The effects of language immersion on the bilingual lexicon

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 614-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy P.K. Mok ◽  
Alan C.L. Yu
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Bilingual Lexicon ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Cross Language

Abstract Previous studies have consistently found an asymmetry where priming in the L1-L2 direction is stronger than that in the L2-L1 direction. However, some studies showed that an L2 immersion environment could attenuate bilingual speakers’ access to the L1 and result in a ‘bilingual disadvantage’. This study investigated how language immersion modulates the priming effects of late adult bilingual speakers. We compared late Chinese-English bilingual speakers with high L2 (English) proficiency in an L1 environment and those in an L2 immersion environment. Both semantic and translation priming in same-language and cross-language conditions were investigated. The results showed no ‘bilingual disadvantage’ of the immersed participants. The priming asymmetry was weakened for the immersed participants who were more comparable in their reaction time to different language conditions. Both semantic and translation priming were found in L1-L2 and L2-L1 directions, suggesting that both types of priming are similar in nature in the bilingual lexicon.

scholarly journals Cross-language priming: A view from bilingual speech

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
CATHERINE E. TRAVIS ◽  
RENA TORRES CACOULLOS ◽  
EVAN KIDD
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Contextual Features ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Subject Expression ◽  
Cross Language

In the current paper we report on a study of priming of variable Spanish 1sg subject expression in spontaneous Spanish–English bilingual speech (based on the New Mexico Spanish–English Bilingual corpus, Torres Cacoullos & Travis, in preparation). We show both within- and cross-language Coreferential Subject Priming; however, cross-language priming from English to Spanish is weaker and shorter lived than within-language Spanish-to-Spanish priming, a finding that appears not to be attributable to lexical boost. Instead, interactions with subject continuity and verb type show that the strength of priming depends on co-occurring contextual features and particular [pronoun + verb] constructions, from the more lexically specific to the more schematically general. Quantitative patterns in speech thus offer insights unavailable from experimental work into the scope and locus of priming effects, suggesting that priming in bilingual discourse can serve to gauge degrees of strength of within- and cross-language associations between usage-based constructions.

Linguistically directed attention to the temporal aspect of action events in monolingual English speakers and Chinese–English bilingual speakers with varying English proficiency

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENN-YEU CHEN ◽  
JUI-JU SU ◽  
CHAO-YANG LEE ◽  
PADRAIG G. O'SEAGHDHA
Keyword(s):  
English Proficiency ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Temporal Aspect ◽  
Chinese And English

Chinese and English speakers seem to hold different conceptions of time which may be related to the different codings of time in the two languages. Employing a sentence–picture matching task, we have investigated this linguistic relativity in Chinese–English bilinguals varying in English proficiency and found that those with high proficiency performed differently from those with low proficiency. Additional monolingual English data, reported here, showed further that high-proficiency bilinguals performed similarly to the English monolinguals, suggesting that Chinese speakers’ sensitivity to the time of an action event might be modifiable according to the extent of their experience with a tensed language.

Target accessibility contributes to asymmetric priming in translation and cross-language semantic priming in unbalanced bilinguals

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
YISRAEL SMITH ◽  
JOEL WALTERS ◽  
ANAT PRIOR
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Lexical Activation ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L1 And L2

The current study examined within- and cross-language connectivity in four priming conditions: repetition, translation, within-language semantic and cross-language semantic priming. Unbalanced Hebrew–English bilinguals (N = 89) completed a lexical decision task in one of the four conditions in both languages. Priming effects were significantly larger from L1 to L2 for translation priming and marginally so for cross-language semantic priming. Priming effects were comparable for L1 and L2 in repetition and within-language semantic priming. These results support the notion that L1 words are more effective primes but also that L2 targets benefit more from priming. This pattern of results suggests that the lower frequency of use of L2 lexical items in unbalanced bilinguals contributes to asymmetrical cross-language priming via lower resting-level activation of targets and not only via less efficient lexical activation of primes, as highlighted by the BIA+ model.

scholarly journals Do Monolingual and Bilingual Speakers Differ in Language Processing? Evidence from Behavior and ERPs

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1605-1609
Author(s):  
Salim A. Mouloua ◽  
Stephanie Castelin ◽  
Mustapha Mouloua
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Congruency Effect ◽  
English Language ◽  
Unrelated Word ◽  
Processing Task ◽  
Electrophysiological Data ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Practical Implications

