Bilingual L1 Research Articles

Comparing perception of L1 and L2 English by human listeners and machines: Effect of interlocutor adaptationsa).

Speakers tailor their speech to different types of interlocutors. For example, speech directed to voice technology has different acoustic-phonetic characteristics than speech directed to a human. The present study investigates the perceptual consequences of human- and device-directed registers in English. We compare two groups of speakers: participants whose first language is English (L1) and bilingual L1 Mandarin-L2 English talkers. Participants produced short sentences in several conditions: an initial production and a repeat production after a human or device guise indicated either understanding or misunderstanding. In experiment 1, a separate group of L1 English listeners heard these sentences and transcribed the target words. In experiment 2, the same productions were transcribed by an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. Results show that transcription accuracy was highest for L1 talkers for both human and ASR transcribers. Furthermore, there were no overall differences in transcription accuracy between human- and device-directed speech. Finally, while human listeners showed an intelligibility benefit for coda repair productions, the ASR transcriber did not benefit from these enhancements. Findings are discussed in terms of models of register adaptation, phonetic variation, and human-computer interaction.

Cross-language semantic and orthographic parafoveal processing by bilingual L1 German–L2 English readers

Abstract In a recent study, Fernandez et al. (2021) investigated parafoveal processing in L1 English and L1 German–L2 English readers using the gaze contingent boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975). Unexpectedly, L2 readers derived an interference from a non-cognate translation parafoveal mask (arrow vs. pfeil), but derived a benefit from a German orthographic parafoveal mask (arrow vs. pfexk) when reading in English. The authors argued that bilingual readers incurred a switching cost from the complete German word, and derived a benefit by keeping both lexicons active from the partial German word. In this registered report, we further test this finding with L1 German–L2 English participants using improved items, but with the sentences presented in German. We were able to replicate the non-cognate translation interference but not the orthographic facilitation. Follow up comparisons showed that all parafoveal masks evoked similar inhibition, suggesting that bilingual readers do not process non-cognate semantic or orthographic information parafoveally.

Using big data to understand bilingual performance in semantic fluency: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

This study aimed to characterize verbal fluency performance in monolinguals and bilinguals using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). A large sample of adults aged 45-85 (n = 12,875) completed a one-minute animal fluency task in English. Participants were English-speaking monolinguals (n = 9,759), bilinguals who spoke English as their first language (L1 bilinguals, n = 1,836), and bilinguals who spoke English as their second language (L2 bilinguals, n = 1,280). Using a distributional modeling approach to quantify the semantic similarity of words, we examined the impact of word frequency and pairwise semantic similarity on performance on this task. Overall, L1 bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on the verbal fluency task: they produced more items, and these items were of lower average frequency and semantic similarity. Monolinguals in turn outperformed L2 bilinguals on these measures. The results held across different age groups, educational, and income levels. These results demonstrate an advantage for bilinguals compared to monolinguals on a category fluency task, when performed in the first language, indicating that, at least in the CLSA sample, bilinguals have superior semantic search capabilities in their first language compared to monolingual speakers of that language.

Testing Potential Transfer Effects in Heritage and Adult L2 Bilinguals Acquiring a Mini Grammar as an Additional Language: An ERP Approach

Models on L3/Ln acquisition differ with respect to how they envisage degree (holistic vs. selective transfer of the L1, L2 or both) and/or timing (initial stages vs. development) of how the influence of source languages unfolds. This study uses EEG/ERPs to examine these models, bringing together two types of bilinguals: heritage speakers (HSs) (Italian-German, n = 15) compared to adult L2 learners (L1 German, L2 English, n = 28) learning L3/Ln Latin. Participants were trained on a selected Latin lexicon over two sessions and, afterward, on two grammatical properties: case (similar between German and Latin) and adjective–noun order (similar between Italian and Latin). Neurophysiological findings show an N200/N400 deflection for the HSs in case morphology and a P600 effect for the German L2 group in adjectival position. None of the current L3/Ln models predict the observed results, which questions the appropriateness of this methodology. Nevertheless, the results are illustrative of differences in how HSs and L2 learners approach the very initial stages of additional language learning, the implications of which are discussed.

