MA INTERNSHIP REPORT LOUISA RICHTER

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MA INTERNSHIP REPORT LOUISA RICHTER

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Report: Internship at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen &

University Medical Center Groningen –

Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB)

September 2019 – January 2020

Louisa Richter, S3826880

l.s.richter@student.rug.nl

ReMa Language & Cognition University of Groningen

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Merel Keijzer Degree Programme supervisor: Dr. Hanneke Loerts

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1. Introduction

With the following report, I seek to describe my internship in two projects of the Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB) at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. I started my internship on September 2nd 2019 and finished on January 14th 2020.

When I first started thinking about possible places for my internship, I defined for myself what the ideal project/lab would entail. I came up with three criteria at the time:

❖ neurolinguistic method (e.g. EEG, fNIRS, pupillometry, fMRI, PET), ❖ something related to language and

❖ ideally something in the field of healthy aging.

This list led to me applying for an internship position with Debra Titone, who is currently the lab director of the Language & Multilingualism Lab1_{at McGill in Montreal, Canada. Even}

though I got accepted, which I am still very grateful for, I decided not to go as the current projects in her lab, unfortunately, do not involve neuroimaging methods.

While trying to figure out where else I could apply, I realized that I was already working in two incredible projects that both included all of my criteria. Thinking about the advantages of being part of two PhD projects for one year, like acquiring more new skills and learning about long-term research planning, resulted in my decision to extend my position as research assistant as part of the Research Assistant Program (RAP) to an internship.

This turned out to be exactly the right decision for me. I learned so many new things and now truly have a better idea about what research, with all its delays and frustrations, really is about. For this opportunity, I will be forever thankful.

2. Description of placement-providing organization

As already mentioned, I did my internship at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB)2, which is described in the following section in further detail. Additionally, it has to be mentioned that I mostly worked at the Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC)3_{at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)}4_{, which is part of the}

University of Groningen. The reason for my presence there is the fact that Saskia Nijmeijer, one of the PhD students for whom I worked, has her office there. Furthermore, the EEG/fNIRS testing that I assisted in, was done in the basement of the CNC.

2.1. Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB)

The BALAB is nested in the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen’s (CLCG)5

research group Neurolinguistics & Language Development. Currently, the lab has approximately eleven constant members, out of which five are PhD students and three are supervisors. Prof. Dr. Merel Keijzer is the head of the lab and supervisor of four of the PhD students. The other members are student/research assistants or interns and BA/MA students writing their thesis on a project related to the lab.

All projects in the lab evolve around third age language learning and its implications on healthy aging, because it has been questioned whether benefits associated with lifelong bilingualism, like enhanced executive functioning (van den Noort et al., 2019; Tao et al., 2011) 1_{https://www.mcgill.ca/language-lab/}

2_{https://www.balab.nl/}

3_{https://bscs.umcg.nl/en/facilities/cognitive-neuroscience-center/} 4_{https://www.umcg.nl/NL/Zorg/paginas/Default.aspx}

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and a larger cognitive reserve (Watson et al., 2016) can also be induced by late-life language learning. The focus hereby is not only on cognitive, but also on social and emotional effects, as language training appears to be a promising method for increasing overall well-being in elderly (Ware et al., 2017; Pfenninger, & Polz, 2018).

As a research assistant and intern, I was involved in two of the PhD projects of the BALAB, which are briefly introduced in the following sections. Due to my involvement in these projects, I went to the weekly lab meetings. During these meetings, current papers of interest were discussed, progress and problems of projects were presented, and ideas were exchanged. I personally benefitted greatly from hearing about other people’s research, their problems, doubts and thoughts and thoroughly enjoyed our lab meetings.

2.1.1. PhD project: Language learning never gets old (Mara van der Ploeg)

Mara van der Ploeg’s PhD project has the title Language learning never gets old -

implicit and explicit language learning in seniors and investigates the effectiveness of two

different language teaching methods in elderly. The main difference between the methods is how grammar is presented (by the teacher and in the materials). While explicit teaching methods evolve around grammar explanation on isolated target forms, implicit instruction creates an input-driven acquisition environment with a focus on meaning rather than form (Ellis, 2009).

Furthermore, Mara strives to investigate third age language learning needs in order to be able to create lessons (including materials, set-up of the courses, etc.) targeted towards seniors. This is hoped to increase motivation and overall well-being of the participants. Her project is still in the starting phase, with the testing of participants beginning this upcoming May.

