Language‐Learning Strategies in Monolingual and Multilingual Adults*

Abstract

This study investigated the hypothesis that people with multiple language skills have different language‐acquisition strategies than do people with single language skills. Multilingual and monolingual subjects learned a miniature linguistic system incorporating a reference world under instructions to “memorize” or instructions to “discover rules”. Although there was no clear evidence that multilinguals were superior in language learning abilities overall, multilingual subjects were found to be more able to adjust their learning strategies according to the requirements of the task.