scholarly journals Word processing difficulty and executive control interactively shape comprehension monitoring in a second language: an eye-tracking study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annina Hessel ◽  
Sascha Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Comprehension Monitoring ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
Consistent Information ◽  
Processing Difficulty

Successful reading comprehension – especially in a second language (L2) – relies on the ability to monitor one’s comprehension, that is, to notice comprehension breaks and make repairs. Comprehension monitoring may be limited given effortful word processing, but may also be supported through active control. The current study addresses to what extent increased word processing difficulty reduces adolescents’ ability to monitor their comprehension when reading in their L2, and whether readers can compensate limitations given sufficient executive control. To this end, we conducted an eye-tracking experiment where 34 adolescent L2 learners read short expository texts that contained two within-subject manipulations. First, comprehension monitoring was tested through textual inconsistencies, such as when the topic changed from speaking Spanish to speaking Russian vis-à-vis consistent controls. Second, word processing difficulty was altered by inserting either shorter and higher-frequency words such as want, or longer and lower-frequency words such as prefer. We additionally measured each participants’ executive control. We found evidence of successful moment-to-moment monitoring in the L2, as visible in adolescents’ increased rereading of inconsistent as opposed to consistent information. We also found that adolescents adapted their monitoring differently to word processing difficulty, depending on their executive control: while adolescents with weaker control abilities reduced their monitoring given higher word processing difficulty, adolescents with stronger control abilities monitored their comprehension more (instead of less) on difficult texts. These findings provide insights into how comprehension monitoring in the L2 arises in the interplay of limitations due to lower-level processing load and compensation thanks to active control.

scholarly journals Interactions Between Lower- and Higher-Level Processing when Reading in a Second Language: An Eye-Tracking Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annina Hessel ◽  
Sascha Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Online Interactions ◽  
Inconsistent Information ◽  
Difficult Condition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Processing Difficulty

This experiment investigated interactions between lower- and higher-level processing when reading in a second language (L2). We conducted an eye-tracking experiment with the within-subject manipulation inconsistency (to tap higher-level coherence-building) crossed with a within-subject manipulation of word processing difficulty (to alter the ease of lower-level processing), both manipulated on the text level. Sixty-three L2 learners read 48 short expository texts containing inconsistencies created through mismatches between pre-targets such as soya and targets such as corn, or consistent controls. Word processing difficulty was manipulated by inserting either shorter and higher-frequency words such as often, or longer and lower-frequency words such as increasingly. We found evidence of interactions between lower-level word processing difficulty and higher-level coherence-building, as revealed by reduced inconsistency go-past durations and rereading in the difficult condition. This effect did not, however, extend to targeted regressions into inconsistent information. Our findings provide first experimental evidence for online interactions between lower-level word processing and higher-level coherence-building.

The Opposition of Surprisal and Semantic Similarity in the Prediction of Language Processing: Evidence from Eye-tracking Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Tracking Data ◽  
Dynamic Approach

Expectations or predictions about upcoming content play an important role during language comprehension and processing. One important aspect of recent studies of language comprehension and processing concerns the estimation of the upcoming words in a sentence or discourse. Many studies have used eye-tracking data to explore computational and cognitive models for contextual word predictions and word processing. Eye-tracking data has previously been widely explored with a view to investigating the factors that influence word prediction. However, these studies are problematic on several levels, including the stimuli, corpora, statistical tools they applied. Although various computational models have been proposed for simulating contextual word predictions, past studies usually preferred to use a single computational model. The disadvantage of this is that it often cannot give an adequate account of cognitive processing in language comprehension. To avoid these problems, this study draws upon a massive natural and coherent discourse as stimuli in collecting the data on reading time. This study trains two state-of-art computational models (surprisal and semantic (dis)similarity from word vectors by linear discriminative learning (LDL)), measuring knowledge of both the syntagmatic and paradigmatic structure of language. We develop a `dynamic approach' to compute semantic (dis)similarity. It is the first time that these two computational models have been merged. Models are evaluated using advanced statistical methods. Meanwhile, in order to test the efficiency of our approach, one recently developed cosine method of computing semantic (dis)similarity based on word vectors data adopted is used to compare with our `dynamic' approach. The two computational and fixed-effect statistical models can be used to cross-verify the findings, thus ensuring that the result is reliable. All results support that surprisal and semantic similarity are opposed in the prediction of the reading time of words although both can make good predictions. Additionally, our `dynamic' approach performs better than the popular cosine method. The findings of this study are therefore of significance with regard to acquiring a better understanding how humans process words in a real-world context and how they make predictions in language cognition and processing.

