Assessing automatic processing of hypernymic relations in first language speakers and advanced second language learners

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Crossley
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Lexical Knowledge ◽  
L1 And L2

This study investigates the depth of lexical knowledge in first language (L1) speakers and second language (L2) learners in reference to hierarchical word knowledge. Eighty-eight participants took part in a lexical decision task that assessed their speed and accuracy in recognizing words and nonwords. Prime and target pairs in the lexical decision task were related words (hyponynm to hypernym and hypernym to hyponym), unrelated words, or word to nonwords. The findings indicate bidirectional priming in L1 participants such that associated pairs (hyponynm to hypernym and hypernym to hyponym) were processed faster than unrelated words. For L2 participants, unidirectional priming effects were reported for the hyponynm to hypernym condition only. These findings provide evidence that hierarchical lexical networks characterize L1 lexicons but not L2 networks. Such findings provide important information about the organizational properties of L1 and L2 lexicons.

The influence of first language polysemy and first language and second language lexical frequencies on second language learners’ use of false cognates

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-541
Author(s):  
Carl Cañizares-Álvarez ◽  
Virginia C Mueller Gathercole
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Relative Transparency ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English

Aims and objectives: This study examines second language (L2) bilinguals’ use of words that have the same or similar forms in their two languages but whose meaning extensions differ – that is, false cognates. We examine the conditions under which L2 speakers inappropriately use false cognates in the L2. How do frequency of the relevant words in each language and polysemy of the word in the first language (L1) affect L2 learners’ use of such words? Design: Fifty Spanish L1–English L2 adults translated 80 words in context from Spanish (S) to English (E). The words involved polysemous Spanish words that had several translations in English, one of which was a cognate form. Words were strictly balanced for L1 polysemy (high versus low), frequency of the S word, frequency of the E cognate form, and frequency of the E non-cognate translation. The words were presented in unambiguous contextual frames that pushed for the non-cognate translation in English. Data and analysis: Analyses of variance were used to analyze participants’ translations relative to the variables of Spanish polysemy and the frequencies of the forms in question. Findings: The findings show that the relative transparency or opacity of the mapping between the L1 and L2 influences word choice: the use of a false cognate instead of a competing correct lexical item depends on the complex interaction of L1 polysemy and the lexical frequencies of the L1 and L2 forms in the bilingual’s two languages. Originality: This study strictly controls for several factors crucial to L2 users’ choice of a word in the L2: polysemy in the L1, frequency of the L1 word, and frequencies of the L2 words involved. Significance: When these variables are viewed together, the data reveal a complex interaction showing factors that contribute to the transparency or opacity of the L1–L2 lexical semantic linkages.

Using lexical indices to predict produced and not produced words in second language learners

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Crossley ◽  
Tom Salsbury
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word List ◽  
Word Production ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Lexical Knowledge ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Discriminant Function Analyses

The paper explores how linguistic indices related to lexical networks and psycholinguistic models of lexical knowledge can be used to predict produced and not produced words in second language (L2) speakers. Two hypotheses are tested in this study. The first addresses how lexical properties thought to be important in word knowledge interrelate with word production. The second addresses which lexical properties are most predictive of word production. To test these hypotheses, a set of 45 frequent nouns and verbs produced by L2 learners were collected. A comparison word list of 45 frequent nouns and verbs produced by native speakers, but not found in the L2 data set were also collected. Polysemy and hypernymy values from the WordNet database along with word meaningfulness, concreteness, familiarity, and imagability values from the MRC Psycholinguistic Database and frequency values from SUBTLEXus were collected for each word. ANOVA analyses of variance and discriminant function analyses were conducted for each data set to examine which lexical indices discriminated between produced and not produced words and how these indices interrelated. The results of the noun analysis indicate that produced nouns are more frequent, more meaningful, and more familiar than not produced nouns. Results from the verb analysis show that produced verbs are more frequent, more meaningful, less specific, and more familiar than not produced verbs. These findings provide evidence for the importance of word properties in lexical production.

scholarly journals Advanced Second Language Learners of Mandarin Show Persistent Deficits for Lexical Tone Encoding in Picture-to-Word Form Matching

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Pelzl ◽  
Ellen F. Lau ◽  
Taomei Guo ◽  
Robert M. DeKeyser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Lexical Decision Tasks ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Decision Tasks

