Cross-language semantic parafoveal preview benefits in bilinguals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olessia Jouravlev ◽  
Mark McPhedran ◽  
Vegas Hodgins ◽  
Debra Jared
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Preview Benefit ◽  
Activation Model ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
Total Fixation ◽  
Interlingual Homographs ◽  
French Words ◽  
Boundary Paradigm ◽  
Cross Language

The aim of this project was to identify factors contributing to cross-language semantic preview benefits. In Experiment 1, Russian-English bilinguals read English sentences with Russian words presented as parafoveal previews. The gaze-contingent boundary paradigm was used to present sentences. Critical previews were cognate translations of the target word (CTAPT - START), noncognate translations (CPOK - TERM), or interlingual homograph translations (MOPE - SEA). A semantic preview benefit (i.e., shorter fixation durations) was observed for cognate and interlingual homograph translations, but not for noncognate translations. In Experiment 2, English-French bilinguals read English sentences with French words used as parafoveal previews. Critical previews were interlingual homograph translations of the target word (PAIN - BREAD) or interlingual homograph translations with a diacritic added (PÁIN - BREAD). A robust semantic preview benefit was found only for interlingual homographs without diacritics, although both preview types produced a semantic preview benefit in the total fixation duration. Our findings suggest that semantically-related previews need to have substantial orthographic overlap with words in the target language to produce cross-language semantic preview benefits in early eye fixation measures. In terms of the Bilingual Interactive Activation + model, the preview word may need to activate the language node for the target language before its meaning is integrated with that of the target word.

scholarly journals The morphosyntactic structure of compound words influences parafoveal processing in Chinese reading

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Drieghe ◽  
Lei Cui ◽  
Guoli Yan ◽  
Xuejun Bai ◽  
Hui Chi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Compound Word ◽  
Preview Benefit ◽  
Chinese Reading ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Parafoveal Processing ◽  
Parafoveal Preview ◽  
Noun Compounds ◽  
Boundary Paradigm

In an eye movement experiment employing the boundary paradigm, we compared parafoveal preview benefit during the reading of Chinese sentences. The target word was a two-character compound that had either a noun–noun or an adjective–noun structure each sharing an identical noun as the second character. The boundary was located between the two characters of the compound word. Prior to the eyes crossing the boundary, the preview of the second character was presented either normally or was replaced by a pseudocharacter. Previously, Juhasz, Inhoff, and Rayner observed that inserting a space into a normally unspaced compound in English significantly disrupted processing and that this disruption was larger for adjective–noun compounds than for noun–noun compounds. This finding supports the hypothesis that, at least in English, for adjective–noun compounds, the noun is more important for lexical identification than the adjective, while for noun–noun compounds, both constituents are similar in importance for lexical identification. Our results indicate a similar division of the importance of compounds in reading in Chinese as the pseudocharacter preview was more disruptive for the adjective–noun compounds than for the noun–noun compounds. These findings also indicate that parafoveal processing can be influenced by the morphosyntactic structure of the currently fixated character.

Integration of Parafoveal Orthographic Information during Foveal Word Reading: beyond the sub-lexical level?

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 1984-1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Snell ◽  
Françoise Vitu ◽  
Jonathan Grainger
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Simultaneous Presentation ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Unrelated Word ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Lexical Representations ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
Boundary Paradigm ◽  
Target Words

Prior research has shown that processing of a given target word is facilitated by the simultaneous presentation of orthographically related stimuli in the parafovea. Here we investigate the nature of such spatial integration processes by presenting orthographic neighbours of target words in the parafovea, considering that neighbours have been shown to inhibit, rather than facilitate, recognition of target words in foveal masked priming research. In Experiment 1, we used the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm to manipulate the parafoveal information subjects received while they fixated a target word within a sentence. In Experiment 2, we used the Flanking Letters Lexical Decision paradigm to manipulate parafoveal information while subjects read isolated words. Parafoveal words were either a higher-frequency orthographic neighbour of targets words (e.g., blue-blur) or a high-frequency unrelated word (e.g., hand-blur). We found that parafoveal orthographic neighbours facilitated, rather than inhibited, processing of the target. Thus, the present findings provide further evidence that orthographic information is integrated across multiple words and suggest that either the integration process does not enable simultaneous access to those words’ lexical representations, or that lexical representations activated by spatially distinct stimuli do not compete for recognition.

