Social Sensitivity in Bilingual Children
by Madelynne Moore
Faculty Advisor: Catherine Echols
This study will investigate how a child’s degree of bilingualism can affect their social sensitivity. Social sensitivity refers to an individual’s ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with others. Research has primarily focused on bilingual children’s ability to exceed their monolingual peers in executive function and Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to recognize and attribute mental states to oneself and to others; however, there is inadequate research understanding how social sensitivity increases with learning a second language. Executive functions and ToM are important communication constructs (e.g., language switching and coding); therefore, an increased ability in these areas may influence an individual’s social sensitivity. The goal of this study is to determine if social sensitivity increases as the amount of exposure and proficiency in a second language also increases.