People who grow up speaking a language without lexical tones typically find it difficult to master tonal languages after childhood. Accumulating research suggests that much of the challenge for these second language (L2) speakers has to do not with identification of the tones themselves, but with the bindings between tones and lexical units. The question that remains open is how much of these lexical binding problems are problems of encoding (incomplete knowledge of the tone-to-word relations) vs. retrieval (failure to access those relations in online processing). While recent work using lexical decision tasks suggests that both may play a role, one issue is that failure on a lexical decision task may reflect a lack of learner confidence about what is not a word, rather than non-native representation or processing of known words. Here we provide complementary evidence using a picture-phonology matching paradigm in Mandarin in which participants decide whether or not a spoken target matches a specific image, with concurrent event-related potential (ERP) recording to provide potential insight into differences in L1 and L2 tone processing strategies. As in the lexical decision case, we find that advanced L2 learners show a clear disadvantage in accurately identifying tone mismatched targets relative to vowel mismatched targets. We explore the contribution of incomplete/uncertain lexical knowledge to this performance disadvantage by examining individual data from an explicit tone knowledge post-test. Results suggest that explicit tone word knowledge and confidence explains some but not all of the errors in picture-phonology matching. Analysis of ERPs from correct trials shows some differences in the strength of L1 and L2 responses, but does not provide clear evidence toward differences in processing that could explain the L2 disadvantage for tones. In sum, these results converge with previous evidence from lexical decision tasks in showing that advanced L2 listeners continue to have difficulties with lexical tone recognition, and in suggesting that these difficulties reflect problems both in encoding lexical tone knowledge and in retrieving that knowledge in real time.

Processing collocations in a second language: A case of first language activation?

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1193-1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRENT WOLTER ◽  
JUNKO YAMASHITA
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Processing Language

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the possible influence of first language (L1) collocational patterns on second language (L2) collocational processing. A lexical decision task was used to assess whether collocational patterns acceptable in the L1 but not the L2 would still be activated when processing language entirely in the L2. The results revealed no such activation. Furthermore, L2 speakers did not produce accelerated processing for control collocations that were acceptable in the L2 but not the L1. Based on these findings, we put forth some theoretical suggestions regarding recent research indicating accelerated processing for congruent over incongruent collocations. Finally, our NS control group revealed some unexpected tendencies that cannot be easily accounted for with our current understanding of L1 language processing.

Foreign Accent in Adult Simultaneous Bilinguals

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Kupisch ◽  
Dagmar Barton ◽  
Katja Hailer ◽  
Ewgenia Klaschik ◽  
Ilse Stangen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
L1 And L2

The study reported in this paper examines foreign accent (FA) in adult simultaneous bilinguals (2L1ers). Specifically, we investigate how accent is affected if a first language is acquired as a minority (heritage) language as compared to a majority (dominant) language. We compare the perceived FA in both languages of 38 adult 2L1ers (German-French and German-Italian) to that of monolingual native speakers (L1ers) and late second language learners (L2ers). Naturalistic speech samples are judged by 84 native speakers of the respective languages. Results indicate that the majority language is always spoken without an FA, while results for the heritage language fall between those of L1 and L2 speakers. For the heritage language, we further show that a native accent correlates with length of residence in the heritage country during childhood but not during adulthood. Furthermore, raters have comparatively more difficulties when judging the accent of a heritage speaker. The results of this study add to our current understanding of what factors shape the phonology of a heritage language system in adulthood.

The neural timecourse of American English vowel discrimination by Japanese, Russian and Spanish second-language learners of English

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Valerie L. Shafer ◽  
Sarah Kresh ◽  
Kikuyo Ito ◽  
Miwako Hisagi ◽  
Nancy Vidal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
American English ◽  
First Language ◽  
Perceptual Task ◽  
Temporal Contrast ◽  
Asymmetrical Pattern ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract This study investigated the influence of first language (L1) phoneme features and phonetic salience on discrimination of second language (L2) American English (AE) vowels. On a perceptual task, L2 adult learners of English with Spanish, Japanese or Russian as an L1 showed poorer discrimination of the spectral-only difference between /æ:/ as the oddball (deviant) among frequent /ɑ:/ stimuli compared to AE controls. The Spanish listeners showed a significant difference from the controls for the spectral-temporal contrast between /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/ for both perception and the neural Mismatch Negativity (MMN), but only for deviant /ɑ:/ versus /ʌ/ (duration decrement). For deviant /ʌ/ versus /ɑ:/, and for deviant /æ:/ versus /ʌ/ or /ɑ:/, all participants showed equivalent MMN amplitude. The asymmetrical pattern for /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/ suggested that L2 phonetic detail was maintained only for the deviant. These findings indicated that discrimination was more strongly influenced by L1 phonology than phonetic salience.

