scholarly journals An Event-related Potential Study of Second Language Semantic and Syntactic Processing: Evidence From the Declarative/Procedural Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 841-854
Author(s):  
Laleh Esfandiari ◽  
◽  
Reza Nilipour ◽  
Vahid Nejati ◽  
Parviz Maftoon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory System ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
N400 Amplitude ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Past Conditions

Introduction: This study examined the effect of proficiency level on the second Language (L2) syntactic and semantic processing by addressing the role of procedural and declarative memory systems in light of the Declarative/Procedural (DP) model. The primary purpose was to determine to what extent proficiency accounts for native-like language processing in L2 in adult bilinguals who learned English (L2) after the age of 15 under explicit instruction. Methods: Using a mixed-method design and an oddball violation paradigm, we examined the functional neural correlates of syntactic and semantic processing in two groups of Persian-English bilinguals (L1=Persian, L2=English; N=10 high-proficient, N=10 pre-intermediate levels; Gender= Female; mean age=25.50 years, SD = 5.09 years, age range = 19-35 years of age) across 6 different conditions. They included a visual stimulus task of 240 English sentences with three different experimental conditions (violated regular past forms or phrase structure rules or final-word semantic violation) and three control conditions (sets of correct sentences for each experimental condition). Both groups started learning English late (age of onset=15+) and under an explicit learning context. To evaluate the effect of L2 proficiency, Event-related potentials (ERPs) to target words in each condition were elicited across the N400 time window (300-500 ms) and the P600 time window (500-700 ms). Results: Results showed different cortical responses in the two groups. Upon processing the violated forms, high-proficient subjects showed more native-like patterns of scalp activity in both lexical-semantic and syntactic processing. In contrast, less proficient learners have shown delayed onsets and or peaks of components, reduced amplitudes, or absent components in some regions. For instance, the difference in N400 amplitude for the incorrect regular past conditions was observed only in the pre-intermediate (PI) subjects in the O1 channel. This finding is compatible with the DP Model in that at lower levels of L2 proficiency, the participants show N400s or N400-like posterior negativities instead of Anterior Negativities (ANs). This finding shows the initial reliance on the declarative memory system for syntactic processing at lower levels of L2. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that attained proficiency was a more determinant factor in the L1-like cortical representation of L2 than the age of acquisition and or the type of instruction/context. Several brain areas, similar to those observed for L1, were activated during L2 syntactic processing in high-proficient subjects addressing their reliance on the procedural memory system for syntactic processing to gain more proficiency. For instance, our results showed a significant difference in N400 amplitude for the incorrect regular past conditions in O1 for the PI subjects, which shows the initial reliance on the declarative memory system for syntactic processing at lower levels of L2.

scholarly journals Native-like Event-related Potentials in Processing the Second Language Syntax: Late Bilinguals

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
Laleh Esfandiari ◽  
◽  
Reza Nilipour ◽  
Parviz Maftoon ◽  
Vahid Nejati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Brain Wave ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Late Bilinguals

Background: The P600 brain wave reflects syntactic processes in response to different first language (L1) syntactic violations, syntactic repair, structural reanalysis, and specific semantic components. Unlike semantic processing, aspects of the second language (L2) syntactic processing differ from the L1, particularly at lower levels of proficiency. At higher L2 proficiency, syntactic violations are more likely to result in P600, similar to the L1 native speakers. Objectives: This study aims to assess the effect of proficiency on L2 syntactic processing in late bilinguals and determine whether L1-like cerebral activation patterns will result. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive quantitative research, the subjects were two groups of Persian-English bilinguals (L1=Persian, L2=English; n=10 high-proficient, n=10 low-proficient; gender=female who started learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) after the age of 15 through explicit instructions. Within the violation paradigm, Event-related Potentials (ERPs) were collected from the subjects in the neurocognitive lab of Shahid Beheshti University, Iran, in 2019- 20. The experimental trials of the ERP task included violated English regular past tense verbs. ERP components were compared with those of the L1 (components closer to P600). Results: The t-value for P600 peak latency differed significantly only for the Incorrect past tense verb (ICV) condition and only in O2 (P=0.039463, t=2.2205, CI: 0.003112- 0.11249, P<0.05) between the two groups (higher in the high proficient group). Conclusion: P600 for the high-proficient group demonstrated that L2 proficiency was a more determinant factor in L1-like cortical representation of L2 than the age of acquisition and or the type of context.

