Advanced theory of mind in Syrian Arabic–Turkish sequential bilinguals and Turkish monolinguals: Assessment language, school-language attainment, and the ecology of bilingualism*

Merve Nur Asan, Tolga Yıldız

Abstract
Claims about bilingual advantages in children’s social cognition remain unsettled, particularly when language proficiency and context are taken seriously. This study examined advanced theory of mind in Syrian Arabic–Turkish sequential bilinguals in Türkiye. One hundred bilingual children (11–12 years) and 50 Turkish monolingual peers completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test–Child (RMET) and the Faux Pas Recognition Test–Child; bilinguals were randomly assigned to Arabic or Turkish assessment. Monolinguals outperformed bilinguals on RMET, Faux Pas, control, and total Faux Pas scores. Within the bilingual sample, Turkish assessment improved RMET performance but not Faux Pas performance. These patterns remained after adjustment for age, nonverbal reasoning, Turkish attainment, preschool duration, and household size. The findings suggest that advanced social-cognitive performance in immigrant bilinguals is shaped less by language status alone than by school-language experience and the broader ecology in which bilingualism is lived.
Keywords: bilingualism, theory of mind, Syrian immigrant children, assessment language, pragmatics, sociocultural context.

* Asan, M.N. & Yıldız, T. (2026). Advanced theory of mind in Syrian Arabic–Turkish sequential bilinguals and Turkish monolinguals: Assessment language, school-language attainment, and the ecology of bilingualism. First Language. https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237261465746 

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