingual advantage effect and their internal mechanism, as well as the influence of bilingual age and the language distance between the second language and the mother tongue on the bilingual advantage of executive control.