Dissertation
Questioning monolingualism: the effects of bidialectal experience on language processing
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Spring 2025
DOI: 10.25820/etd.008009
Abstract
While previous research has extensively investigated how multilingual experience shapes linguistic and cognitive processing, much of this work has overlooked bidialectal speakers – individuals who navigate multiple linguistic systems within the same language. By treating bidialectal speakers as monolinguals, prior studies may have mischaracterized the nature of native language representation and processing, particularly in languages like Chinese, where bidialectalism is widespread. This dissertation examines the impact of bidialectal experience on speech production, perception, and language control, drawing parallels between bidialectal and bilingual processing while identifying nuanced distinctions between the two. This dissertation argues that bidialectalism constitutes a unique form of linguistic experience that requires greater integration into psycholinguistic models of multilingualism.The empirical studies presented in this dissertation investigated these questions from three experimental approaches. Chapter II examines the influence of using a second dialect on native tone production in Chengdu Mandarin-Standard Mandarin bidialectal speakers. The results reveal that the use of Standard Mandarin influences Chengdu Mandarin tone production. Bidialectal speakers who use Standard Mandarin more frequently exhibit dissimilatory drift in Chengdu Mandarin tones that are perceptually linked across the dialects and reduced within-dialect tonal contrast in Chengdu Mandarin tones without a clear Standard Mandarin counterpart. These findings are consistent with previous studies in bilingual production and align with bilingual speech learning models, suggesting that bidialectal speakers develop a shared phonetic space for both dialects.
Chapter III investigates how bidialectal experience shapes cross-dialect tone perception, comparing Chengdu Mandarin-Standard Mandarin bidialectal speakers to monodialectal Standard Mandarin speakers. The results indicate that while both groups rely on acoustic similarity, bidialectal speakers additionally incorporate phonemic correspondence in their perceptual mapping. Moreover, individual differences multidimensional scaling analysis reveals that bidialectal speakers apply more stable cue-weighting strategies, prioritizing both pitch change direction and average pitch height to maintain phonetic contrast across dialects. In contrast, monodialectal speakers distinguish tones less consistently, especially on the dimension of pitch height. These findings demonstrate that bidialectal experience fundamentally reshapes the perceptual space.
Chapter IV explores receptive dialect-switching in auditory word recognition, testing whether bidialectal speakers incur cognitive costs when mixing and switching between dialects, and whether the cost magnitude is influenced by the phonological similarity between the two dialects or dialect usage patterns. By comparing the dialect-switching performances between two groups of bidialectal speakers of Chengdu Mandarin-Standard Mandarin and Cantonese-Standard Mandarin, who differ in cross-dialect phonological similarity, Chapter IV reveals significant switch and mixing costs, modulated by dialect dominance but not phonological distance. The results indicate that bidialectal speakers employ both reactive and proactive control mechanisms akin to bilinguals. These findings highlight that bidialectal speakers engage in language control processes similar to bilinguals.
Together, these studies challenge the traditional monolingual-versus-bilingual framework in conducting bilingual and multilingual research, highlighting that bidialectal experience is not merely a variation of monolingualism but a dynamic and interactive process that shapes phonetic, phonological and cognitive mechanisms in ways similar to bilingual experience. However, the findings also reveal nuanced differences between bidialectal and bilingual processing, suggesting that existing multilingual models must account for structural overlap, compartmentalized usage, and sociolinguistic factors specific to bidialectalism. By critically reassessing the monolingual model and advocating for a more inclusive framework, this dissertation contributes to a broader understanding of linguistic diversity and its implications for language representation and processing. Future research should extend these findings to diverse bidialectal populations and linguistic domains, refining our understanding of bidialectalism within the broader multilingual landscape.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Questioning monolingualism: the effects of bidialectal experience on language processing
- Creators
- Wenqi Zeng
- Contributors
- Christine Shea (Advisor)Bob McMurray (Committee Member)Ethan Kutlu (Committee Member)Jie Zhang (Committee Member)Xin Wang (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Linguistics
- Date degree season
- Spring 2025
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.008009
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xvi, 217 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2025 Wenqi Zeng
- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 04/24/2025
- Description illustrations
- color illustrations
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (page 175-200).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
How does speaking multiple dialects shape the way we produce, perceive, and control languages? This dissertation explores how bidialectal speakers – individuals who fluently use two dialects of the same language – process speech and manage their two dialects. While much research has focused on bilingualism, bidialectalism remains understudied, despite being common in many communities. This dissertation argues that bidialectal experience is distinct from monolingualism and has important effects on language and cognition.
Through three experimental studies, this dissertation examines bidialectal speakers of Chengdu Mandarin and Standard Mandarin – two Mandarin varieties spoken in mainland China. The first study investigates how speaking Standard Mandarin affects the way Chengdu Mandarin is produced, revealing that bidialectal speakers subtly shift their pronunciation to accommodate both dialects. The second study explores how bidialectal speakers perceive sound contrasts between Chengdu Mandarin and Standard Mandarin, showing that their perception is shaped by both sound similarity and structural correspondence between the two dialects, unlike monodialectal speakers, who rely solely on acoustic properties. The final study examines how bidialectal speakers switch between dialects in auditory comprehension, finding that switching carries cognitive costs, similar to how bilinguals switch between languages.
These findings challenge the traditional division between monolingual and bilingual speakers, showing that bidialectal experience also shapes language processing. By recognizing bidialectalism as a unique linguistic variation, this research highlights the need for more inclusive models for language representation, learning and processing. Understanding how bidialectal speakers navigate their linguistic environment can provide valuable insights into multilingualism in diverse linguistic communities.
- Academic Unit
- Linguistics
- Record Identifier
- 9984831022702771
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