No evidence for a bilingual executive function advantage in the nationally representative ABCD study

The authors of this study used a large, representative sample (n=4,524) of 9- to 10-year-olds to study the claim that bilingualism affords a cognitive advantage, particularly in the area of executive functioning (e.g., inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). The results did not support these claims. The authors conclude that while there are certainly advantages to learning a second language during childhood, there was little evidence that [bilingualism] engenders additional benefits to executive function development.