An ERP Study of Second Language Learning after Childhood: Effects of Proficiency

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1212-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiro Ojima ◽  
Hiroki Nakata ◽  
Ryusuke Kakigi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Early Maturation ◽  
Period Effects ◽  
L2 Learning

Whether there is an absolute critical period for acquiring language is a matter of continuous debate. One approach to address this issue is to compare the processes of second language (L2) learning after childhood and those of first language (L1) learning during childhood. To study the cortical process of postchildhood L2 learning, we compared event-related brain potentials recorded from two groups of adult Japanese speakers who attained either high or intermediate proficiency in English after childhood (J-High and J-Low), and adult native English speakers (ENG). Semantic anomalies embedded in English sentences evoked a clear N400 component in all three groups, with only the time course of the brain activation varying among the groups. Syntactic violations elicited a left-lateralized negativity similar to the left anterior negativity in ENG and J-High, but not in J-Low. In ENG, a P600 component was additionally found. These results suggest that semantic processing is robust from early on in L2 learning, whereas the development of syntactic processing is more dependent on proficiency as evidenced by the lack of the left-lateralized negativity in J-Low. Because early maturation and stability of semantic processing as opposed to syntactic processing are also a feature of L1 processing, postchildhood L2 learning may be governed by the same brain properties as those which govern childhood L1 learning. We argue that these processes are qualitatively similar in many respects, with only restricted domains of language processing being subject to absolute critical period effects.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological signatures of English onomatopoeia

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
GABRIELLA VIGLIOCCO ◽  
YE ZHANG ◽  
NICOLA DEL MASCHIO ◽  
ROSANNA TODD ◽  
JYRKI TUOMAINEN
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Semantic Activation ◽  
Level Ii ◽  
Lexical Effects ◽  
Related Potentials

abstractOnomatopoeia is widespread across the world’s languages. They represent a relatively simple iconic mapping: the phonological/phonetic properties of the word evokes acoustic related features of referents. Here, we explore the EEG correlates of processing onomatopoeia in English. Participants were presented with a written cue-word (e.g., leash) and then with a spoken target-word. The target-word was either an onomatopoeia (e.g., bark), a sound-related but arbitrary word (e.g., melody), or another arbitrary word (e.g., bike). Participants judged whether the cue- and the target-word were similar in meaning. We analysed Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) in different time-windows: (i) early (100–200 and 200–250 ms) to assess differences in processing at the form-level; (ii) the N400 time-window (300–500 ms) in order to establish if there are differences in semantic processing across our word-types; and (iii) late (600–900 ms) to assess post-lexical effects. We found that onomatopoeia differed from the other words in the N400 time-window: when cue and target were unrelated, onomatopoeic words led to greater negativity which can be accounted for in terms of enhanced semantic activation of onomatopoeia which leads to greater salience of the mismatch. We discuss results in the context of a growing body of literature investigating iconicity in language processing and development.

