scholarly journals The role of the childhood environment for language dominance: A study of adult simultaneous bilingual speakers of German and French

2015 ◽  
pp. 174-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Kupisch ◽  
Joost van de Weijer
Keyword(s):  
Language Dominance ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Childhood Environment

scholarly journals USING PROSODY TO PREDICT UPCOMING REFERENTS IN THE L1 AND THE L2

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Anouschka Foltz
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Exposure Period ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Resource Deficit ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Pitch Accents

Abstract While monolingual speakers can use contrastive pitch accents to predict upcoming referents, bilingual speakers do not always use this cue predictively in their L2. The current study examines the role of recent exposure for predictive processing in native German (L1) second language learners of English (L2). In Experiment 1, participants followed instructions to click on two successive objects, for example, Click on the red carrot/duck. Click on the green/GREEN carrot (where CAPS indicate a contrastive L + H* accent). Participants predicted a repeated noun following a L + H* accent in the L1, but not in the L2, where processing was delayed. Experiment 2 shows that after an exposure period with highly consistent prosodic cues, bilinguals engaged in predictive processing in both their L1 and L2. However, inconsistent prosodic cues showed different effects on bilinguals’ L1 and L2 predictive processing. The results are discussed in terms of exposure-based and resource-deficit models of processing.

Lateralization of lexical processing in monolinguals and bilinguals

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110188
Author(s):  
Filiz Mergen ◽  
Gulmira Kuruoglu
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Visual Hemifield ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Brain Correlates ◽  
Orthographic Neighbors

Aims and objectives: This study aims to investigate how lexical processing (LP) is organized in early Turkish–English bilinguals and Turkish monolinguals. Methodology: We used a visual hemifield paradigm where bilingual ( n = 48) and monolingual ( n = 53) participants performed a lexical decision task. Bilingual participants performed the task in both their languages. Data and analysis: We recorded response times (RTs) and the accuracy rates (ARs) of the participants. An analysis of variance and t-test were run to analyze the bilingual and monolingual data, respectively. Findings: The results obtained from the analysis of the RTs and ARs for the Turkish and English words showed a balanced hemispheric organization in LP in bilingual speakers. The RTs for Turkish words in the monolingual group provided supportive evidence for the predominant role of the left hemisphere in LP. However, no significant difference was found in the accuracy of their answers, suggesting that the monolingual participants’ performance was not influenced by visual field of presentation of the words. Finally, the comparison of the two groups revealed that bilingual participants’ performance was inferior to monolinguals’ in speed and accuracy of processing of words presented in both visual fields. This result gives further support for the differential representation of LP in monolinguals and bilinguals. Originality: The psycholinguistic literature abounds with studies of LP in bilinguals and monolinguals from a variety of language backgrounds; however, there is much less data regarding the brain correlates of LP in Turkish–English bilinguals and Turkish monolinguals. Implications: Since Turkish–English bilinguals and Turkish monolinguals are underrepresented in the literature as compared to the population who speak other languages with alphabetic writing, this study provides preliminary data for future studies. Limitations: We did not control for gender or lexical factors such as orthographic neighbors when designing the word sets used as stimuli.

scholarly journals Leísmo or fake-leísmo? New Insights into Catalan Contact Spanish from the FEC Corpus

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Monja Burkard
Keyword(s):  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linguistic Variables ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

