Cross-linguistic differences in parafoveal semantic and orthographic processing

Leigh B Fernandez,Shanley E M Allen,Christoph Scheepers

doi:10.3758/s13414-021-02329-7

Leigh B Fernandez, Shanley E M Allen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02329-7

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Abstract

In this study we investigated parafoveal processing by L1 and late L2 speakers of English (L1 German) while reading in English. We hypothesized that L2ers would make use of semantic and orthographic information parafoveally. Using the gaze contingent boundary paradigm, we manipulated six parafoveal masks in a sentence (Mark found th*e wood for the fire; * indicates the invisible boundary): identical word mask (wood), English orthographic mask (wook), English string mask (zwwl), German mask (holz), German orthographic mask (holn), and German string mask (kxfs). We found an orthographic benefit for L1ers and L2ers when the mask was orthographically related to the target word (wood vs. wook) in line with previous L1 research. English L2ers did not derive a benefit (rather an interference) when a non-cognate translation mask from their L1 was used (wood vs. holz), but did derive a benefit from a German orthographic mask (wood vs. holn). While unexpected, it may be that L2ers incur a switching cost when the complete German word is presented parafoveally, and derive a benefit by keeping both lexicons active when a partial German word is presented parafoveally (narrowing down lexical candidates). To the authors’ knowledge there is no mention of parafoveal processing in any model of L2 processing/reading, and the current study provides the first evidence for a parafoveal non-cognate orthographic benefit (but only with partial orthographic overlap) in sentence reading for L2ers. We discuss how these findings fit into the framework of bilingual word recognition theories.

Highlights

During reading, we make a series of rapid eye movements that are interjected with moments in time where the eyes remain relatively still in order to take in information
The current study adds to the limited research that has investigated parafoveal processing in L2 speakers
Was semantic information tested via non-cognate translations, but orthographic information was tested in both English and German

Summary

Introduction

We make a series of rapid eye movements (called saccades) that are interjected with moments in time (called fixations) where the eyes remain relatively still in order to take in information. Hardly any information about the text is accessed during saccades, so most meaningful information processing takes place during fixations (Matin, 1974). For reading, fixations encompass the foveal and parafoveal area of the visual field. The foveal area includes the central 2° of visual angle, and this is where visual acuity is highest (Schotter et al, 2012). Visual acuity decreases outside of the foveal area, the parafoveal area is still important during reading since it allows us to preprocess information that we are not directly fixating on, as well as plan upcoming eye movements (e.g., Rayner, 1998)

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