Event-related brain potentials and second language learning: syntactic processing in late L2 learners at different L2 proficiency levels

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet G. van Hell ◽  
Natasha Tokowicz
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Exact Nature ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Different Levels

There are several major questions in the literature on late second language (L2) learning and processing. Some of these questions include: Can late L2 learners process an L2 in a native-like way? What is the nature of the differences in L2 processing among L2 learners at different levels of L2 proficiency? In this article, we review studies that addressed these questions using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in late learners and that focused on syntactic processing. ERPs provide an on-line, millisecond-by-millisecond record of the brain’s electrical activity during cognitive processing. ERP measures can thus provide valuable information on the timing and degree of neural activation as language processing (here: syntactic processing in L2) unfolds over time. After discussing the use of ERPs for the study of L2 learning and processing, we review electrophysiological studies on syntactic and morphosyntactic processing in late L2 learners with different levels of L2 proficiency. The currently available evidence indicates that patterns of neural activity in the brain during syntactic and morphosyntactic processing can be modulated by various, possibly interrelated, factors including the similarity or dissimilarity of syntactic structures in L2 and L1, the exact nature of the syntactic structure L2 learners seek to comprehend and the concomitant expectancies they can generate with regard to violations in this structure, and the L2 learners’ level of L2 proficiency. Together these studies show that ERPs can successfully elucidate subtle differences in syntactic processing between L2 learners and native speakers, and among L2 learners at different levels of L2 proficiency, which are difficult to detect or that might have remained undetected with behavioural measures.

scholarly journals Processing Aspectual Agreement in an Inflexionless Language: An ERP Study of Mandarin Chinese

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1236
Author(s):  
Yuxin Hao ◽  
Xun Duan ◽  
Lu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Aspect Marker ◽  
Aspect Markers

This is a study of the collocation of Chinese verbs with different lexical aspects and aspect markers. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we explored the processing of aspect violation sentences. In the experiment, we combined verbs of various lexical aspect types with the progressive aspect marker zhe, and the combination of the achievement verbs and the progressive aspect marker zhe constituted the sentence’s aspect violation. The participants needed to judge whether a sentence was correct after it was presented. Finally, we observed and analyzed the components of ERPs. The results suggest that when the collocation of aspect markers and lexical aspect is ungrammatical, the N400-like and P600 are elicited on aspect markers, while the late AN is elicited by the word after the aspect marker. P600 and N400-like show that the collocation of Chinese verbs with various lexical aspects and aspect markers involve not only syntactic processing, but also the semantic processing; and the late AN may have been due to the syntax revision and the conclusion at the end of sentences.

scholarly journals Concurrent use of animacy and event-knowledge during comprehension: Evidence from event-related potentials

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Vega-Mendoza ◽  
Martin John Pickering ◽  
Mante S. Nieuwland
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Semantic Relatedness ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Event Knowledge ◽  
Related Potentials

In two ERP experiments, we investigated whether readers prioritize animacy over real-world event-knowledge during sentence comprehension. We used the paradigm of Paczynski and Kuperberg (2012), who argued that animacy is prioritized based on the observations that the ‘related anomaly effect’ (reduced N400s for context-related anomalous words compared to unrelated words) does not occur for animacy violations, and that animacy violations but not relatedness violations elicit P600 effects. Participants read passive sentences with plausible agents (e.g., The prescription for the mental disorder was written by the psychiatrist) or implausible agents that varied in animacy and semantic relatedness (schizophrenic/guard/pill/fence). In Experiment 1 (with a plausibility judgment task), plausible sentences elicited smaller N400s relative to all types of implausible sentences. Moreover, animate words elicited smaller N400s than inanimate words, and related words elicited smaller N400s than unrelated words. Crucially, at the P600 time-window, we observed more positive ERPs for animate than inanimate words and for related than unrelated words at anterior regions. In Experiment 2 (with no judgment task), we observed an N400 effect with animacy violations, but no other effects. Taken together, the results of our experiments fail to support a prioritized role of animacy information over real-world event-knowledge, but they support an interactive, constraint-based view on incremental semantic processing.