The aim of this study is to describe the use of the pronouns le and les in the Spanish spoken in the province of Barcelona. We analyzed a sample of 12 reading tasks and 22 oral interviews taken from two corpora: the FEC (Fonología del Español Contemporáneo, Pustka et alii 2018) corpus (with mainly Catalan-dominant bilingual speakers) and the Corpus oral de profesionales de la lengua castellana en Barcelona (Sinner 2001, with mainly Spanish-dominant bilinguals). In doing so, we took into account several linguistic variables as well as language dominance of the speakers in order to find out 1) if there is leísmo in Catalan Contact Spanish (although there is no equivalent of leísmo in Catalan) and if so, 2) which features of the referent and of the verb trigger leísmo in this variety, and 3) if Catalan-dominant bilinguals produce leísmo to a lesser extent. While the results of the reading task suggest that leísmo is not absent in the Spanish of Barcelona, there are only a few cases of leísmo in spontaneous speech in both corpora. Regarding the linguistic variables, we see that on the one hand, leísmo is not restricted to leísmo correcto in our corpora; on the other hand, the majority are fake-leismo cases. Thus, our data seem to suggest that the Spanish of Barcelona is only a fake-leísmo variety. Regarding the language dominance, however, we find that Catalan-dominant bilinguals do not produce fewer cases of leísmo, since the leísmo rate is higher in the FEC corpus.

The role of linguistic cues in bilingual negation processing

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojana Ćoso ◽  
Irena Bogunović
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Sentence Type ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Linguistic Cues ◽  
Different Types

Aims and objectives: A vast body of research has dealt with negation processing. There are many differences between negations across languages, which could influence negation processing in bilingual speakers. However, bilingual negation processing has rarely been experimentally investigated. This study aims at exploring whether highly proficient Croatian-English bilinguals are able to adequately adopt English negations, and whether linguistic cues from both languages have similar effect on negation processing. Methodology: A sentence–picture verification task was used to investigate the processing of affirmative sentences, sentential and constituent negations, Croatian negative concord and English sentences with negated subject. Data and analysis: 2 (language) × 4 (sentence type) × 2 (congruency) ANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze the data. Findings: The results showed that the effect of language was not significant, except in the case of constituent negations which were processed faster in English. There was a significant difference between the processing of affirmative and negative sentences, as affirmatives were processed faster than negatives in both languages. Constituent negations in both languages were processed slower compared with other types of negations. Originality: The results suggest that strong linguistic cues, such as word order and quantifiers, influence negation processing in both languages, resulting in differences between different types of negations. The results are discussed in the light of two existing models of negation and sentence processing. A new model, as a combination of these two models, is proposed. Implications: The fact that there was no significant difference in negation processing between the bilinguals’ two languages supports the view that highly proficient successive bilinguals are able to adequately adopt negations in both their languages.

The control of speech production by bilingual speakers: Introductory remarks

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALBERT COSTA ◽  
MIKEL SANTESTEBAN
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Phonological Encoding ◽  
Communicative Intention ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speaker ◽  
Lost In Translation ◽  
At Will

How much would Bill Murray have liked to be able to speak Japanese! Bill Murray's character in the movie Lost in Translation exemplifies the way we feel when trying to communicate with someone that does not speak the same language. Often, in such cases, the exchange of information is disrupted and even translation does not seem to capture the communicative intention of the interlocutors. Thus, to be able to speak two languages at will is obviously a worthy skill to have. However, there is also a potential drawback, namely, bilingual speakers need to control their production in such a way that the two languages do not end up mixed in an inappropriate manner during the discourse. For example, if Bill Murray would have been an English–Japanese bilingual, he would have had to be careful not to use English words when speaking to the director of the commercial. This poses interesting problems to researchers in cognitive psychology: How does a bilingual speaker control her two languages during speech production? How do bilingual speakers manage to avoid massive interference from the language they are not using? What is the role of the language-not-in-use during lexical retrieval and phonological encoding? The articles included in this issue aim at discussing the answers that have been put forward to some of these questions.

scholarly journals The roles of language mode and dominance in French–German bilinguals’ motion event descriptions

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ladina Stocker ◽  
Raphael Berthele
Keyword(s):  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Null Results ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Motion Event Descriptions ◽  
Manner Verbs

AbstractJuggling with structurally and semantically different language systems leads to constructions that differ from the typical patterns in a language. Typical patterns in the domain of motion are characterized by more verbs encoding path in French; and more verbs encoding the manner of motion in German. An increase of manner verbs in French, for instance, can be ascribed to an influence from German. The extent of typical or reversed patterns depends on interrelated factors such as speaker-related idiosyncrasies, language dominance configurations, and – arguably – the degree of language activation. Drawing on data from 154 French–German bilinguals who described motion events in different language modes, this paper combines interrelated questions on the role of language dominance, language mode manipulation and how these factors interact. Quantitative analyses on the use of motion verbs do not show the expected effects. The null results are discussed by comparing preceding studies showing contradictory findings.

