The Impact of Alcohol on L1 versus L2.

Stefanie Keulen,Tom F. Offrede,Pauline Veenstra,Aude Noiray,Martijn Wieling,Jidde Jacobi,Lisanne de Jong,Teja Rebernik

doi:10.1177/0023830920953169

Abstract

Alcohol intoxication is known to affect many aspects of human behavior and cognition; one of such affected systems is articulation during speech production. Although much research has revealed that alcohol negatively impacts pronunciation in a first language (L1), there is only initial evidence suggesting a potential beneficial effect of inebriation on articulation in a non-native language (L2). The aim of this study was thus to compare the effect of alcohol consumption on pronunciation in an L1 and an L2. Participants who had ingested different amounts of alcohol provided speech samples in their L1 (Dutch) and L2 (English), and native speakers of each language subsequently rated the pronunciation of these samples on their intelligibility (for the L1) and accent nativelikeness (for the L2). These data were analyzed with generalized additive mixed modeling. Participants’ blood alcohol concentration indeed negatively affected pronunciation in L1, but it produced no significant effect on the L2 accent ratings. The expected negative impact of alcohol on L1 articulation can be explained by reduction in fine motor control. We present two hypotheses to account for the absence of any effects of intoxication on L2 pronunciation: (1) there may be a reduction in L1 interference on L2 speech due to decreased motor control or (2) alcohol may produce a differential effect on each of the two linguistic subsystems.

Highlights

Much empirical research has been carried out on the effects of alcohol consumption on human behavior and cognition
We present two hypotheses to account for the absence of any effects of intoxication on L2s spoken BAC (L2) pronunciation: (1) there may be a reduction in L1 interference on L2 speech due to decreased motor control or (2) alcohol may produce a differential effect on each of the two linguistic subsystems
In an EEG event-related potential (ERP) study, they demonstrated that bilinguals’ first (L1) and second (L2) languages are processed partially differently when they are under the influence of alcohol, with L2 affected more than L1 under intoxication conditions

Summary

Introduction

Much empirical research has been carried out on the effects of alcohol consumption on human behavior and cognition. Alcohol can improve psychomotor skills, probably due to its effects on anxiety reduction (Chin & Pisoni, 1997); at slightly higher doses, intoxication affects muscle coordination, harming fine motor control and rendering it slower and less accurate (Chin & Pisoni, 1997; Hollingworth, 1923, for tapping speed and hand stability; Marczinski et al, 2012, for fine finger dexterity) Given this evidence, it should not come as a surprise that alcohol consumption has an influence on linguistic processes. The authors attributed these changes to the disinhibition effect of alcohol on emotional responses and, possibly, to deficits in cognitive processing

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