Danish-English Bilinguals’ Cognate Processing in L1 and L2 Visual Lexical Decision Tasks

Abstract

Previous research and the BIA+ model support the hypothesis of language nonselective access during bilingual word recognition with language-ambiguous words like cognates organized in two distinct lexical representations. This paper adds to the existing literature by investigating how task demands and language proficiency influence cognate processing. Twenty-six Danish-English bilinguals with upper-intermediate to advanced L2 proficiencies performed four visual lexical decision tasks in which stimulus list composition (pure or mixed) and target language (L1 or L2) were varied. This study thus distinguishes itself from other studies by employing a within-subjects design to investigate a bilingual’s two languages. Significant cognate inhibition effects were found in the L2 mixed language condition while none of the other three tasks yielded significant results. Especially the absence of cognate facilitation effects in the L2 pure language condition was remarkable given the findings of previous literature. With reference to the BIA+ model’s assumptions of differing resting level activations for L1 and L2 lexical representations, the impact of L2 proficiency on cognate processing was tested in a post-hoc analysis dividing participants into two groups. This analysis revealed cognate facilitation effects for L2 upper-intermediate bilinguals in the L2 pure language condition while the results of the L1 tasks for both groups of bilinguals remained non-significant. The results therefore suggest that within-subject cognate processing is modulated by L2 proficiency in certain circumstances.