Cross-Language Influences in the Processing of Multiword Expressions: From a First Language to Second and Back

The present study investigated cross-language influences in the processing of binomial expressions (knife and fork), from a first language (L1) to a second language (L2) and from L2 to L1. Two groups of unbalanced bilinguals (Chinese/L1-English/L2 and English/L1-Chinese/L2) and a control group of English monolinguals performed a visual lexical decision task that incorporated unmasked priming. To assess cross-language influences, we used three types of expressions: congruent binomials (English binomials that have translation equivalents in Chinese), English-only binomials, and Chinese-only binomials translated into English. Lexical decision latencies to the last word (fork) in a binomial (knife and fork) were compared with response latencies to the same word in a matched control phrase (spoon and fork). We found that (1) Chinese-English bilinguals showed a significant priming effect for congruent binomials but no facilitation for English-only binomials, (2) English–Chinese bilinguals showed a trend toward priming for congruent binomials, which did not reach statistical significance, and no priming for English-only binomials, (3) English monolinguals showed comparable priming for congruent and English-only binomials. With respect to the Chinese-only binomials, none of the three participant groups showed priming for translated Chinese-only binomials over controls. These findings suggest that L1 influences the processing of L2 binomials, and that there may be some cross-linguistic influence in the opposite direction, i.e., from L2 to L1, although to a lesser extent.

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Cross-Language Influences in the Processing of Multiword Expressions: From a First Language to Second and Back

10.26686/wgtn.14920110 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lingli Du ◽

Irina Elgort ◽

Anna Siyanova

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

First Language ◽

Control Group ◽

Decision Task ◽

Response Latencies ◽

English Only ◽

Multiword Expressions ◽

Cross Language ◽

L1 English

The present study investigated cross-language influences in the processing of binomial expressions (knife and fork), from a first language (L1) to a second language (L2) and from L2 to L1. Two groups of unbalanced bilinguals (Chinese/L1-English/L2 and English/L1-Chinese/L2) and a control group of English monolinguals performed a visual lexical decision task that incorporated unmasked priming. To assess cross-language influences, we used three types of expressions: congruent binomials (English binomials that have translation equivalents in Chinese), English-only binomials, and Chinese-only binomials translated into English. Lexical decision latencies to the last word (fork) in a binomial (knife and fork) were compared with response latencies to the same word in a matched control phrase (spoon and fork). We found that (1) Chinese-English bilinguals showed a significant priming effect for congruent binomials but no facilitation for English-only binomials, (2) English–Chinese bilinguals showed a trend toward priming for congruent binomials, which did not reach statistical significance, and no priming for English-only binomials, (3) English monolinguals showed comparable priming for congruent and English-only binomials. With respect to the Chinese-only binomials, none of the three participant groups showed priming for translated Chinese-only binomials over controls. These findings suggest that L1 influences the processing of L2 binomials, and that there may be some cross-linguistic influence in the opposite direction, i.e., from L2 to L1, although to a lesser extent.

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

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716414000113 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 36 (5) ◽

pp. 1193-1221 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

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.

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Effect of Emotions in a Lexical Decision Task

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000193 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 71-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hélène Maire ◽

Renaud Brochard ◽

Jean-Luc Kop ◽

Vivien Dioux ◽

Daniel Zagar

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Emotional State ◽

Control Group ◽

Decision Task ◽

Attentional Orienting ◽

Emotional States ◽

Sequence Effect ◽

Emotion Induction ◽

Before And After

Abstract. This study measured the effect of emotional states on lexical decision task performance and investigated which underlying components (physiological, attentional orienting, executive, lexical, and/or strategic) are affected. We did this by assessing participants’ performance on a lexical decision task, which they completed before and after an emotional state induction task. The sequence effect, usually produced when participants repeat a task, was significantly smaller in participants who had received one of the three emotion inductions (happiness, sadness, embarrassment) than in control group participants (neutral induction). Using the diffusion model ( Ratcliff, 1978 ) to resolve the data into meaningful parameters that correspond to specific psychological components, we found that emotion induction only modulated the parameter reflecting the physiological and/or attentional orienting components, whereas the executive, lexical, and strategic components were not altered. These results suggest that emotional states have an impact on the low-level mechanisms underlying mental chronometric tasks.

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More Alike Than Unalike: Cross-language Similarity Influences Novel Word Lexicalization in Bilingual Individuals

10.31234/osf.io/phcqj ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Pauline Palma ◽

Marie-France Marin ◽

k onishi ◽

Debra Titone

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Decision Task ◽

The Novel ◽

Lexical Representations ◽

Before And After ◽

Word Forms ◽

Explicit Recognition ◽

Novel Word Learning ◽

Cross Language

Although several studies have focused on novel word learning and consolidation in native (presumably monolingual) speakers, less is know about how bilinguals add novel words to their mental lexicon. Here, we trained 33 English-French bilinguals on novel word-forms that were neighbors to “hermit” English words (i.e., words with no existing neighbors). Importantly, these English words varied in terms of orthographic overlap with their French translation equivalent (i.e., cognates vs. noncognates). We measured explicit recognition of the novel neighbors and the interaction between novel neighbors and English words through a lexical decision task, both before and after a sleep interval. In the lexical decision task, we found evidence of immediate facilitation for English words with novel neighbors, and evidence of competition after a sleep interval for cognate words only. These results suggest that higher quality of existing lexical representations predicts an earlier onset for novel word lexicalization.