scholarly journals Cross-linguistic differences in parafoveal semantic and orthographic processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh B. Fernandez ◽  
Christoph Scheepers ◽  
Shanley E. M. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Target Word ◽  
Orthographic Processing ◽  
Parafoveal Processing ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
German Word ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Boundary Paradigm

AbstractIn this study we investigated parafoveal processing by L1 and late L2 speakers of English (L1 German) while reading in English. We hypothesized that L2ers would make use of semantic and orthographic information parafoveally. Using the gaze contingent boundary paradigm, we manipulated six parafoveal masks in a sentence (Mark found th*e wood for the fire; * indicates the invisible boundary): identical word mask (wood), English orthographic mask (wook), English string mask (zwwl), German mask (holz), German orthographic mask (holn), and German string mask (kxfs). We found an orthographic benefit for L1ers and L2ers when the mask was orthographically related to the target word (wood vs. wook) in line with previous L1 research. English L2ers did not derive a benefit (rather an interference) when a non-cognate translation mask from their L1 was used (wood vs. holz), but did derive a benefit from a German orthographic mask (wood vs. holn). While unexpected, it may be that L2ers incur a switching cost when the complete German word is presented parafoveally, and derive a benefit by keeping both lexicons active when a partial German word is presented parafoveally (narrowing down lexical candidates). To the authors’ knowledge there is no mention of parafoveal processing in any model of L2 processing/reading, and the current study provides the first evidence for a parafoveal non-cognate orthographic benefit (but only with partial orthographic overlap) in sentence reading for L2ers. We discuss how these findings fit into the framework of bilingual word recognition theories.

scholarly journals Reading sentences of words with rotated letters: An eye movement study

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1790-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel I Blythe ◽  
Barbara J Juhasz ◽  
Lee W Tbaily ◽  
Keith Rayner ◽  
Simon P Liversedge
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Systematic Change ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Total Fixation ◽  
Movement Study

Participants’ eye movements were measured as they read sentences in which individual letters within words were rotated. Both the consistency of direction and the magnitude of rotation were manipulated (letters rotated all in the same direction, or alternately clockwise and anti-clockwise, by 30° or 60°). Each sentence included a target word that was manipulated for frequency of occurrence. Our objectives were threefold: To quantify how change in the visual presentation of individual letters disrupted word identification, and whether disruption was consistent with systematic change in visual presentation; to determine whether inconsistent letter transformation caused more disruption than consistent letter transformation; and to determine whether such effects were comparable for words that were high and low frequency to explore the extent to which they were visually or linguistically mediated. We found that disruption to reading was greater as the magnitude of letter rotation increased, although even small rotations affected processing. The data also showed that alternating letter rotations were significantly more disruptive than consistent rotations; this result is consistent with models of lexical identification in which encoding occurs over units of more than one adjacent letter. These rotation manipulations also showed significant interactions with word frequency on the target word: Gaze durations and total fixation duration times increased disproportionately for low-frequency words when they were presented at more extreme rotations. These data provide a first step towards quantifying the relative contribution of the spatial relationships between individual letters to word recognition and eye movement control in reading.

scholarly journals Lexical selection, cross-language interaction, and switch costs in habitually codeswitching bilinguals

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOUAD KHEDER ◽  
EDITH KAAN
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Lexical Selection ◽  
Semantic Constraints ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Ecological Methodology

Bilinguals dynamically activate lexical items in one or both languages depending on a number of factors. We explored the interaction effects of semantic constraints, language context, and L2-proficiency on cross-language interaction and switch costs in bilinguals who habitually codeswitch between Algerian Arabic (AA) and French. We recorded response times to French cognates and non-cognates embedded in auditory AA or French sentences. High proficiency bilinguals could restrict selection to the target language regardless of the language context. In lower proficiency bilinguals, however, selection was specific to the target language in non-switching contexts but was nonspecific in switching contexts where cross-language interaction yielded inhibitory and facilitatory cognate effects. Results of this study therefore suggest that lexical selection in codeswitching bilinguals is dynamic and is dependent on proficiency, semantic constraints and language context. This within-subject study using auditory stimuli contributes towards a more ecological methodology in investigating sentence processing in codeswitching bilinguals.

