Discourse fluency modulates spoken word recognition in monolingual and L2 speakers

We investigated whether fluent language production is associated with greater skill in resolving lexical competition during spoken word recognition and ignoring irrelevant information in non-linguistic tasks. Native English monolinguals and native English L2 learners, who varied on measures of discourse/verbal fluency and cognitive control, identified spoken English words from dense (e.g., BAG) and sparse (e.g., BALL) phonological neighborhoods in moderate noise. Participants were slower in recognizing spoken words from denser neighborhoods. The inhibitory effect of phonological neighborhood density was smaller for English monolinguals and L2 learners with higher speech production fluency, but was unrelated to cognitive control as indexed by performance on the Simon task. Converging evidence from within-language effects in monolinguals and cross-language effects in L2 learners suggests that fluent language production involves a competitive selection process that may not engage all domain-general control mechanisms. Results suggest that language experience may capture individual variation in lexical competition resolution.

Language effects in early development of number writing and reading

Reading and writing multidigit numbers requires accurate switching between Arabic numbers and spoken number words. This is particularly challenging in languages with number-word inversion such as German (24 is pronounced as four-and-twenty), as reported by Zuber, Pixner, Moeller, and Nuerk (2009, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2008.04.003). The current study aimed to replicate the qualitative error analysis by Zuber et al. and further extended their study: 1) A cross-linguistic (German, English) analysis enabled us to differentiate between language-dependent and more general transcoding challenges. 2) We investigated whether specific number structures influence accuracy rates. 3) To consider both transcoding directions (from Arabic numbers to number words and vice versa), we assessed performance for number reading in addition to number writing. 4) Our longitudinal design allowed us to investigate transcoding development between Grades 1 and 2. We assessed 170 German- and 264 English-speaking children. Children wrote and read the same set of 44 one-, two- and three-digit numbers, including the same number structures as Zuber et al. For German, we confirmed that a high amount of errors in number writing was inversion-related. For English, the percentage of inversion-related errors was very low. Accuracy rates were strongly related to number syntax. The impact of number structures was independent of transcoding direction or grade level and revealed cross-linguistic challenges of transcoding multidigit numbers. For instance, transcoding of three-digit numbers containing syntactic zeros (e.g., 109) was significantly more accurate than transcoding of items with lexical zeros (e.g., 190). Based on our findings, we suggest adaptations of current transcoding models.

Is there a bilingual disadvantage for word segmentation? A computational modeling approach

Since there are no systematic pauses delimiting words in speech, the problem of word segmentation is formidable even for monolingual infants. We use computational modeling to assess whether word segmentation is substantially harder in a bilingual than a monolingual setting. Seven algorithms representing different cognitive approaches to segmentation are applied to transcriptions of naturalistic input to young children, carefully processed to generate perfectly matched monolingual and bilingual corpora. We vary the overlap in phonology and lexicon experienced by modeling exposure to languages that are more similar (Catalan and Spanish) or more different (English and Spanish). We find that the greatest variation in performance is due to different segmentation algorithms and the second greatest to language, with bilingualism having effects that are smaller than both algorithm and language effects. Implications of these computational results for experimental and modeling approaches to language acquisition are discussed.

First language effects on the identification and evaluation of second language speech

In Belgium, Dutch as spoken by Francophone learners is relatively frequent in political, commercial or educational contexts. While the characteristics of this second language (L2) variety have been studied extensively, there is to date no systematic report of how it is evaluated by either native speakers of Dutch or non-natives. Previous studies conducted in other language contexts have found that non-natives tend to be very critical towards L2 accents similar to their own. The main goal of the present study is to investigate the extent to which the listener’s first language (L1) impacts ratings of the fluency, accentedness and comprehensibility of L2 Dutch as spoken by Francophone learners and how it impacts the identification of the speakers’ L1. Specifically, we compared ratings by three groups of listeners: Francophone learners of Dutch, native speakers of Belgian Dutch and native speakers of Netherlandic Dutch. Moreover, the extent to which three additional cognitive and environmental factors influence L2 ratings is examined: listeners’ familiarity with the L2 variety, their language aptitude and language proficiency. The results show that the majority of native and non-native listeners recognized the speakers’ L1 (French). Non-native listeners perceived L2 speech as less fluent, less comprehensible and more accented than natives did, which corroborates the previously reported critical attitudes towards a shared L2 accent. Moreover, subtle differences in accent and fluency ratings were found between the Netherlandic Dutch and the Belgian Dutch listeners. No clear effects of other cognitive and environmental factors appeared in the ratings.