The present study was designed to empirically examine the effects of bilingualism on language processing. Participants consisted of 20 English monolingual and 20 Spanish-English bilingual speakers. All participants were required to complete an English language processing task consisting of categorically related versus unrelated word pairs, and behavioral and electrophysiological data were recorded and analyzed. Overall, results yielded a congruency effect indicating that participants were more accurate in identifying incongruent word pairs than congruent word pairs. There were significant interactions between congruency and bilingualism on behavioral and electrophysiological variables, and monolingual participants outperformed their bilingual counterparts on accuracy and reaction time measures. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Testing the Cognitive Load Hypothesis: Repair Rates and Usage in a Bilingual Community

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Dumont
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Language Change ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Using Data

AbstractIt has been assumed that bilingual speakers have a heavier cognitive load than monolinguals, which may be responsible for language change such as simplification, overgeneralization, transfer and code-switching. While the cognitive load hypothesis is interesting, the hypothesis has not been empirically tested using naturally occurring speech. Using data from a Spanish/English bilingual community, this study operationalizes and tests the cognitive load hypothesis by studying disfluencies in two groups of Spanish speakers with varying degrees of English proficiency. Specifically, truncated utterances and the mechanisms of linguistic repair involved in fixing these disfluencies are examined. The results show measurable differences between the two groups. The group of speakers with higher bilingual proficiency, who are predicted to have a heavier cognitive load, shows a significantly higher rate of repair; additionally the syntactic patterns and types of repair are significantly different between the more bilingual and the less bilingual speakers, suggesting that they use repair in divergent ways. There is not sufficient evidence, however, to conclude that the more bilingual speakers have a higher cognitive load.

The effect of age of L2 acquisition on the organization of the bilingual lexicon: Evidence from masked priming

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA SABOURIN ◽  
CHRISTIE BRIEN ◽  
MICHELE BURKHOLDER
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Language Translation ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Semantic Level ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Early English ◽  
Cross Language

This study investigates the role of age of acquisition (AoA) on the bilingual mental lexicon. Four groups of participants were tested: (i) English native speakers with minimal exposure to French; (ii) late English–French bilinguals; (iii) early English–French bilinguals; and (iv) simultaneous English–French bilinguals. We used a masked priming paradigm to investigate early, automatic lexical processing at the semantic level by testing both a within-language semantic condition and a cross-language translation condition. AoA was investigated both through group effects and a correlation analysis. We found significant translation priming effects for the simultaneous and early bilinguals only, and a significant correlation between AoA and translation priming effects. Due to the matched L2 proficiency of the early and late bilinguals, these results support our hypothesis that an early AoA, regardless of L2 proficiency, is crucial in order to find the L2-to-L1 priming effects that have often been elusive in recent studies.

Cross-language comparisons of maze use in Spanish and English in functionally monolingual and bilingual children

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA M. BEDORE ◽  
CHRISTINE E. FIESTAS ◽  
ELIZABETH D. PEÑA ◽  
VANESSA J. NAGY
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Cross Language

Maze use appears to be higher in bilingual speakers than in their functionally monolingual peers. One question is whether this is due to the speaker's bilingual status or to the characteristics of the bilingual's language(s). Narratives for 22 Spanish–English bilingual 4–6-year-olds and their functionally monolingual age-matched peers were analyzed for maze use. Bilingual and functionally monolingual children used similar percentages and patterns of mazes. Children produced more grammatical revisions in Spanish than English. Bilingual and functionally monolingual children used similar grammatical revision strategies in Spanish and English. Children's maze use in each language was correlated with measures of language productivity such as mean length of utterance and number of words used in the sample. These findings suggest that the role of language is important in maze use and that bilingual children do not necessarily have greater levels of linguistic uncertainty than do their functionally monolingual peers.

Masked Translation Priming Effects With Highly Proficient Simultaneous Bilinguals

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Andoni Duñabeitia ◽  
Manuel Perea ◽  
Manuel Carreiras
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
The Other ◽  
Memory Organization ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Bilingual Memory ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Masked Translation Priming

One essential issue for models of bilingual memory organization is to what degree the representation from one of the languages is shared with the other language. In this study, we examine whether there is a symmetrical translation priming effect with highly proficient, simultaneous bilinguals. We conducted a masked priming lexical decision experiment with cognate and noncognate translation equivalents. Results showed a significant masked translation priming effect for both cognates and noncognates, with a greater priming effect for cognates. Furthermore, the magnitude of the translation priming was similar in the two directions. Thus, highly fluent bilinguals do develop symmetrical between-language links, as predicted by the Revised Hierarchical model and the BIA+ model. We examine the implications of these results for models of bilingual memory.

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