Exploring language dominance through code-switching: intervocalic voiced stop lenition in Afrikaans–Spanish bilinguals

Phonetica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Henriksen ◽  
Andries W. Coetzee ◽  
Lorenzo García-Amaya ◽  
Micha Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Phonetic Categories ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

Abstract The present study examines the relationship between the two grammars of bilingual speakers, the linguistic ecologies in which the L1 and L2 become active, and how these topics can be explored in a bilingual community undergoing L1 attrition. Our experiment focused on the production of intervocalic phonemic voiced stops for L1-Afrikaans/L2-Spanish bilinguals in Patagonia, Argentina. While these phonemes undergo systematic intervocalic lenition in Spanish (e.g., /b d ɡ/ > [β ð ɣ]), they do not in Afrikaans (e.g., /b d/ > [b d]). The bilingual participants in our study produced target Afrikaans and Spanish words in unilingual and code-switched speaking contexts. The results show that: (i) the participants produce separate phonetic categories in Spanish and Afrikaans; (ii) code-switching affects the production of the target sounds asymmetrically, such that L1 Afrikaans influences the production of L2 Spanish sounds but not vice versa; and (iii) this L1-to-L2 influence remains robust despite the instability of the L1 itself. Altogether, our findings speak to the persistence of a bilingual’s L1 phonological grammar despite cross-generational L1 attrition.

Production of Cantonese classifiers in young heritage speakers and majority language speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1531-1548
Author(s):  
Rachel TY Kan
Keyword(s):  
Large Range ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Aims and Objectives: This study investigated the production of classifiers in two groups of bilingual speakers: young heritage speakers of Cantonese in the USA and peers in Hong Kong, where Cantonese is the majority language. The role of language background factors in the heritage speakers’ performance was also examined. Methodology: The participants included 72 heritage speakers (3;10–11;3) and 61 majority language speakers (5;3–12;4). A picture-naming task was used to elicit the production of noun phrases containing six different target classifiers. A language background questionnaire was administered. Data and Analysis: The participants’ production was scored in terms of whether a classifier was produced in each obligatory context, and whether an appropriate form of classifier was used. The scores were analysed using multiple regression. Findings: Both groups were able to produce a classifier where required, but the heritage speakers were less accurate in selecting the appropriate classifier. There was a large range of abilities among the heritage speakers, and those with more Cantonese experience and a later age of arrival obtained higher scores. Originality: This study found both similarities and differences between heritage speakers and majority language speakers, and identified a potential trend of development in heritage speakers after age 10. Significance/Implications: This study showed that the classifier is acquired in heritage speakers, but its functional scope was narrowed to cover only grammatical function.

scholarly journals The Long-Run Impacts of a Universal Child Care Program

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Baker ◽  
Jonathan Gruber ◽  
Kevin Milligan
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Childhood Environment ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Early Childhood Environment ◽  
Lower Life Satisfaction

Past research documents the persistence of positive impacts of early life interventions on noncognitive skills. We test the symmetry of this finding by studying the persistence of a sizeable negative shock to noncognitive outcomes arising with the introduction of universal child care in Quebec. We find that the negative effects on noncognitive outcomes persisted to school ages, and also that cohorts with increased child care access had worse health, lower life satisfaction, and higher crime rates later in life. Our results reinforce previous evidence of the central role of the early childhood environment for long-run success. (JEL I12, I31, J13, K42)

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