Spoken word processing in bilingual older adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Titone ◽  
Julie Mercier ◽  
Aruna Sudarshan ◽  
Irina Pivneva ◽  
Jason Gullifer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Language Competition ◽  
Cross Language

Abstract We investigated whether bilingual older adults experience within- and cross-language competition during spoken word recognition similarly to younger adults matched on age of second language (L2) acquisition, objective and subjective L2 proficiency, and current L2 exposure. In a visual world eye-tracking paradigm, older and younger adults, who were French-dominant or English-dominant English-French bilinguals, listened to English words, and looked at pictures including the target (field), a within-language competitor (feet) or cross-language (French) competitor (fille, “girl”), and unrelated filler pictures while their eye movements were monitored. Older adults showed evidence of greater within-language competition as a function of increased target and competitor phonological overlap. There was some evidence of age-related differences in cross-language competition, however, it was quite small overall and varied as a function of target language proficiency. These results suggest that greater within- and possibly cross-language lexical competition during spoken word recognition may underlie some of the communication difficulties encountered by healthy bilingual older adults.

Stable preview difficulty effects in reading with an improved variant of the boundary paradigm

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1632-1645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Risse ◽  
Stefan Seelig
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Duration Distribution ◽  
The Right ◽  
Boundary Paradigm

Using gaze-contingent display changes in the boundary paradigm during sentence reading, it has recently been shown that parafoveal word-processing difficulties affect fixations on words to the right of the boundary. Current interpretations of this post-boundary preview difficulty effect range from delayed parafoveal-on-foveal effects in parallel word-processing models to forced fixations in serial word-processing models. However, these findings are based on an experimental design that, while allowing to isolate preview difficulty effects, might have established a bias with respect to asymmetries in parafoveal preview benefit for high-frequent and low-frequent target words. Here, we present a revision of this paradigm varying the preview’s lexical frequency and keeping the target word constant. We found substantial effects of the preview difficulty in fixation durations after the boundary confirming that preview processing affects the oculomotor decisions not only via trans-saccadic integration of preview and target word information. An additional time-course analysis showed that the preview difficulty effect was significant across the full fixation duration distribution on the target word without any evidence on the pretarget word before the boundary. We discuss implications of the accumulating evidence of post-boundary preview difficulty effects for models of eye movement control during reading.

scholarly journals Naming interlingual homographs: Variable competition and the role of the decision system

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERICA SMITS ◽  
HEIKE MARTENSEN ◽  
TON DIJKSTRA ◽  
DOMINIEK SANDRA
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Stimulus List ◽  
Decision Level ◽  
Response Deadline ◽  
Interlingual Homographs ◽  
Naming Latencies

To investigate decision level processes involved in bilingual word recognition tasks, Dutch–English participants had to name Dutch–English homographs in English. In a stimulus list containing items from both languages, interlingual homographs yielded longer naming latencies, more Dutch responses, and more other errors in both response languages if they had a high-frequency Dutch reading. Dutch naming latencies were slower than or equally slow as English naming latencies. In a stimulus list containing only English words and homographs, there was no homograph effect in naming latencies, although homographs did elicit more errors than control words. The results are interpreted as the consequence of list-induced variability in the competition between lexical items of the two languages involved. In addition, two additional decision processes have to be assumed: a language check, and a response deadline for non-target-language responses.

Cross-language phonological activation of meaning: evidence from category verification

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEANNA C. FRIESEN ◽  
DEBRA JARED
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Verification Task ◽  
Activation Model ◽  
Bilingual Reading ◽  
Interactive Activation ◽  
Language Control ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Phonological Activation

The study investigated phonological processing in bilingual reading for meaning. English–French and French–English bilinguals performed a category verification task in either their first or second language. Interlingual homophones (words that share phonology across languages but not orthography or meaning) and single language control words served as critical stimuli. The interlingual homophones and their control words were not members of the categories, but their interlingual homophone mates were category members (e.g., A vegetable: shoe, where chou in French means “cabbage”). The bilinguals made more errors and had longer decision latencies on homophones than on their control words, providing evidence for cross-language phonological activation of meaning. Results are discussed with respect to the Bilingual Interactive Activation Model (BIA+).

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