Second Language Sentence Processing

Second language (L2) sentence processing research studies how adult L2 learners understand sentences in real time. I review how L2 sentence processing differs from monolingual first-language (L1) processing and outline major findings and approaches. Three interacting factors appear to mandate L1–L2 differences: ( a) capacity restrictions in the ability to integrate information in an L2; ( b) L1–L2 differences in the weighting of cues, the timing of their application, and the efficiency of their retrieval; and ( c) variation in the utility functions of predictive processing. Against this backdrop, I outline a novel paradigm of interlanguage processing, which examines bilingual features of L2 processing, such as bilingual language systems, nonselective access to all grammars, and processing to learn an L2. Interlanguage processing goes beyond the traditional framing of L2 sentence processing as an incomplete form of monolingual processing and reconnects the field with current approaches to grammar acquisition and the bilingual mental lexicon.

Bilingual Mental Lexicon and Collocational Processing

The chapter starts with a definition and models of mental dictionary. It then builds on the bilingual lexical activation models and goes on to discuss formulaic language (collocations in particular). After explaining the basics of formulaic language processing, the author attempts to address the issue of lexical and collocational priming theory by Hoey, which has its roots in cognitive linguistics and usage-based language models. Last but not least, some suggestions for future research are provided in an attempt to address the needs of the lexical research literature in the Turkish setting.

Development of production skills in the absence of precise phonolexical representations

The study investigates the relationship between lexical encoding and production in order to establish whether learners are able to produce a difficult contrast in words that they merged in their mental lexicon. Forty American English learners of Russian were tested on their production and lexical encoding of familiar and highly-frequent words with the plain/palatalized contrast in second language (L2) Russian. Results suggest that the relationship between phonolexical encoding and production is less straightforward than a simple mirror image and is strongly affected by the prosodic position of the target consonants. In word-final position, learners did not lexically encode the difference between plain and palatalized consonants but they strived to produce it, although not very successfully. In intervocalic position, learners’ ability to encode and produce words with the plain/palatalized contrast was more accurate than in word-final position, which was attributed to the ‘spelling trap’ effect. Since Russian orthography employs vowel graphemes to mark the plain/palatalized status of preceding consonants, it appears that learners relied on these assumed vowel differences to articulate complex palatalization gestures. Thus, the findings of this study suggest that L2 learners can produce a contrast that they have not yet lexically encoded.

ONYMIC SECTOR OF THE CONCEPTUAL SPHERE OF THE YOUNG-ADULT DYSTOPIAN NOVEL (case study S. COLLINS’ TRILOGY «THE HUNGER GAMES»

Introduction. The article examines the onymic parcel of the English young-adult dystopian novel conceptosphere based on the material of S. Collins’ trilogy «The Hunger Games». The theory of generations has proved the dominance of the main archetype of the hero for a circle of potential readers of the analyzed works, so the leading concept of dystopian novels is the concept of the hero around whom events take place, catalyst and initiator of which he acts. These protagonists are nominated by their own names, which serve as organizers of the artistic space. In the literary work onyms become the pillars of memory, the organizers of the mental lexicon, the coordinators of the mental world picture, the compact repository of significant information in a small form. The purpose. The purpose of the article is to analyze the onymic parcel of the English young-adult dystopian novel conceptosphere based on the material of S. Collins’ trilogy «The Hunger Games». The object is the onymic sector of the conceptosphere of the studied trilogy. The subject is the specifics of its structure and organization. Materials and methods. The analysis of the onymic parcel of the conceptosphere of the studied works was carried out in several stages: the cognitive features of the dominant onymic concept nominating the main character were established; a free associative experiment was conducted; systematized and described the reactions with the selection of their types; the most frequent associates are singled out, which are grouped into associative semantic gestalts. The material of the study was a trilogy «The Hunger Games» («The Hunger Games», «Catching Fire», «Mockingjay»), with a total volume of 1160 conditional pages. Results. An associative experiment with stimuli to denote the protagonists was conducted, which made it possible to establish the conceptualization and categorization of these anthroponyms in the mental lexicon of English speakers, detection of reflection in the received associations of hierarchical conceptual structures in the minds of respondents. Сonclusions. Summarizing the above, we can emphasize that the artistic onymic concept KATNISS of the onymic parcel of the conceptosphere of the trilogy «The Hunger Games» has cognitive features SACRIFICE, FEMININITY, HOPE, DEFENDER, VENGEANCE, WINNER and forms semantic associative gestalts THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE NOVEL / FILM and NOVEL / FILM.