Learning written word vocabulary in a second language: Theoretical and practical implications

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRENDAN STUART WEEKES
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Written Word ◽  
One Year ◽  
Serial Order Memory

Short-term memory (STM) is required for second language learning. However, it is not clear what components of STM are necessary for the acquisition and lexicalisation of new written words. Studies suggest that memory for serial order is a critical cognitive process in spoken word acquisition although correlated mechanisms such as executive control also play a role. In this study, bilingual Cantonese–English speakers who are learning written expert words in a non-native language were tested over a one year period in their first year of instruction. Written word lexicalisation was measured using lexical decision and spelling to dictation tasks. Results showed measures of executive control (Stroop performance) and serial order memory capacity predict recognition and recall of written expert words at different stages. Whereas serial order memory predicts improvements to lexical decision accuracy, executive control predicts spelling to dictation performance after one year. The conclusion is that STM processes do constrain written word lexicalisation in a second language. However, executive control and serial order memory capacity have differential effects during word lexicalisation.

scholarly journals Smart Reading Aid for Detecting Problems With Reading Fluency and Comprehension

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Rusák ◽  
Niels van de Water ◽  
Bram de Smit ◽  
Imre Horváth ◽  
Wilhelm Frederik Van Der Vegte
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Brain Signals ◽  
Normal Reading ◽  
Fluency And Comprehension ◽  
Functional Prototype ◽  
Tracking Technology ◽  
Processing Difficulty

Brain signal and eye tracking technology have been intensively applied in cognitive science in order to study reading, listening and learning processes. Though promising results have been found in laboratory experiments, there are no smart reading aids that are capable to estimate difficulty during normal reading. This paper presents a new concept that aims to tackle this challenge. Based on a literature study and an experiment, we have identified several indicators for characterizing word processing difficulty by interpreting electroencelography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) signals. We have defined a computational model based on fuzzy set theory, which estimates the probability of word processing and comprehension difficulty during normal reading. The paper also presents a concept and functional prototype of a smart reading aid, which is used to demonstrate the feasibility of our solution. The results of our research proves that it is possible to implement a smart reading aid that is capable to detect reading difficulty in real time. We show that the most reliable indicators are related to eye movement (i.e. fixation and regression), while brain signals are less dependable sources for indicating word processing difficulty during continuous reading.

Long-distance wh-movement and long-distance wh-movement avoidance in L2 English: Evidence from French and Bulgarian speakers

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolay Slavkov
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Canadian French ◽  
Equivalent Length ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
L1 Acquisition

This article investigates spoken productions of complex questions with long-distance wh-movement in the L2 English of speakers whose first language is (Canadian) French or Bulgarian. Long-distance wh-movement is of interest as it can be argued that it poses difficulty in acquisition due to its syntactic complexity and related high processing load. Adopting the derivational complexity hypothesis, which has so far been applied to long-distance (LD) wh-movement in L1 acquisition and child second language acquisition, I argue that adult L2 learners also show evidence that questions with LD wh-movement are often replaced by alternative utterances with lower derivational complexity. I propose that such utterances, which are sometimes of equivalent length and with similar meaning to the targeted LD wh-structures, are avoidance strategies used by the learners as an intermediate acquisition resource. That is, such strategies are used as an escape-hatch from the derivational complexity of LD wh-movement. Overall, the results of this research indicate that the link between the number and complexity of derivational steps in a given structure is a fruitful area with strong potential in the second language acquisition field.

scholarly journals Eye-tracking in Second Language Reading

2021 ◽  
pp. 416-432
Author(s):  
Ivana Roncevic
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Level Process

In this study eye tracking software was used to analyse the ways in which university students, adult competent speakers of English at C1 level, process information when reading texts in the target language, and which strategies they use in order to summarise a given text. Research results point to four different reading techniques used by the participants in the study: partly selective fast linear, partly selective slow linear, selective structural and nonselective reading strategies. In comparison with previous research with reading tasks in L1, results show that readers take more time when reading in L2. In addition, there is a need for skill enhancement for the purpose of improved text structuring in reading tasks in the English language.

scholarly journals Subject encodings and retrieval interference

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Arnett ◽  
Matthew Wagers
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Retrieval Cues ◽  
Syntactic Theory ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Retrieval Interference ◽  
Processing Difficulty

Interference has been identified as a cause of processing difficulty in linguistic dependencies, such as the subject-verb relation (Van Dyke and Lewis, 2003). However, while mounting evidence implicates retrieval interference in sentence processing, the nature of the retrieval cues involved - and thus the source of difficulty - remains largely unexplored. Three experiments used self-paced reading and eye-tracking to examine the ways in which the retrieval cues provided at a verb characterize subjects. Syntactic theory has identified a number of properties correlated with subjecthood, both phrase-structural and thematic. Findings replicate and extend previous findings of interference at a verb from additional subjects, but indicate that retrieval outcomes are relativized to the syntactic domain in which the retrieval occurs. One, the cues distinguish between thematic subjects in verbal and nominal domains. Two, within the verbal domain, retrieval is sensitive to abstract syntactic properties associated with subjects and their clauses. We argue that the processing at a verb requires cue-driven retrieval, and that the retrieval cues utilize abstract grammatical properties which may reflect parser expectations.

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