The Effects Of Foreign Language Learning On Cognitive Control

This thesis aimed to examine whether foreign language learning has an impact on cognitive control by comparing foreign language learners of different language proficiency.A five-point scale was administered to evaluate language use features in foreign language learning.The three experimental tasks all based on E-prime 2.0,including the Stroop task,the Wisconsin task and the N-back task,were used to measure three components of cognitive control respectively,namely inhibition,cognition flexibility and working memory.The results showed that the high level group(English majors)was better than the low level group(non-English majors)in six characteristics of foreign language learning,and all the three components were also significantly higher than those of the low level group,indicating that foreign language learning has a significant impact on cognitive control.Further correlation and regression analyzes showed that there are significant correlations between language use features and cognitive control in foreign language learning,but only language use and college entrance scores can significantly predict cognitive control.It is suggested that the impact of foreign language learning experience on cognitive control is mainly due to language use and college entrance scores that reflect general language ability.This research further complements and perfects the line of studies concerning foreign language learning and cognitive control,providing reference for future research as well as implications for foreign language learning and teaching.