2.1.2. PhD project: Learning to preserve (Saskia Nijmeijer)

Saskia Nijmeijer’s PhD project, Learning to preserve: Foreign language training as a

cognitive “vaccine” to prevent old-age disorders?, is focused on comparing effects of language

learning, musical training and the acquisition of creative skills concerning changes in cognitive flexibility and well-being. As Saskia is currently in her third year, her research is ongoing and new courses start every few months.

2.2.3. What the projects have in common

Since Mara van der Ploeg’s study is to some extent based on Saskia Nijmeijer’s PhD, the two projects have various things in common:

❖ Both studies are for the target group of (functionally) monolingual Dutch seniors between 65 and 85, ideally living in/around Groningen. However, while Mara wants healthy participants, Saskia is trying to recruit elderly with subjective cognitive decline, also called mild cognitive impairment.

❖ The course interventions last for 3 months and have a relatively small group size (<10 people per group).

❖ Pre-, post- and follow-up-measurements include interviews, a test battery of cognitive tasks and an EEG/fNIRS session during which the participants are asked to perform a color-shape-switch-task, which is used as a measure of cognitive flexibility.

❖ Both projects aim to investigate course-induced changes in cognitive flexibility and well-being.

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3. Description of the student’s tasks and responsibilities

Even though I had already worked in the two projects as a research assistant, all parties agreed that my internship tasks should differ from my previous ones in order to provide me with new learning opportunities. The following paragraphs consist of a detailed description of the tasks I had during my internship. The first section describes my tasks in Mara’s study, whereas the second part discusses my involvement in Saskia’s project.

3.1. PhD project: Language learning never gets old (Mara van der Ploeg)

First, I describe what I did for Mara van der Ploeg. I worked two days per week (Monday and Thursday) for her. As she was in Florida as a visiting scholar during the period of my internship, we had weekly Zoom-meetings to discuss progress.

3.1.1. Development of a questionnaire on third-age language learning needs

One of my main tasks was the development of a survey-based study to investigate language learning needs for seniors. This project is of particular societal and scientific relevance as concrete third-age language learning needs remain unclear (Ramírez-Gómez, 2016), making it impossible to create efficient materials and courses targeted towards seniors.

The survey covered the following topics: beliefs about third age language learning, expectations regarding the other course participants and the language teacher, including his/her teaching style, concrete wishes concerning exercises, preferences about the set-up of a language course and general goals and expectations.

Generally, the questionnaire was created on the basis of (1) feedback and comments received during the pilot study and (2) literature, like Kilmaczak-Pawlak, & Kossakowska-Pisarek (2018) and Gabryś-Barker (2017). After having presented a draft version of the questionnaire to the BALAB and various individuals, the questionnaire was piloted four times to ensure intelligibility and feasibility for elderly participants.

I suggested distributing the questionnaire in various countries in order to be able to statistically explore variables modulating language learning needs, which resulted in me creating an English, German and Spanish version of the survey, which Mara van der Ploeg then translated to Dutch. The final version of the questionnaire of each language was proof-read by a native speaker.

We used various channels for distribution, including personal networks, Facebook pages (Prof. Dr. Merel Keijzer, LanCog studie6) and Linguist List7. Data collection is ongoing, but we hope to start analyzing the data soon. Moreover, we are currently preparing a manuscript for publication on the matter.

6_{This is the Facebook page of Saskia Nijmeijer’s study.} 7_{https://linguistlist.org/}

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3.1.2. Development of teaching materials & lesson plans

Since the pilot study, which was conducted during my time as a research assistant, showed us that our previously used and adapted teaching materials do not work well with elderly participants, we set off to develop new (explicit and implicit) teaching materials. Since the course will last for three months, 12 classes of approximately 1.5h each had to be planned.

The work preceding the creation of the drafts included three steps, which are visualized in figure 1 and explained further in the following paragraphs.

1.) We decided to create materials that are based on some previous knowledge of English, as the pilot study, phone screenings of possible participants and Saskia’s study have shown that (almost) all Dutch seniors already know some English. This makes a beginners course rather demotivating and

boring8. Therefore, we decided to chose A1.2 as a grammar starting point for the materials and implement a grammar learning curve leading to A2.1 grammar constructions. On the basis of (A1 and A2) English course books and an analysis targeted at constructions of difficulty that became apparent during the pilot study, an excel sheet was created, containing various grammar topics in order of increasing difficulty. This excel sheet was the basis of the development of the teaching materials. 2.) The second pre-step to creating the teaching materials was selecting content. This step

is of great importance, as teaching materials need to be relevant for the target-group (Tam et al., 2017). Topics were selected and matched with pieces of grammar in the excel sheet.