A word-based account of comprehension and production of Kinyarwanda nouns in the Discriminative Lexicon

What are the cognitive units in the mental lexicon of Bantu speakers, words or morphemes? The very small experimental literature addressing this question suggests that the answer is morphemes, but a closer look at the results shows that this is answer is premature. A novel theory of the mental lexicon, the Discriminative Lexicon, which incorporates a word-based view of the mental lexicon and is computational implemented in the Linear Discriminative Learner (LDL), is put to the test with a data set of 11180 Kinyarwanda nouns. LDL is used to model comprehension and production of the nouns in the data set. LDL predicts comprehension and production of nouns with great accuracy. We conclude that the cognitive units in the mental lexicon of Kinyarwanda speakers are words.

Die Präposition „auf” als Verkettungskomponente

The article presents the idea of examining the preposition auf ‘on’ from the generative perspective, in which the preposition is understood as an elementary unit of the mental lexicon (lexical array) without a syntactic category. The unit auf ‘on’ is treated as a phonological segment to which a corresponding syntactic category is assigned in the selected syntactic context. The syntactic processing system ensures the correct assignment through correct decoding from auf ‘on’ by concatenating various grammatical features with different functions and meanings. The article analyses the unit auf ‘on’ in terms of concatenation properties in the syntactic process of sentence generation in German.

Definitional Skills of Learners with and without Developmental Language Disorder

Definitions exhibit aspects of mental lexicon organization. Learners with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have limited vocabulary knowledge (in breadth and depth) and, thus, less mature definitional skills. Word characteristics affect the definitional skills. This study investigated the definitional skills of learners with and without DLD considering different word characteristics. Moreover, issues like deviant vs. delayed abilities and the link between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are addressed. Thirty-six learners were divided into three groups (a DLD and two control groups [CG] of typically developing learners matched on either age or vocabulary). They were asked to define 16 words. Answers were scored for content and form. Findings revealed that the DLD group scored lower than both CGs in content, while no differences were found in form. Definitions of abstract and compound words were more demanding for all. Correlations between vocabulary and definitional skills were detected only in the age-matched CG. From the above, we deduce that DLD learners’ definitional skills are deviant. In addition, clinical practice should not look at effects of isolated variables, but rather investigate the interrelation of different parameters. Finally, the link between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge may require more time to emerge in DLD learners.

Representation of Different Types of Adjectival Polysemy in the Mental Lexicon

We studied mental representations of literal, metonymically different, and metaphorical senses in Russian adjectives. Previous studies suggested that in polysemous words, metonymic senses, being more sense-related, were stored together with literal senses, whereas more distant metaphorical senses had separate representations. We hypothesized that metonymy may be heterogeneous with respect to its mental storage. “Whole-part” metonymy (“sad person” – “sad eyes”), which is cognitively closer to the literal sense and more regular, should be stored differently from temporal, causal or resultative metonymy (“sad person” – “sad time;” “sad person” – “sad news;” “lead.ADJ ball” – “lead.ADJ poisoning”), which is irregular and semantically distant from the literal sense. We conducted an online experiment with semantic clustering task in which the participants were asked to classify sentences with a literal, proximal metonymic, distal metonymic, or metaphorical sense of an adjective into virtual baskets so that sentences with the same perceived sense were put in the same basket. Our results showed that proximal metonymies were grouped together with the literal sense and with each other more often than with distal metonymies and metaphors. Distal metonymies, in turn, were grouped with literal senses more often than with metaphors. Overall, we concluded that literal senses and proximal metonymies were stored in single representations, distal metonymies formed hybrid representations with literal senses, and metaphors were stored separately from literal senses. Additionally, we discovered that perception of semantic differences is affected by the surrounding senses: distal metonymies were more discernible from literal senses when presented with proximal metonymies, and less so when presented with metaphors.