PROCESSING FOCUS STRUCTURE IN L1 AND L2 FRENCH

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert V. Reichle ◽  
David Birdsong
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Focus Condition ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
L1 And L2

This study examined the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by focus processing among first language (L1) speakers and second language (L2) learners of French. Participants read wh-questions containing explicit focus marking, followed by responses instantiating contrastive and informational focus. We hypothesized that L2 proficiency would modulate nativelikeness in L2 processing. For the L1 and L2 groups, widespread word-long positive shifts reflected the processing of nouns receiving informational and contrastive focus. Nouns receiving contrastive focus showed an increased anterior negativity compared to informational focus for both groups. Second language proficiency modulated the amplitude of this negativity effect, and subgroup analyses of low- and high-proficiency L2 learners showed no significant effect of focus condition among low-proficiency learners. This modulatory relationship between L2 proficiency and nativelikeness of processing is consistent with the dynamic sequence of L2 ERPs observed for morphosyntactic processing and extends those findings to the syntax-pragmatics interface phenomenon of focus processing.

scholarly journals A Difference of Past Self-Evaluation Between College Students With Low and High Socioeconomic Status: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinlei Zang ◽  
Kaige Jin ◽  
Feng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
N400 Amplitude ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Self Reference

Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to the social position or class according to their material and non-material social resources. We conducted a study with 60 college students to explore whether SES affects past self-evaluation and used event-related potentials (ERPs) in a self-reference task that required participants to judge whether the trait adjectives (positive or negative) describing themselves 5 years ago were appropriate for them. Behavioral data showed that individuals’ positive past self-evaluations were significantly higher than individuals’ negative past self-evaluations, regardless of high or low SES. Individuals with high SES had significantly higher positive past self-evaluations than those with low SES. ERP data showed that in the low SES group, negative adjectives elicited a marginally greater N400 amplitude than positive adjectives; in the high SES group, negative adjectives elicited a greater late positive potential (LPP) amplitude than positive adjectives. N400 is an index of the accessibility of semantic processing, and a larger N400 amplitude reflects less fluent semantic processing. LPP is an index of continuous attention during late processing; the larger LPP amplitude is elicited, the more attention resources are invested. Our results indicated that compared with college students with low SES, the past self-evaluations of college students with high SES were more positive; college students with high SES paid more attention to negative adjectives. However, college students with low SES were marginally less fluent in processing negative adjectives.

scholarly journals Priming of object categorization within and across levels of specificity

Psihologija ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasna Martinovic ◽  
Thomas Gruber ◽  
Matthias Müller
Keyword(s):  
Task Switching ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Object Identification ◽  
Early Event ◽  
Repetition Effects ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Related Potentials

Identification of objects can occur at different levels of specificity. Depending on task and context, an object can be classified at the superordinate level (as an animal), at the basic level (a bird) or at the subordinate level (a sparrow). What are the interactions between these representational levels and do they rely on the same sequential processes that lead to successful object identification? In this electroencephalogram study, a task-switching paradigm (covert naming or living/non-living judgment) was used. Images of objects were repeated either within the same task, or with a switch from a covert naming task to a living or non-living judgment and vice versa. While covert naming accesses entrylevel (basic or subordinate), living/non-living judgments rely on superordinate classification. Our behavioral results demonstrated clear priming effects within both tasks. However, asymmetries were found when task-switching had occurred, with facilitation for covert naming but not for categorization. We also found lower accuracy and early-starting and persistent enhancements of event-related potentials (ERPs) for covert naming, indicating that this task was more difficult and involved more intense perceptual and semantic processing. Perceptual priming was marked by consistent reductions of the ERP component L1 for repeated presentations, both with and without task switching. Additional repetition effects were found in early event-related activity between 150-190 ms (N1) when a repeated image had been named at initial presentation. We conclude that differences in N1 indicate task-related changes in the identification process itself. Such enhancements for covert naming again emerge in a later time window associated with depth of semantic processing. Meanwhile, L1 reflects modulations due to implicit memory of objects. In conclusion, evidence was found for representational overlap; changes in ERP markers started early and revealed cross-task priming at the level of object structure analysis and more intense perceptual and semantic processing for covert naming.

Second language syntactic processing revealed through event-related potentials: An empirical review

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 31-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sendy Caffarra ◽  
Nicola Molinaro ◽  
Doug Davidson ◽  
Manuel Carreiras
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Related Potentials
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