A longitudinal investigation of the effects of language instruction versus immersion on cognitive functions in young adult Chinese speakers learning English

The current study examined cognitive effects of two pathways of second language (L2) acquisition longitudinally in Chinese speakers learning English in an L2-dominant environment. Thirty-nine participants who attended an intensive 10-week English course (L2-instruction group) were compared to 38 participants who attended regular university courses taught in English (L2-immersion group). Four repeated assessments were conducted over 10 weeks: precourse (baseline) and postcourse assessments, and two interim assessments every 3 weeks. Both groups matched on background variables (e.g., intelligence) and showed comparable cognitive performance in all measures at the baseline. The longitudinal results showed a similar improvement in both groups for most cognitive measures, such as visual and auditory inhibition. The only significant group difference was observed in the auditory inhibition test, where the L2-instruction group outperformed the L2-immersion group. Taken together, our results suggest a specific effect of language experience and an overall effect of linguistic context on cognitive functions.