Language, Culture, and Source Memory in Multilingual Children

Language is connected to thought (Santrock, 2004). It plays a role in how people remember (Fausey et al, 2010). Those who speak more than one language have cognitive advantages (Bialystok, 2015). Language is also related to culture (Emmitt & Pollock, 1997). Culture influences memory (Gutchess & Indeck, 2009). Collectivistic Eastern cultures and individualistic Western cultures process and recall information differently (Wang & Leichtman, 2000).

This study examined the connection of language ability and source memory. It also looked at the role of culture in this relationship. It was hypothesized that the contribution of language ability to source memory would differ across sources, depending on how the source is perceived in the culture.

Participants were 146 Kapampangan (first language or L1) - Filipino (second language or L2) - English (third language or L3) multilingual children (aged 6-9 years old) in the Philippines. Measures of language ability (expressive vocabulary in the 3 languages) and source memory (3 sources of a story: child, adult, TV) were administered individually.

Regression analyses showed that overall language ability (composite L1, L2, and L3 score) positively predicted adult source memory F(1, 144) = 9.564, B = 0.019, p = 0.002, R2 = 0.062 and TV source memory F(1, 144) = 13.381, B = 0.024, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.085, but not child source memory. In collectivistic Philippine society, respect for and trust in elders and authority figures are upheld (Fong, 2003).

Results show the interconnections of language, culture, and memory. Pedagogical implications will be discussed.