Cerebral lateralization of Chinese-English bilingual functions

There is evidence that auditory reception of the second language of bilinguals is less lateralized in the left hemisphere, when the two languages involved are more dissimilar, such as Chinese and English. The present study shows, with a test of simultaneous finger tapping and backward counting as well as a test of tachistoscopic bilateral presentation, that this differential lateralization does not apply to non-auditory functions, and both Chinese and English showed a left hemisphere advantage. Bilateral presentation of bilingual words produced greatest interference, when compared with bilateral presentation of unilingual words, or bilateral presentation of words and numbers.