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.

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.

scholarly journals Preprint_Held im Spiel_Wernbacher

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wernbacher
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Neutral Word ◽  
Skill Training ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Game Playing ◽  
Lexical Decision Tasks ◽  
Decision Tasks

Computer games can be described as a multi-facetted phenomenon: the reception of interactive media however involves a diversity of potential effects. The current study tries to solve a part of the complex puzzle involving the consequences of media reception. Basically, the present analysis concentrated on the potential activation of game related words in the lexicon by an elaborated game playing experience. The degree of accessibility of specific words in the lexical storage was measured via a lexical decision task (LDT) paradigm. Each task contained a game related, an aggression related and a neutral word category. The LDT units were masked as word/nonword discrimination tests. Two lexical decision tasks were completed after two playing sessions of 15 minutes each by a sample consisting of 60 males. In addition to these tasks interactions with and between motives to play computer games were examined. The following computer games were selected for the systematic variation of context related variables: The 3D-role playing game “Oblivion” and the 3D-first person shooter “Call of Duty 2” were assigned to the experimental groups. The skill training game “Tetris” was assigned to the control group. Depending on the condition, players should react differently in the lexical decision tasks. Indeed, the results showed faster reactions to game compatible words by the “Call of Duty 2”-group in comparison to the “Oblivion”-group. Additionally both experimental groups recognized game related words faster than neutral words. The control group showed identical answers in the game related und neutral word decision tests. Concerning the activation of aggression related schemata, the results showed that playing violent video games did not enhance the accessability of words referring to aggression and/or violence. These findings suggest a cognitive transfer effect from the virtual game world to the real word. In other words, a highly immersive game playing experience can leave a certain trace in the lexical storage.

Differential Neurobehavioral Effects of Cross-Modal Selective Priming on Phonetic and Emotional Prosodic Information in Late Second Language Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 2508-2521
Author(s):  
Chieh Kao ◽  
Yang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Priming Paradigm ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Affective Information ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
L1 And L2

Purpose Spoken language is inherently multimodal and multidimensional in natural settings, but very little is known about how second language (L2) learners undertake multilayered speech signals with both phonetic and affective cues. This study investigated how late L2 learners undertake parallel processing of linguistic and affective information in the speech signal at behavioral and neurophysiological levels. Method Behavioral and event-related potential measures were taken in a selective cross-modal priming paradigm to examine how late L2 learners ( N = 24, M age = 25.54 years) assessed the congruency of phonetic (target vowel: /a/ or /i/) and emotional (target affect: happy or angry) information between the visual primes of facial pictures and the auditory targets of spoken syllables. Results Behavioral accuracy data showed a significant congruency effect in affective (but not phonetic) priming. Unlike a previous report on monolingual first language (L1) users, the L2 users showed no facilitation in reaction time for congruency detection in either selective priming task. The neurophysiological results revealed a robust N400 response that was stronger in the phonetic condition but without clear lateralization and that the N400 effect was weaker in late L2 listeners than in monolingual L1 listeners. Following the N400, late L2 learners showed a weaker late positive response than the monolingual L1 users, particularly in the left central to posterior electrode regions. Conclusions The results demonstrate distinct patterns of behavioral and neural processing of phonetic and affective information in L2 speech with reduced neural representations in both the N400 and the later processing stage, and they provide an impetus for further research on similarities and differences in L1 and L2 multisensory speech perception in bilingualism.

scholarly journals ADVANCED SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ PERCEPTION OF LEXICAL TONE CONTRASTS

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Pelzl ◽  
Ellen F. Lau ◽  
Taomei Guo ◽  
Robert DeKeyser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Disyllabic Words ◽  
Beginning Learners ◽  
Mandarin Tones

AbstractIt is commonly believed that second language (L2) acquisition of lexical tones presents a major challenge for learners from nontonal language backgrounds. This belief is somewhat at odds with research that consistently shows beginning learners making quick gains through focused tone training, as well as research showing advanced learners achieving near-native performance in tone identification tasks. However, other long-term difficulties related to L2 tone perception may persist, given the additional demands of word recognition and the effects of context. In the current study, we used behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) experiments to test whether perception of Mandarin tones is difficult for advanced L2 learners in isolated syllables, disyllabic words in isolation, and disyllabic words in sentences. Stimuli were more naturalistic and challenging than in previous research. While L2 learners excelled at tone identification in isolated syllables, they performed with very low accuracy in rejecting disyllabic tonal nonwords in isolation and in sentences. We also report ERP data from critical mismatching words in sentences; while L2 listeners showed no significant differences in responses in any condition, trends were not inconsistent with the overall pattern in behavioral results of less sensitivity to tone mismatches than to semantic or segmental mismatches. We interpret these results as evidence that Mandarin tones are in fact difficult for advanced L2 learners. However, the difficulty is not due primarily to an inability to perceive tones phonetically, but instead is driven by the need to process tones lexically, especially in multisyllable words.

Are Emotions Abstract or Concrete?

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Xu ◽  
Chunyan Kang ◽  
Kaia Sword ◽  
Taomei Guo
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
N400 Amplitude ◽  
Abstract Nouns ◽  
Concrete Nouns ◽  
Emotion Concepts ◽  
Healthy Participants

Abstract. The ability to identify and communicate emotions is essential to psychological well-being. Yet research focusing exclusively on emotion concepts has been limited. This study examined nouns that represent emotions (e.g., pleasure, guilt) in comparison to nouns that represent abstract (e.g., wisdom, failure) and concrete entities (e.g., flower, coffin). Twenty-five healthy participants completed a lexical decision task. Event-related potential (ERP) data showed that emotion nouns elicited less pronounced N400 than both abstract and concrete nouns. Further, N400 amplitude differences between emotion and concrete nouns were evident in both hemispheres, whereas the differences between emotion and abstract nouns had a left-lateralized distribution. These findings suggest representational distinctions, possibly in both verbal and imagery systems, between emotion concepts versus other concepts, implications of which for theories of affect representations and for research on affect disorders merit further investigation.

SOURCES OF VARIATION IN SECOND AND NATIVE LANGUAGE SPEAKING PROFICIENCY AMONG COLLEGE-AGED SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Mona Roxana Botezatu ◽  
Taomei Guo ◽  
Judith F. Kroll ◽  
Sarah Peterson ◽  
Dalia L. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Language ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Internal Sources ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract We evaluated external and internal sources of variation in second language (L2) and native language (L1) proficiency among college students. One hundred and twelve native-English L2 learners completed measures of L1 and L2 speaking proficiency, working memory, and cognitive control and provided self-ratings of language exposure and use. When considering learner-external variation, we found that more frequent L2 exposure predicted higher L2 and L1 proficiency, while earlier L2 exposure predicted higher L2 proficiency, but poorer L1 maintenance. L1–L2 distance limited crosslinguistic transfer of print-to-sound mappings. When considering learner-internal variation, we found that L1 and L2 proficiency were highly correlated and that better working memory, but not cognitive control, accounted for additional variance in L2 and L1 proficiency. More frequent L2 exposure was associated with better cognitive control.

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