Bimodal Bilingualism

The vast majority of bilingual studies involve two spoken languages. Such “unimodal” bilingualism automatically entails a severe production constraint because one cannot physically produce two spoken words or phrases at the same time. In addition, for unimodal bilinguals both languages are perceived by the same sensory system (audition), whereas for hearing “bimodal” bilinguals one language is perceived auditorily and the other is perceived visually. This project investigates how these sensory-motor differences in language modality impact the psycholinguistics of bilingualism, the features of co-speech gesture, and the nature of the bilingual brain. We have also been studying deaf bimodal bilinguals who know a signed and a spoken language and how hearing people learn a sign language as a second language.

Using behavioral and neuroimaging techniques, we ask the following questions:

• What are the cognitive and linguistic effects of bimodal bilingualism?
• Do bimodal bilinguals automatically activate ASL when reading English or English when viewing ASL?
• How do bimodal bilinguals control their two languages when signing or speaking?
• What is the nature of M2/L2 (second modality, second language) learning?
• What is the nature of the bimodal bilingual brain?

Funding

This research is supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD047736).

Recent Publications

• Camilliere, S., Emmorey, K., Hauser, P., Contreras, J., McKee, M., & Gollan, T. (2026). Influence of testing language and aging on verbal list memory in deaf ASL-English bilinguals. Neuropsychology. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0001065
• Emmorey, K., Akers, E., Saunders, E., Bannazadeh, M., Droubi, E., Cooley, F., & Schotter, E. (2025). Assessing the effects of sign language experience vs. deafness on the leftward reading span. Cognitive Science, 49, e70162. DOI:10.1111/cogs.70162
• Saunders, E., Mirault, J., & Emmorey, K. (2025). Activation of ASL signs during sentence reading for deaf readers: Evidence from eye-tracking. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 28(1), 208–216. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728924000336
• Akers, E., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., Meade, G., & Emmorey, K. (2024). Neural effects differ for learning highly iconic versus non-iconic signs in hearing adults. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 27(4), 655-667. doi:10.1017/S1366728923000809
• Morett, L. M., Cieśla, M., Bray, M.E., & Emmorey, K. (2024). Feeling signs: motor encoding enhances sign language learning in hearing adults. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 46, 933-945. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263124000196
• Sehyr, Z. S., Midgley, K. J., Emmorey, K., & Holcomb, P. J. (2023). Asymmetric event-related potential priming effects between English letters and American Sign Language fingerspelling fonts. Neurobiology of Language 4(2), 361-381. https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00104
• Declerck, M., Meade, G., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P. J., Roelofs, A., & Emmorey, K. (2021). Language control in bimodal bilinguals: Evidence from ERPs. Neuropsychologia, vol 161. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34487737/
• Declerck, M., Meade, G., Midgley, K., Holcomb, P., Roelofs, A., & Emmorey, K. (2021). On the connection between language control and executive control – an ERP study. Neurobiology of Language, 2(4), 628-646. https://direct.mit.edu/nol/article/2/4/628/97421/On-the-Connection-Between-Language-Control-and
• Emmorey, K.,Mott, M., Meade, G., Holcomb, P.J., Midgely, K.J. (2020). Lexical selection in bimodal bilinguals: ERP evidence from picture-word interference. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 36 (7), 840-853.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34485589/
• Emmorey, K., Li, C., Petrich, J., & Gollan, T. H. (2020). Turning languages on and off: Switching into and out of code-blends reveals the nature of bilingual language control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 46(3), 443-454. PMCID: PMC6933100 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000734
• Lee, B., Meade, G., Midgley, K. J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2019). ERP evidence for co-activation of English words during recognition of American Sign Language signs. Brain Sciences, 9, 148. PMCID: PMC6627215 https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9060148
• Mott, M., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Cross-modal translation priming and iconicity effects in deaf signers and hearing learners of American Sign Language. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. PMCID: PMC pending https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000889
• Müller de Quadros, R., Davidson, K., Lillo-Martin, D., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Code-blending with depicting signs. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 10(2), 290–308. PMCID: PMC pending https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.17043.qua
• Schaller, F., Lee, B., Sehyr, Z.S., O’Grady Farnady, L., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Cross-linguistic metaphor priming in ASL-English bilinguals: Effects of the Double Mapping Constraint. Sign languages & Linguistics, 23, 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.00045.sch
• Weisberg, J., Casey, S., Sehyr, Z.S., & Emmorey, K. (2019). Second language acquisition of American Sign Language influences co-speech gesture production. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. PMCID: PMC739222    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000208
• Emmorey, K. (2018). Variation in L1 acquisition? Commentary on R.I. Mayberry and R. Kluender “Rethinking the critical period for language: New insights into an old question from American Sign Language.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

older publications >>

Recent Presentations

• Emmorey, K.(2022). Bimodal bilinguals provide insights into the nature of language control. Paper presented at the Society of Experimental Psychologists, May, Chicago, IL.
• Emmorey, K.(2021). Bimodal bilingualism, deafness, and aging. Invited presentation at the National Institute on Aging virtual workshop “Bilingualism and Cognitive Reserve and Resilience”. March, Virtual meeting.
• Declerck, M., Meade, G., Midgley, K.J., Holcomb, P.J., Roelofs, A., & Emmorey, K. (2020). Domain general language control? An ERP study with bimodal bilinguals. Poster presented at AMLap, September, Virtual meeting.
• Mott, M., Midgley, K., Holcomb, P., Meade, G., & Emmorey, K. (2017). Picture-word interference in bimodal bilinguals. Poster presented at the Society for the Neurobiology of Language, November, Baltimore, MD.
• Mott, M., Midgley, K., Emmorey, K., & Holcomb, P. (2017). Effects of iconicity on cross-modal translation priming in hearing learners of American Sign Language and deaf native signers: An ERP study. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting, March, San Francisco, CA.
• Muller de Quadros, R., Lillo-Martin, D., Polinsky, M., & Emmorey, K. (2016). Heritage signers: Bimodal bilingual structures. Paper presented at the Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition North America (GALANA), October, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
• Mott, M., Meade, G., Winsler, K., Campbell, S., Midgley, K., Emmorey, K., & Holcomb, P. (2016). An electrophysiological study of initial American Sign Language acquisition in adult learners. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, April, New York, New York.
• Silance, N., Giezen, M., & Emmorey, K., (2015). Cross-language semantic interference effects during picture naming in bimodal bilinguals. San Diego State University Student Research Symposium, March, San Diego, California. (pdf)
• Emmorey, K., Petrich, J., & Gollan, T. (2014). Evidence from bimodal bilinguals indicates “turning a language ON” is not costly, but “turning a language OFF” is. Paper presented at the Psychonomic Society Meeting, November, Long Beach, California.

older presentations>>