“Infeliz” or “Triste”: A Paradigm for Mixed Methods Exploration of Outcome Measures Adaptation Across Language Variants

The literature on measure translation tends to hold, overtly or covertly, a questionable assumption about the possibility of exact translation and almost completely ignores issues of within language variation. Equally, psychometric methods used to assess cross-cultural validity after translation focus on large sample tests of cross-sectional measurement invariance. Such invariance is often not found and is of dubious pertinence to change/outcome measures usually used in psychotherapy research. We present a sequential process of three substudies using quantitative and qualitative procedures to explore whether an outcome measure needs to be changed when used across language variation. Qualitative data confirmed that an item was not ideal in the new context. However, quantitative exploration showed that, although statistically significant and affected by gender and item order, the impact of changing the item in the overall score was small, allowing retention of the existing Spanish translation. We argue that the myth of perfect translation and over-reliance on large-sample psychometric testing pursuing measurement invariance limit exploration of language effects. We recommend that these be used in the companion of user-based, sequential, mixed-method exploration to support the development of a richer field of understanding of outcomes and change self-report measures across languages and cultures and both across and within languages.

Leadership in times of COVID-19 pandemic: Context and language effects on perceptions of leaders as charismatic and entrepreneurs

In times of crisis because of the COVID-19 outbreak, leadership matters more than ever. Previous research focuses on leaders as charismatic and identity entrepreneurs. Little is known about the effect of the we-referencing language of political speeches (type of narrative) and the context (stability or crisis) of their communication on identity leadership dimensions. This paper reports a 2x2 design that addresses this theoretical lacunae. Factorial multivariate analysis of variance (Two-Way ANOVA) found significant interactions between narrative type and context on leaders’ identity entrepreneurship, charisma, perceived trust and collective helplessness. Hierarchical multiple regression identified predictors of charismatic leadership in context of stability and crisis with the narrative type consistently predicting perceptions of charisma. Significant indirect effects of identity entrepreneurship on charismatic leadership were found via narrative type, collective helplessness and perceived trust. The contextualisation of identity leadership processes and the importance of type of communicated narratives on perceptions and evaluations of leaders especially in times of crisis are discussed.

Relations between phonological production, grammar and the lexicon in bilingual French-English children

Aims and objectives: This study examines multiple associations between language domains in bilingual children with a focus on phonology. Previous studies indicate within- but not cross-language associations between vocabulary and grammar in bilingual children. We investigate whether the relation between phonology and other language domains differs from the one reported between vocabulary and grammar. Methodology: Canadian French-English bilingual children ( n = 31), aged 31 months, participated in 2 free-play sessions, from which lexical, grammatical and phonological information was extracted. The children’s parents completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories and its Canadian French adaptation providing additional information on vocabulary and grammar in each of the children’s languages. They also completed a questionnaire on their children’s exposure to French and English. Data analysis: Within and cross-language relations between phonology, vocabulary and grammar were investigated using correlational analyses and mixed logistic regression. Findings: Correlational analyses did not reveal significant cross-language relations between phonology, vocabulary and grammar. However, mixed logistic regression, which controlled for language exposure effects, indicated that phonology was influenced by vocabulary and grammar both within and across languages. Originality: This study is one of the first to study cross-domain relations involving phonology in young bilingual children. Implications: Overall, the findings suggest that phonology displays a pattern of relations that is different from other language domains engendering between-language effects due to a language-general component.

Does foreign language alter moral judgments? No evidence from two pre-registered studies with the CNI-model

Recent studies suggest that processing moral dilemmas in a foreign language instead of the native language increases the likelihood of moral judgments in line with the utilitarian principle. The goal of our research was to investigate the replicability and robustness of this moral foreign-language effect and to explore its underlying mechanisms by means of the CNI model—a multinomial model that allows to estimate the extent to which moral judgments are driven by people’s sensitivity to consequences (C-parameter), their sensitivity to norms (N-parameter), and their general preference for action or inaction (I-parameter). In two pre-registered studies, German participants provided moral judgments to dilemmas that were either presented in German or English. In Experiment 1, participants judged eight different dilemmas in four versions each (i.e., 32 dilemmas in total). In Experiment 2, participants judged four different dilemmas in one of the four versions (i.e., 4 dilemmas in total). Neither of the two studies replicated the moral foreign-language effect. Moreover, we also did not find reliable language effects on the three parameters of the CNI-model. We conclude that if there is a moral foreign-language effect, it must be very fragile and context specific.