3.) Lastly, I put some thought into the possible layout of the teaching materials. I decided to opt for a one-lesson-one-page layout in order to make the classes less intimidating for the seniors.

After having set a basis for the teaching materials, I started creating them. I began with the explicit lessons and then transformed the explicit versions into implicit ones. This was done through slight changes, which mostly involved replacing grammatical terms (e.g. verbs) with more neutral words (e.g. words), replacing grammar explanations with more examples and occasionally adding an exercise. The changes were minimized as much as possible to ensure comparability of the lessons. Generally, exercises were chosen after the following pattern:

❖ focus on communicative exercises,

❖ focus on learning common phrases and chunks for certain social interactions, ❖ focus on skill acquirement (e.g. looking up words in a dictionary) and

❖ diversity concerning the used classroom interaction method (e.g. teacher explanation, partner work, group work, class discussion).

8_{In case a participant has very little prior language knowledge, he/she will be given A1.1 revision exercises} instead of the usual homework exercises.

selecting relevant pieces of grammar (A1 and A2)

identifying relevant topics & matching

them with grammar

thoughts about the layout

Figure 1: Work preceding the creation of teaching materials

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For each set of lessons, a lesson plan for teachers was created in table-format, including information on task, goal, method, material and time. These lesson plans will serve as teaching guidelines for the study and make sure that the influence of the variable of individual teaching style is minimized. Moreover, I wrote a teaching manual, which provides the teachers with further background knowledge and my reasoning behind the materials.

3.1.2. Focus groups to test teaching materials

After multiple rounds of feedback and implementing changes, we decided to test the newly developed teaching materials on elderly people to see if the seniors

❖ like the materials in general,

❖ find the instructions understandable,

❖ find the exercises to be fitting conversation starters, ❖ are able to talk about the topics,

❖ find the topics interesting,

❖ believe the lessons to be coherent and ❖ had any additional feedback.

I taught the focus groups, as Mara was still in Florida. We decided to recruit participants for two focus groups, each with a different teaching approach. The first focus group’s lesson (n = 1) consisted of four exercises, which were picked from different lessons, and was taught in an explicit teaching style. During the second focus group (n = 3), the students were taught one complete lesson (lesson 5) of the set of implicit teaching materials.

The focus groups provided us with valuable feedback and reassured us that we were on the right track with the development of the materials.

3.1.3. Description of the third age classroom: conversation analysis of recruitment of assistance

We video-recorded all lessons during the pilot study, which took place in June 2019. In order to investigate and describe what happens in the third-age classroom, which has never been done, we decided to analyze these videos. Mara suggested using conversation analysis as a method for the analysis, so we asked Prof. Dr. Tom Koole to collaborate with us. After a pre-analysis of the lessons 2, 3 and 4 (both explicit and implicit) under the framework of “noticing”, we realized that 1. the definitions of noticing differ in the conversation analysis (CA) and second language acquisition (SLA) framework and 2. the scope of this type of analysis doesn’t suffice.

Further meetings and discussions with Prof. Dr. Tom Koole, Prof. Dr. Merel Keijzer and Mara van der Ploeg led to us choosing “recruitment of assistance” as a topic of interest. This describes the various strategies someone uses to ask for or seek help from another person (Kendrick & Drew, 2016) and therefore takes ownership of his/her learning process (Brookfield, 1994).

Mara and I then re-did our previous noticing-analysis of lessons 3 implicit and explicit under this new framework and transcribed utterances of interest together with further relevant information (e.g. time stamp, topic, exercises, person). During a second, more in depth transcription, we provided further context to the utterances of interest, meaning we transcribed the situation leading up to the recruitment of assistance and the reaction to it.

The next step will be adding more non-verbal information to the transcripts and providing detailed information on how each exercise evolved, but this is still work in progress. We are currently also working on writing a manuscript intended for publication on this topic.

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3.1.4. Participant recruitment

Due to the fact that Mara decided to move the beginning of her study from February to May due to aspects of feasibility, I was not involved in a lot of tasks concerning participant recruitment. However, Rhomé Busstra and I went to two events during the healthy aging week9 to hand out flyers for both Mara’s and Saskia’s projects.

