Definitional Skills and Bilingualism: A Comparison of Italian Monolingual and Russian-Italian Bilinguals

In the present cross-sectional study, we compared the definitional skills of monolingual and bilingual children and adults. Monolinguals were Italian native speakers, while bilinguals were Italian-Russian individuals (L1 Russian, L2 Italian). Definitional Competence is a complex linguistic and metalinguistic skill, assessed by the Co.De. Scale ( Belacchi & Benelli, 2021 ), which allows the clarification and sharing of concepts and meanings. Bilingualism is a condition usually associated with a cognitive advantage. Here, we report findings showing the age-related effects (i.e., better definitions in adults compared to children), a bilingualism advantage in defining nouns (vs. verbs and adjectives), and a concreteness effect (i.e., better definitions for concrete nouns and verbs). Results are discussed considering the most pertinent literature.