Asymmetric cognitive restructuring of grammatical gender: how genderless English dilutes effects of gendered L1s in categorisation and memory

This study examines cognitive restructuring in Ukrainian-Russian-English trilinguals, focusing on grammatical gender effects in categorisation and memory recall. Unlike previous studies that primarily investigated bilinguals with one gendered and one genderless language, this research explores speakers of two gendered languages with partially contrasting grammatical systems and an additional genderless language. Results reveal task-specific restructuring, with grammatical gender effects diminishing in categorisation for participants with higher English proficiency and dominance, but no evidence of restructuring in memory recall. These findings highlight the role of linguistic profiles and individual experiences in shaping cognitive restructuring across tasks.