3.2. PhD project: Learning to preserve (Saskia Nijmeijer)

During my internship, I worked for Saskia on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Since I was in the intern-room across the hallway from Saskia’s office during my working hours, we had no scheduled weekly meetings, but instead talked whenever necessary. As part of my internship, I helped Saskia with two projects: her PhD study (see chapter 2.1.2.) and a study on bilingualism effects on the attentional blink, for which she made use of data previously collected by the MA student Anna Wucher.

During the attentional blink task, participants see a rapidly presented set of visual stimuli and have to find a target stimulus (e.g. a letter). The so-called attentional blink usually occurs when two target stimuli are presented in close proximity (100-500ms), because the participant blinks after having correctly identified target 1, meaning that target 2 is missed. Research looking into the effects of bilingualism on the attentional blink have found that the degree of L2 proficiency (Khare et al., 2013), balance in language use and language distance (Yamasaki et al., 2018) modulate the blink size.

3.2.1. Analysis of behavioral data in R and data management

During the course of my internship, I did a few statistical analyses in Rstudio (Rstudio Team, 2015). Most of them were focused on checking for correlations between task results or tracking changes between pre- and post-test data. Furthermore, I dedicated time towards learning more about the execution of linear mixed effects (LMW) modelling in R, as we explored the possibilities of using LME for the analysis of the behavioral data of the attentional blink study.

Occasionally, I entered data in RedCap10, a database with all of Saskia’s testing data, before being able to do the statistical analyses. During one of these sessions, I noticed that test results of behavioral data were sometimes calculated differently, which resulted in an internal re-checking of the data entries.

3.2.2. EEG/fNIRS testing

Another one of my tasks was to assist in prepping participants for EEG/fNIRS testing whenever necessary. This was done in a lab of the CNC and involved the following tasks:

❖ preparing the room (e.g. turning on the computers, filling the syringes with gel), ❖ applying reference electrodes,

❖ measuring the head and putting on the cap,

❖ putting gel into the electrode holes (impedance below 7 had to be reached), ❖ plugging in the fNIRS cables and checking the quality of the signal.

I usually performed these tasks with the help of one or two other interns, who afterwards explained the color-shape-switch task to the participant and stayed in the room next-door during the measurement.

9_{https://campus.groningen.nl/events/healthy-ageing-week-2019} 10_{https://redcap.umcg.nl/redcap/}

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3.2.3. Preprocessing of fNIRS data in Homer2

The attentional blink task data mentioned in chapter 3.2 includes various fNIRS recordings. As part of my internship, I visually inspected the data and made an overview with suggested channel-deletions, for which I used the MATLAB-based interface Homer2 (Huppert et al., 2009). Due to the fact that Homer2 requires .nirs files, but our data had a _config format, I also got in contact with NIRx11 concerning the conversion, while teaching myself how to use the program. Furthermore, I participated in weekly fNIRS meetings with other CNC researchers working on fNIRS data. During these sessions, we mainly discussed parameter setting and informally presented our work in progress.

3.2.4. Preprocessing of EEG task-data in FieldTrip

Towards the end of my internship, we started preprocessing EEG data. We used the MATLAB toolbox FieldTrip (Oostenveld et al., 2011), which has a script-form and no interface, to visually inspect the data. We did the work in a group of three (interns). After having learned more about artifact rejection in FieldTrip through a tutorial, the procedure went as followed:

1. Saskia sent us a script and slightly pre-processed data files of her switch task data. 2. We individually inspected the data of various participants and noted down trials and

channels we thought should be rejected.

3. We met every Tuesday morning and discussed the trial and channel rejection of approximately three participants. The final consensus was noted down and shared with Saskia.

4. Evaluation of the placement

The following paragraphs contain an evaluation of the placement providing institution and a reflection upon my learning outcomes.

4.1. Internship as part of the ReMa

The research internship is an institutionally embedded, obligatory part of the research master (ReMa) Language & Cognition. Students are highly encouraged to choose an institution that matches their interests and provides relevant learning opportunities concerning research and academic conduct. As described in chapter 1, my personal interests lay in the intersection between neurolinguistics, second language acquisition and healthy aging. My internship combined these fields of research perfectly, but I also feel that my course-selection within the ReMa was an excellent preparation. Relevant courses I took during my first year were:

❖ Basic Statistics, which taught me how to use Rstudio and how to perform basic statistic calculations.

