The effect of second-language vocabulary on word retrieval in the native language

Eve Higby,Seamus Donnelly,Jungmee Yoon,Loraine K Obler

doi:10.1017/s136672891900049x

Abstract

AbstractWhen bilinguals produce words in one language, their translation equivalents in the other language are thought to be activated as well. A common assumption is that this parallel co-activation produces interference, which slows down word retrieval. The current study aimed to evaluate the assumption of lexical interference during word retrieval by testing whether late Portuguese–English bilinguals were slower to name pictures in their native language when they knew the word in their second language compared to when they only knew the native language label. Instead of interfering with production, knowing the second-language label facilitated speed of word retrieval in the native language for both cognate and non-cognate translation-equivalent pairs. We suggest that using the second language may provide an indirect frequency boost for translation-equivalent words in the native language. This frequency boost has both long-term and short-term effects, strengthening connections to native-language labels when the translation equivalent is retrieved.

Highlights

How do bilinguals speak in one language without tripping over words in the other language they know? Choosing which words to use during speech involves managing and selecting from a set of alternatives that have overlapping conceptual and/or phonological features
Words for which an L2 translation equivalent was known by the participant were retrieved more quickly than those for which an L2 translation equivalent was not known, and words for which L2 translation equivalents were known by more participants were retrieved more quickly than words for which L2 translation equivalents were known by fewer participants
The current study aimed to clarify a discrepancy in the literature regarding whether L2 translation equivalents interfere with or facilitate L1 word retrieval

Summary

Introduction

How do bilinguals speak in one language without tripping over words in the other language they know? Choosing which words to use during speech involves managing and selecting from a set of alternatives that have overlapping conceptual and/or phonological features. A commonly accepted assumption about language production is that words with similar semantic features compete for selection during language production (Levelt, Roelofs & Meyer, 1999). For bilingual speakers, this process may be complicated by the presence of multiple words that refer to the same concept (i.e., translation equivalents). The Inhibitory Control model (Green, 1998) posits that bilinguals experience cross-language lexical interference and deal with this interference by inhibiting competitors from the language not in use Support for this model comes from language switching studies showing more difficulty switching into the stronger language than into the weaker language (e.g., Meuter & Allport, 1999; Misra, Guo, Bobb & Kroll, 2012). These findings are consistent with the idea that the dominant language must be inhibited more strongly than the nondominant language and that the cost of overcoming this inhibition (as measured by longer response latencies), in order to once again use the dominant language, is relative to the amount of inhibition that was applied

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Discussion

Conclusion