Evidence for long-term cross-language repetition priming in low fluency Chinese–English bilinguals

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
LI LI ◽  
LEI MO ◽  
RUIMING WANG ◽  
XUEYING LUO ◽  
ZHE CHEN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Implicit Memory ◽  
Explicit Memory ◽  
Repetition Priming ◽  
First Language ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Priming Paradigm ◽  
Cross Language

Previous studies have found that proficiency in a second language affects how the meanings of words are accessed. Support for this hypothesis is based on data from explicit memory tasks with bilingual participants who know two languages that are relatively similar phonologically and orthographically (e.g., Dutch–English, French–English). The present study tested this hypothesis with Chinese–English bilinguals using an implicit memory task – the cross-language repetition priming paradigm. Consistent with the result of Zeelenberg, R. and Pecher, D. (2003), we obtained reliable effects of long-term cross-language repetition priming using a conceptual implicit memory task. Overall, the four experiments support the Revised Hierarchical Model as they demonstrate that low fluency bilinguals can only access the conceptual representation of the second language via the lexical representation of the first language.

L1 English / L2 Spanish: Orthography–phonology activation without contrasts

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Shea
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Repetition Priming ◽  
Significant Interaction ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
First Language ◽  
Auditory Priming ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
L1 English ◽  
Prime Target

We consider how orthography activates sounds that are in a noncontrastive relationship in the second language (L2) and for which only one variant exists in the first language (L1). Participants were L1 English / L2 Spanish and native Spanish listeners. Intervocalically, Spanish graphemes ‘b d g’ correspond phonetically to stops and approximants (e.g. lobo ‘wolf’, lo[β]o), and in English they correspond only to stops. In Experiment 1, native and L2 Spanish listeners completed cross-modal (written–auditory) and within modal (auditory) priming tasks. Prime-target pairs were counterbalanced for phonetic variant. The results for L2 listeners in the cross-modal condition showed a significant interaction between variant and mode. Experiment 2 used long-term repetition priming to tap into longer-term representations and test whether L1 orthography is activated even when it is not strictly necessary to complete the task. Results for L2 speakers showed priming by both phonetic variants while for native listeners, only approximants showed a priming effect.

The L2 perception of initial English /h/ and /ɹ/ by Brazilian Portuguese learners of English

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-180
Author(s):  
Denise Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Discrimination Test ◽  
Identification Test ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Language Assimilation

This study investigates how speakers who speak Brazilian Portuguese as their first language and English as their second language perceive the English phonemes /h/ and /ɹ/, and how they and monolingual Brazilian Portuguese speakers map these phonemes onto Portuguese sound categories. Participants took part in three experiments: an AXB discrimination test, an identification test, and a cross-language assimilation test, which was also taken by monolinguals. Lower and higher proficiency groups were able to hear the distinction acoustically, but only the higher proficiency group used the distinction to identify English words. Monolingual Brazilian Portuguese speakers and the higher proficiency group assimilated English /h/ primarily to Portuguese /h/. However, the phonological environment had an effect for monolinguals, but not for the higher proficiency group. The lower proficiency group, which one might expect to fall in between these two groups, showed a failure to assimilate English sounds to the Portuguese categories.

Measuring language-specific phonetic settings

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ineke Mennen ◽  
James M. Scobbie ◽  
Esther de Leeuw ◽  
Sonja Schaeffler ◽  
Felix Schaeffler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Pitch Range ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Point Tracking ◽  
Vocal Apparatus ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Jaw Position ◽  
Selection Of

While it is well known that languages have different phonemes and phonologies, there is growing interest in the idea that languages may also differ in their ‘phonetic setting’. The term ‘phonetic setting’ refers to a tendency to make the vocal apparatus employ a language-specific habitual configuration. For example, languages may differ in their degree of lip-rounding, tension of the lips and tongue, jaw position, phonation types, pitch range and register. Such phonetic specifications may be particularly difficult for second language (L2) learners to acquire, yet be easily perceivable by first language (L1) listeners as inappropriate. Techniques that are able to capture whether and how an L2 learner’s pronunciation proficiency in their two languages relates to the respective phonetic settings in each language should prove useful for second language research. This article gives an overview of a selection of techniques that can be used to investigate phonetic settings at the articulatory level, such as flesh-point tracking, ultrasound tongue imaging and electropalatography (EPG), as well as a selection of acoustic measures such as measures of pitch range, long-term average spectra and formants.