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Variability and consistency in late bilinguals’ morphology

The Mental Lexicon ◽

10.1075/ml.18002.jes ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 186-214

Author(s):

Anna Jessen ◽

João Veríssimo ◽

Harald Clahsen

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

First Language ◽

English Speakers ◽

Control Group ◽

Brain Potentials ◽

Grammatical Morphology ◽

Frontal Negativity ◽

Complex Words ◽

L1 English ◽

Late Bilinguals

Abstract Speaking a late-learned second language (L2) is supposed to yield more variable and less consistent output than speaking one’s first language (L1), particularly with respect to reliably adhering to grammatical morphology. The current study investigates both internal processes involved in encoding morphologically complex words – by recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during participants’ silent productions – and the corresponding overt output. We specifically examined compounds with plural or singular modifiers in English. Thirty-one advanced L2 speakers of English (L1: German) were compared to a control group of 20 L1 English speakers from an earlier study. We found an enhanced (right-frontal) negativity during (silent) morphological encoding for compounds produced from regular plural forms relative to compounds formed from irregular plurals, replicating the ERP effect obtained for the L1 group. The L2 speakers’ overt productions, however, were significantly less consistent than those of the L1 speakers on the same task. We suggest that L2 speakers employ the same mechanisms for morphological encoding as L1 speakers, but with less reliance on grammatical constraints than L1 speakers.

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The Production of New and Similar Vowels by Adult German Learners of English

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263100010792 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 131-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 123

Author(s):

Ocke-Schwen Bohn ◽

James Emil Flege

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

English Language ◽

First Language ◽

Native English Speakers ◽

English Speakers ◽

Control Group ◽

Language Experience ◽

English Vowels ◽

L1 English ◽

Positive Effect

The study reported in this paper examined the effect of second language (L2) experience on the production of L2 vowels for which acoustic counterparts are either present or absent in the first language (L1). The hypothesis being tested was that amount of L2 experience would not affect L1 German speakers' production of the “similar” English vowels /i, l, ∈/, whereas English language experience would enable L1 Germans to produce an English-like /æ/, which has no counterpart in German. The predictions were tested in two experiments that compared the production of English /i, l, ∈, æ/ by two groups of L1 German speakers differing in English language experience and an L1 English control group. An acoustic experiment compared the three groups for spectral and temporal characteristics of the English vowels produced in /bVt/ words. The same tokens were assessed for intelligibility in a labeling experiment. The results of both experiments were largely consistent with the hypothesis. The experienced L2 speakers did not produce the similar English vowels /i, l, ∈/ more intelligibly than the inexperienced L2 speakers, not did experience have a positive effect on approximating the English acoustic norms for these similar vowels. The intelligibility results for the new vowel /æ/ did not clearly support the model. However, the acoustic comparisons showed that the experienced but not the inexperienced L2 speakers produced the new vowel /æ/ in much the same way as the native English speakers.

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The bilingual primed lexical decision task: Cross-language priming disappears with speeded responses

The European Journal of Cognitive Psychology ◽

10.1080/09541449208406188 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 273-292 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Catharine Keatley ◽

Beatrice de Gelder

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Decision Task ◽

Cross Language

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Is RoAsT tougher than StEAk?: The effect of case mixing on perception of multi-letter graphemes

Psihologija ◽

10.2298/psi1001103h ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 103-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jelena Havelka ◽

Clive Frankish

Keyword(s):

Word Recognition ◽

Lexical Decision ◽

Visual Word Recognition ◽

Word Reading ◽

Response Times ◽

Visual Word ◽

Decision Task ◽

Response Latencies ◽

Visual Segmentation ◽

Word Shape

Case mixing is a technique that is used to investigate the perceptual processes involved in visual word recognition. Two experiments examined the effect of case mixing on lexical decision latencies. The aim of these experiments was to establish whether different case mixing patterns would interact with the process of appropriate visual segmentation and phonological assembly in word reading. In the first experiment, case mixing had a greater effect on response times to words when it led to visual disruption of the multi-letter graphemes (MLGs) as well as the overall word shape (e.g. pLeAd), compared to when it disrupted overall word shape only (e.g. plEAd). A second experiment replicated this finding with words in which MLGs represent either the vowel (e.g. bOaST vs. bOAst) or the consonant sound (e.g. sNaCK vs. sNAcK). These results confirm that case mixing can have different effect depending on the type of orthographic unit that is broken up by the manipulation. They demonstrate that graphemes are units that play an important role in visual word recognition, and that manipulation of their presentation by case mixing will have a significant effect on response latencies to words in a lexical decision task. As such these findings need to be taken into account by the models of visual word recognition.

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Stress properties of Greek compounds: Psycholinguistic considerations

The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique ◽

10.1017/s0008413100000529 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 60 (1) ◽

pp. 25-50

Author(s):

Athanasios Tsiamas ◽

Gonia Jarema ◽

Eva Kehayia ◽

Gevorg Chilingaryan

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Close Relation ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Complex Interaction ◽

Underlying Structure ◽

Decision Task ◽

Auditory Lexical Decision

AbstractTheoretical accounts of Greek compounds argue for a close relation between their stress properties and their underlying structure. Compounds that preserve and receive stress at the same position as their second constituent are analyzed as stem-word constructions, while those that receive antepenultimate stress are viewed as belonging to the stem-stem category. Using an auditory lexical decision task, we examine the effect of stress change on the processing of compounds in the light of existing theoretical linguistic accounts. Although our experimental results do not reach statistical significance, we believe that they are informative of the cognitive status and role of stress in compound processing. Finally, they relate to existing theories of compounding in Greek and reflect the complex interaction of the psycholinguistic effects of stress and the structural properties of these constructions.

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