Language activation in dual language schools: the development of subject-verb agreement in the English and Spanish of heritage speaker children

ABSTRACT Cross-linguistically, monolingual children produce target-like inflected verbs much earlier than they can reliably distinguish between singular and plural subject-verb agreement morphology in comprehension (i.e. Johnson, V., J. de Villiers, and H. Seymour. 2005. “Agreement Without Understanding? The Case of Third Person Singular /s/.” First Language 25: 317-333; Pérez-Leroux, A. T. 2005. “Number Problems in Children.” In Proceedings of the 2005 Annual Conference of the Canadian Linguistics Association, edited by C. Gurski, 1-12. https://cla-acl.artsci.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/actes-2005/Perez-Leroux.pdf). In heritage speakers, Spanish agreement morphology shows optionality due to reduced input, especially when children transition to English schooling (i.e. Montrul, S. 2004. The Acquisition of Spanish: Morphosyntactic Development in Monolingual and Bilingual L1 Acquisition and Adult L2 Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Jacobson, P. 2012. “The Effects of Language Impairment on the use of Direct Object Pronouns and Verb Inflections in Heritage Spanish Speakers: A Look at Attrition, Incomplete Acquisition and Maintenance.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15 (1): 22–38). We investigate how simultaneous heritage bilingual children’s interpretation and use of subject-verb agreement in English and Spanish may be modulated by increased input and activation of Spanish in dual language education (DLE). 125 participants aged 3–7 (42 heritage children, 40 English monolinguals, 39 Spanish-dominant children) took part in a fill-in-the-blanks task and a picture-matching task. In English, bilingual comprehension accuracy surpassed that of the monolinguals. In Spanish, bilingual production lagged behind that of the Spanish-dominant children and language output was found to be a greater predictor of productive accuracy than increased activation of Spanish in DLE. The implications of these results for theories of bilingualism and DLE are discussed.

Listeners' Linguistic Experience Affects the Degree of Perceived Nativeness of First Language Pronunciation.

The aim of this study was to explore if and to what extent Austrian-English late sequential bilinguals who have been living in a second language (L2) environment for several decades are perceived to sound native in their first language (L1) when being compared to monolingual Austrian German (AG) control speakers. Furthermore, this investigation aimed to identify if listeners differ in their judgments of nativeness of L1 pronunciation depending on their own language background. For this purpose, two groups of native Austrian German listeners (N = 30 each), who differed regarding their linguistic background (Austrian German monolingual and Austrian German-English bilingual listeners) were asked to rate spontaneous speech samples produced by Austrian English bilingual and Austrian German monolingual speakers. Results showed that the bilingual L1 speech was perceived to sound overall less native compared to monolingual control speech. It was further observed that the two listener groups significantly differed in their perception of nativeness: Bilingual listeners were overall less likely to judge bilingual L1 pronunciation to sound non-native compared to monolingual listeners. To date, this is the first study to show that listener experience influences their perception of nativeness of L1 pronunciation and, thus, adds a new dimension to the notion of the native speaker.

Stå på, ikke gi opp – the use of Norwegian particle verbs in email messages by advanced L2 users whose L1 is Finnish

The aim of the present study is to examine similarities and differences in the use of particle verbs (PVs) between advanced bilingual L2 users of Norwegian (L1 Finnish) in their teens and Norwegian L1 speakers of the same age. The data consists of three writing tasks (email messages) written by 6 bilingual Finnish -Norwegian participants and 6 native speakers of Norwegian. Previous research has shown that second language (L2) users, who are highly advanced, face problems using multi-word expressions. For example, they tend to use less PVs than native speakers. The advanced bilingual L2 users of Norwegian (L1 Finnish) in the present study also show a slight tendency to use fewer PVs than the native speakers. However, the Finnish-Norwegian participants used some more idiomatic PVs than the native speakers of Norwegian. The results show that advanced bilingual users of Norwegian who live in an L2 environment and receive a great amount of natural input and output from an early age utilized PVs in a manner congruent to native speakers. Despite differences between the Finnish and Norwegian languages, there are also similarities with regard to PVs. The bilingual participants are familiar with PVs in their first language, Finnish, and they may benefit from that, even though these verbs are not as frequent in Finnish as in Norwegian.

Forward and backward transfer of sentence processing cues in English and Mandarin Chinese: A call for approximate replication of Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001)

AbstractThe Competition Model has served as a functional explanation of cross-linguistic influence and transfer for more than 30 years. A large number of studies have used the Competition Model to frame investigations of sentence processing strategies in different types of bilingual and multilingual speakers. Among the different bilingual speakers investigated, Mandarin Chinese and English bilinguals represent a clear testing ground for the claims of the Competition Model. This is because of purportedly stark contrasts in sentence processing strategies between the two languages. Previous studies investigating sentence processing strategies of English L2 and Mandarin L2 bilinguals suggests forward transfer of L1 cues to the L2, moderated by L2 proficiency. In this paper, we argue for replication of two of these studies, namely Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001). These studies continue to be cited today as evidence of differences between English and Mandarin sentence processing strategies which is in turn taken as support for the predictions of the Competition Model. However, both studies presented methodological limitations in terms of measures of proficiency, participant and stimuli selection, and the statistical analysis. We suggest approximate replication of both of these studies and provide suggestions for how such replications might be conducted.