❖ Language Development, during which I learned a lot about first and second language acquisition, bilingualism across the lifespan and EEG.

❖ Language, Brain and Cognition, which provided me with a better understanding on how different neuroimaging methods work and how they are used in linguistic research. Furthermore, my background in German as a foreign language, through my previous studies and my experience as a teacher, prepared me for my tasks during the internship.

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The internship opportunity at the BALAB was ideal for me as it aligned with my research interests, was an extension of the theoretical background I was provided with during my first year and allowed me to expand my knowledge.

4.2. New knowledge and skills

I learned a lot during my internship. The following list contains relevant knowledge and skills I acquired through my internship. The list may not be exhaustive and the order is randomly chosen.

❖ Presenting research at two conferences (COM2019 and ANELA) ❖ Practice doing statistical analyses in R

❖ Knowledge on the execution of linear mixed effects modelling ❖ Working with excel

❖ Data management

❖ fNIRS preprocessing in Homer2 ❖ Working with MATLAB code

❖ EEG visual inspection and artifact rejection

❖ Practice preparing elderly participants for EEG/fNIRS testing ❖ Applying Conversation Analysis as a tool for interaction analysis ❖ Developing a detailed questionnaire for seniors in Qualtrics ❖ Writing a detailed rationale about my work

❖ Developing explicit and implicit teaching materials targeted towards seniors ❖ Learning about the importance of focus groups

❖ Implementing feedback

❖ Preparing two manuscripts for publication

❖ Learning about long-term research planning and problems researchers face ❖ Working independently and with others

❖ Time management 4.3. Learning goals

My internship contract states the following:

During my internship I will be a part of the Bilingualism and Aging Lab

(https://www.balab.nl/) and mainly contribute to two PhD projects concerning language learning at the third age.

The project "learning to preserve" by Saskia Nijmeijer focusses on the effects of cognitive training, specifically language training, on cognitive flexibility and well-being in seniors with subjective cognitive decline. My main tasks within this project will be:

- assist in EEG and fNIRS testing 

- analysis of fNIRS and EEG data ()

- data management and analysis of behavioral data 

- literature search12 

- participant recruitment ()

As suggested by the checkmarks behind the planned tasks, most of my tasks were done according to plan. However, the intended analysis of fNIRS and EEG data was limited to preprocessing steps. As stated in chapter 3.1.4., my involvement in participant recruitment was 12_{During my internship, I mainly used literature search as a means to learning more about certain methods,} programs and parameters, which is why it is not discussed in greater detail in the previous sections.

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minimal. In Saskia’s project this mainly has to do with the fact that her three other interns were responsible for this task.

The project “Language Learning Never Gets Old” by Mara van der Ploeg investigates the effectiveness of implicit vs. explicit language learning needs in third age classrooms. In my internship for her I will:

- conduct a questionnaire-based needs-analysis with seniors concerning language learning

in a classroom environment 

- develop teaching materials and lesson plans for the explicit and implicit classes based on

the previously conducted needs-analysis ()

- test the materials with a focus group 

- work on the re-evaluation of the pilot study and contribute to the manuscript preparation

for publication 

- help with participant recruitment ()

- assist with the pre-testing of participants (fNIRS and EEG) X

In Mara’s project, most things went according to plan as well. Due to the fact that the third-age language learning needs questionnaire took longer to develop than expected, the teaching materials were mostly based on my experience teaching elderly individuals and not on the needs-analysis. I did not assist in baseline testing sessions, as Mara decided to postpone the beginning of her study.

Generally, my learning goals for the internship were as follows: ❖ learn more about neuroimaging research,

❖ get a better grasp of the reality of research projects in the domain of healthy aging and ❖ expand my knowledge on relevant linguistic conduct.

Reflecting upon my internship shows me that I have not only reached these global learning goals but acquired knowledge and skills beyond my imagination. Having learned a lot about long-term research planning and academic conduct led to me confidently presenting Mara’s study during two conference talks and presenting a poster on my own work at this year’s LOT winter school. I not only acquired more knowledge, but now feel like I am one step further to understanding the academic community and finding my own place in it.

4.3. Supervision at the placement

Personally, I was very happy with my supervision. Through the BALAB, my occasional private meetings with Merel Keijzer, my weekly Zoom-meetings with Mara and frequent interactions with Saskia, I felt appreciated and supported. I want to express my gratitude to everyone who I have had the pleasure to work with and exchange ideas. Without your help and encouragement my internship surely wouldn’t have been the same.