Activation of L1 orthography in L2 word reading: Constraints from language and writing system

2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832092776
Author(s):  
Lin Chen ◽  
Charles A Perfetti ◽  
Xiaoping Fang ◽  
Li-Yun Chang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Word ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Color Judgment

When reading in a second language, a reader’s first language may be involved. For word reading, the question is how and at what level: lexical, pre-lexical, or both. In three experiments, we employed an implicit reading task (color judgment) and an explicit reading task (word naming) to test whether a Chinese meaning equivalent character and its sub-character orthography are activated when first language (L1) Chinese speakers read second language (L2) English words. Because Chinese and English have different spoken and written forms, any cross language effects cannot arise from shared written and spoken forms. Importantly, the experiments provide a comparison with single language experiments within Chinese, which show cross-writing system activation when words are presented in alphabetic Pinyin, leading to activation of the corresponding character and also its sub-character (radical) components. In the present experiments, Chinese–English bilinguals first silently read or made a meaning judgment on an English word. Immediately following, they judged the color of a character (Experiments 1A and 1B) or named it (Experiment 2). Four conditions varied the relation between the character that is the meaning equivalent of the English word and the following character presented for naming or color judgment. The experiments provide evidence that the Chinese meaning equivalent character is activated during the reading of the L2 English. In contrast to the within-Chinese results, the activation of Chinese characters did not extend to the sub-character level. This pattern held for both implicit reading (color judgment) and explicit reading (naming) tasks, indicating that for unrelated languages with writing systems, L1 activation during L2 reading occurs for the specific orthographic L1 form (a single character), mediated by meaning. We conclude that differences in writing systems do not block cross-language co-activation, but that differences in languages limit co-activation to the lexical level.

The reduced embodiment of a second language

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Tal Norman ◽  
Orna Peleg
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
First Language ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Preceding Sentence ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract Substantial evidence indicates that first language (L1) comprehension involves embodied visual simulations. The present study tested the assumption that a formally learned second language (L2), which is less related to real-life experiences, is processed in a less embodied manner relative to a naturally acquired L1. To this end, bilingual participants completed the same task in their L1 and L2. In the task, they read sentences and decided immediately after each sentence whether a pictured object had been mentioned in the preceding sentence. Responses were significantly faster when the shape of the object in the picture matched rather than mismatched the sentence-implied shape, but only in the L1, and only when the L1 block was performed before the L2 block. These findings suggest that embodied visual simulations are reduced in a formally learned L2 and may be subjected to cross-language influences.

Capacity limits in continuous old-new recognition and in short-term implicit memory

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-131
Author(s):  
Elinor McKone
Keyword(s):  
Implicit Memory ◽  
Explicit Memory ◽  
Repetition Priming ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Capacity Limits ◽  
Capacity Limit

Using explicit memory measures, Cowan predicts a new circumstance in which the central capacity limit of 4 chunks should obtain. Supporting results for such an experiment, using continuous old-new recognition, are described. With implicit memory measures, Cowan assumes that short-term repetition priming reflects the central capacity limit. I argue that this phenomenon instead reflects limits within individual perceptual processing modules.

Is there cross-language modulation when bilinguals process number words?

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO MACIZO ◽  
AMPARO HERRERA ◽  
DANIELA PAOLIERI ◽  
PATRICIA ROMÁN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Compatibility Effect ◽  
First Language ◽  
Unit Distance ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACTThis study explores the possibility of cross-language activation when bilinguals process number words in their first language (Italian) and their second language (German). Italian monolinguals (Experiment 1), German monolinguals (Experiment 2), and Italian/German bilinguals (Experiment 3) were required to decide the larger of two number words while the unit–decade compatibility effect was examined. For compatible trials the decade and unit comparisons lead to the same response (e.g., 24–67), whereas for incompatible trials the decade and unit comparisons lead to different responses (e.g., 27–64). The regular unit–decade compatibility effect was significant when bilinguals and monolinguals performed the comparison in German. However, this effect was not found when bilinguals and monolinguals performed the task in Italian. In addition, the decade distance played a major role when bilinguals processed in their first language, whereas the unit distance was more important when they worked in their second language. These results indicate that the processing of number words in one language is not modulated by the way bilinguals process number words in their alternative language.

English idioms in the first language and second language lexicon: a dual representation approach

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Abel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
First Language ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Dual Representation ◽  
Figurative Meaning ◽  
Conceptual Representations

In two empirical studies, judgements that native speakers of German make about the decomposability of English idioms were investigated. A decomposable idiom is an idiom whose individual components contribute to its figurative meaning, whereas the constituents of a nondecomposable idiom do not make such a contribution. The findings were analysed and compared to native judgements. The Model of Dual Idiom Representation is introduced in order to explain the differences between the two groups. At the lexical level, the model postulates the parallel existence of idiom entries and constituent entries. The degree of decomposability and the frequency with which the idiom is encountered determine its lexical representation. If there is no idiom entry for a particular idiom, conceptual representations are accessed during comprehension. Because nonnative speakers encounter idioms less often than native speakers, the first language (L1) and second language (L2) lexicon vary with regard to the number of idiom entries.

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