SECOND LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT AND MORPHOSYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti Spinner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Grammatical Development ◽  
Assessment Measure ◽  
Morphosyntactic Development ◽  
The One

The purpose of this study is to begin work toward a grammatical assessment measure that could bridge the gap between theoretical work on grammatical development, on the one hand, and tools such as the Michigan Test (which uses multiple-choice questions on vocabulary and grammar) or the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages scale (which uses holistic descriptions of grammar use), on the other hand. Such a measure would need to be practical to administer with large groups. Two proposals of grammatical development (processability theory, Pienemann, 1998, 2005; and organic grammar, Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 2006) were applied to short samples of spontaneous production data from 48 adult second-language learners of English from mixed first-language backgrounds. The rapid profile scale successfully accounted for the learners’ development but is of somewhat limited use with short samples of data. The organic grammar placement scale may need to be further refined, but it includes important indicators of grammatical development. A preliminary proposal for using a combined measure with a rubric is presented.

Reading strategy training in second language contexts

1993 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Cotterall
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Strategy Training ◽  
Learning Context

Strategy training appears to be a promising means of assisting second language learners. However, strategy training operates within a context. If factors in that context are not considered, the training will not be successful. This paper discusses a number of insights highlighted by a reading strategy training study conducted in a second language (L2) setting. It cautions against the uncritical adoption of strategy training as a panacea for learning difficulties, and stresses the importance of recognising and taking account of factors in the second language learning context which may suggest modifications to procedures carried out successfully in first language (L1) settings.

scholarly journals The processing of ambiguous sentences by first and second language learners of English

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA FELSER ◽  
LEAH ROBERTS ◽  
THEODORE MARINIS ◽  
REBECCA GROSS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
On Line ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This study investigates the way adult second language (L2) learners of English resolve relative clause attachment ambiguities in sentences such as The dean liked the secretary of the professor who was reading a letter. Two groups of advanced L2 learners of English with Greek or German as their first language participated in a set of off-line and on-line tasks. The results indicate that the L2 learners do not process ambiguous sentences of this type in the same way as adult native speakers of English do. Although the learners' disambiguation preferences were influenced by lexical–semantic properties of the preposition linking the two potential antecedent noun phrases (of vs. with), there was no evidence that they applied any phrase structure–based ambiguity resolution strategies of the kind that have been claimed to influence sentence processing in monolingual adults. The L2 learners' performance also differs markedly from the results obtained from 6- to 7-year-old monolingual English children in a parallel auditory study, in that the children's attachment preferences were not affected by the type of preposition at all. We argue that children, monolingual adults, and adult L2 learners differ in the extent to which they are guided by phrase structure and lexical–semantic information during sentence processing.

scholarly journals Can a connectionist model explain the processing of regularly and irregularly inflected words in German as L1 and L2?

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilo Strobach ◽  
Ute Schönpflug
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Connectionist Model ◽  
Respective Group ◽  
Specific Advantage ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Regular Verb

The connectionist model is a prevailing model of the structure and functioning of the cognitive system of the processing of morphology. According to this model, the morphology of regularly and irregularly inflected words (e.g., verb participles and noun plurals) is processed in the same cognitive network. A validation of the connectionist model of the processing of morphology in German as L2 has yet to be achieved. To investigate L2-specific aspects, we compared a group of L1 speakers of German with speakers of German as L2. L2 and L1 speakers of German were assigned to their respective group by their reaction times in picture naming prior to the central task. The reaction times in the lexical decision task of verb participles and noun plurals were largely consistent with the assumption of the connectionist model. Interestingly, speakers of German as L2 showed a specific advantage for irregular compared with regular verb participles.

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