4.4. Future career goals

Since my internship enhanced my already existing interest in and passion for academic research, I intend to apply for a PhD position in the field of neurolinguistics and healthy aging.

5. Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, I thoroughly enjoyed my internship in the two PhD projects and am very appreciative of all the learning opportunities I was provided with. I am absolutely convinced that these months have prepared me for my MA thesis and a PhD.

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Though my internship might be over now, my involvement in the BALAB has not come to an end. Not only will I be writing my MA thesis on a topic related to second language acquisition and healthy aging, but I will also finalize the data analysis and manuscript writing with Mara.

Thank you all for this incredible experience! Bibliography:

Brookfield, S. (1994). Understanding and facilitating adult learning: A comprehensive analysis

of principles and effective practices. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Ellis, R. (2009). Implicit and explicit knowledge in second language learning, testing and

teaching (Second language acquisition). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Gabryś-Barker, D. (Ed.). (2017). Third age learners of foreign languages (1st ed., Second language acquisition) [1st]. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Khare, V., Verma, A., Kar, B., Srinivasan, N., & Brysbaert, M. (2013). Bilingualism and the increased attentional blink effect: Evidence that the difference between bilinguals and monolinguals generalizes to different levels of second language proficiency. Psychological

Research, 77(6), 728-37. doi:10.1007/s00426-012-0466-4

Huppert, T.J., Diamond, S.G., Franceschini, M.A. and Boas, D.A. (2009). “HomER: a review of time-series analysis methods for near-infrared spectroscopy of the brain.” Appl Opt 48(10): D280-98.

Kendrick, K. H., & Drew, P. (2016). Recruitment: Offers, requests, and the organization of assistance in interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 49(1), 1-19 Klimczak-Pawlak, A., & Kossakowska-Pisarek, S. (2018). Language learning over 50 at the

open university in poland: An exploratory study of needs and emotions. Educational

Gerontology, 44(4), 255-264.

Oostenveld, R., Fries, P., Maris, E., & Schoffelen, J. M. (2011). FieldTrip: open source software for advanced analysis of MEG, EEG, and invasive electrophysiological data.

Computational intelligence and neuroscience, 2011, 1.

Pfenninger, S., & Polz, S. (2018). Foreign language learning in the third age: A pilot feasibility study on cognitive, socio-affective and linguistic drivers and benefits in relation to previous bilingualism of the learner. Journal of the European Second Language

Association, 2(1), 1-1. doi:10.22599/jesla.36

Ramírez-Gómez, D. (2016). Language teaching and the older adult : The significance of

experience (Second language acquisition, 103). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

RStudio Team (2015). RStudio: Integrated Development for R. RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA URL http://www.rstudio.com/.

Tam, M., Boulton-Lewis, G., Buys, L., & Chui, E. (2017). Similarities and differences in views of ageing and learning in Hong Kong and Australia. Educational Gerontology, 43(8), 393-403.

Tao, L., Marzecová, A., Taft, M., Asanowicz, D., & Wodniecka, Z. (2011). The efficiency of attentional networks in early and late bilinguals: The role of age of acquisition. Frontiers

in Psychology, 2, 123-123. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00123

Van den Noort, M., Struys, E., Bosch, P., Jaswetz, L., Perriard, B., Yeo, S., . . . Lim, S. (2019). Does the bilingual advantage in cognitive control exist and if so, what are its modulating factors? A systematic review. Behavioral Sciences, 9(3). doi:10.3390/bs9030027

Watson, C., Manly, J., & Zahodne, L. (2016). Does bilingualism protect against cognitive aging?: : Methodological issues in research on bilingualism, cognitive reserve, and dementia incidence. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 6(5), 590-604. doi:10.1075/lab.15043.wat

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Ware, C., Damnee, S., Djabelkhir, L., Cristancho, V., Wu, Y., Benovici, J., . . . Rigaud, A. (2017). Maintaining cognitive functioning in healthy seniors with a technology-based foreign language program: A pilot feasibility study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 9, 42-42. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00042

Yamasaki, B. L., Stocco, A., & Prat, C. S. (2018). Relating individual differences in bilingual language experiences to executive attention. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience,

MA INTERNSHIP REPORT LOUISA RICHTER