Multilingualism and Working Memory Capacity: Assessing Cognitive Function Across Diverse Linguistic Groups- Data

This study investigated the interaction between multilingualism and working memory (WM) capacity in language processing among individuals proficient in languages from diverse linguistic families. While previous research has focused on multilingual participants within the same linguistic group, our study explored how WM differs in individuals whose native language is from the Afro-Asiatic family and whose second and third languages are from the Indo-European group. Thirty Moroccan college students, all native speakers of Darija, participated. They had varying proficiencies in French and English. Participants' WM capacities were assessed using Forward Digit Span (FDS) and Backward Digit Span (BDS) tasks administered in Darija, French, and English. Our Results revealed that Darija demonstrated significantly higher WM capacity compared to French and English, with the most pronounced differences in the BDS task. These findings emphasize the importance of considering linguistic diversity when examining WM capacity in multilingual individuals.