Abstract
A longstanding debate centers around how beginning adult bilinguals process words in their second language (L2). Do they access the meaning of the L2 words directly or do they first activate the native language (L1) translation equivalents in order to access meaning? To address this question, we used ERPs to investigate how newly learned L2 words influence processing of their L1 translation equivalents. We taught participants the meanings of 80 novel L2 (pseudo)words by presenting them with pictures of familiar objects. After 3 days of learning, participants were tested in a backward translation priming paradigm with a short (140 ms) stimulus onset asynchrony. L1 targets preceded by their L2 translations elicited faster responses and smaller amplitude negativities than the same L1 targets preceded by unrelated L2 words. The bulk of the ERP translation priming effect occurred within the N400 window (350–550 ms), suggesting that the new L2 words were automatically activating their semantic representations. A weaker priming effect in the preceding window (200–350 ms) was found at anterior sites, providing some evidence that the forms of the L1 translation equivalents had also been activated. These results have implications for models of L2 processing at the earliest stages of learning.
Highlights
Adult learners of a second language (L2) already have an established system of linguistic and conceptual knowledge in their native language (L1)
Midgley et al (2009) failed to find evidence of backward translation priming within the N250 window using a 67 ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA)
The translation priming effect for L1 targets preceded by masked L2 translation primes was restricted to the N400 window, suggesting that the L2 primes were activating their meanings, but not the forms of their L1 translation equivalents
Summary
Adult learners of a second language (L2) already have an established system of linguistic and conceptual knowledge in their native language (L1). How L2 words are integrated into that system as they are learned continues to be debated (e.g., Jiang, 2000; Jiang and Forster, 2001; Brysbaert and Duyck, 2010; Grainger et al, 2010; Kroll et al, 2010; Ma et al, 2017; Meade and Dijkstra, 2017). At earlier stages of proficiency, these models posit that new L2 words are primarily processed via their L1 translation equivalents (i.e., through lexical mediation). Recent evidence has begun to contradict the latter, suggesting that more direct access to semantics might be established even in low proficiency bilinguals (see, e.g., Duyck and Brysbaert, 2004; Ma et al, 2017; Meade and Dijkstra, 2017). To further investigate whether new L2 words initially activate their L1 translation equivalents or whether they go directly
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