Characterizing lexicalization and self-monitoring processes in bilingual speech production

Abstract The present study aimed to explore the bilingual disadvantage in the course of speech production by comparing the naming performance and the temporal dynamics of object naming in three groups of participants: monolinguals, L1 bilinguals and L2 bilinguals. To determine the origin of the bilingual disadvantage, whether lexical or post-lexical, we manipulated the lexical frequency of the picture names across repetitions. The ERP frequency effect (ERPs associated to high versus low-frequency words) across repetitions, taken as an estimate of lexical processing, was explored before and after articulation was engaged and compared across groups. Additionally, to explore the extent of the bilingual disadvantage in the course of naming, correct responses and errors were compared across groups in the same time-ranges in which lexical frequency was measured. The results before articulation showed earlier frequency effects for monolinguals than bilinguals, while no differences were observed between the two groups of bilinguals. Correctness effects appeared with a similar chronometry as the frequency effects and only for monolinguals. After articulation onset, the three groups of participants showed a larger positivity for low-frequency words and only monolinguals showed frontal error-related activity, supporting that monitoring mechanisms in charge of detecting conflicting responses are influenced by bilingualism. These results suggest a lexical origin of the bilingual disadvantage, with bilinguals being delayed relative to monolinguals in engaging lexical selection. Furthermore, they suggest that self-monitoring might not be implemented in the same way in bilinguals and monolinguals.

Bilingual patterns of path encoding: A study of Polish L1-German L2 and Polish L1-Spanish L2 speakers

Abstract The encoding of path shows systematic inter-typological variation, with speakers of satellite-framed languages (S-language; e. g. German, Polish) typically conveying path outside the main verb (in particles, prefixes, etc.) and speakers of verb-framed languages (V-language; e. g. Spanish) typically conveying path in the main verb. However, less is known about intra-typological variation in the expression of path, especially for bilingual patterns of path encoding. In this paper, we examine path descriptions produced by two groups of bilinguals and compare the descriptions made by these bilinguals with those made by native speakers of the corresponding L1 and L2 languages. The first group consisted of native Polish speakers who were L2 German speakers (intra-typological L1-L2 transition), while the second group comprised native Polish speakers who were L2 Spanish speakers (inter-typological L1-L2 transition). Our results provide evidence for greater alignment to L2 among bilinguals learning an L2 from a different typological group (i. e. Polish L1-Spanish L2 bilinguals), and closer alignment to L1 among bilinguals learning an L2 from the same typological group (i. e. Polish L1-German L2 bilinguals).

The bilingual L2 advantage in associative recognition

The bilingual L2 advantage in associative recognition

Eye tracking investigation into semantic convergence in fully fluent Spanish–English bilingual adults

Aims and Objectives: This article examines semantic convergence of bilinguals’ two languages in the case of words that overlap semantically but are not fully isomorphic in meaning and application. To what extent do the type of bilingual, type of category, and relative semantic width across the languages matter? Design: The primary method involves eye tracking while participants chose pictures corresponding to an English word heard. The data examine potential differences in simultaneous Spanish–English bilinguals’, early Spanish L1–English L2 bilinguals’, and monolingual English speakers’ durations and numbers of fixations on potential candidates for referents. Data and Analysis: Thirty-eight participants were administered the task in relation to 48 English words from three types of words (classical, radial, and homophonic), half with wider semantic extension in English, half with wider semantic extension in Spanish. Durations and numbers of fixations were analyzed with ANOVAs with participant group, word type, and semantic width treated as variables. Findings/Conclusions: Data revealed minimal influences from Spanish on English with homophonic words, but for classical categories, and to some extent radial categories, bilinguals showed influence from Spanish on English words: participants considered referents that would be relevant for Spanish but not English. Originality: Eye tracking provides a window into the online processing of words and their referents, and thus provides more subtle clues to bilinguals’ processing of these categories relative to monolinguals’. The results support a special status relative to semantic convergence for words whose referents correspond to categories whose members lie close together in the conceptual space. Significance/Implications: For us to best account for semantic convergence in bilingual speakers, these data indicate that the type of category and the category structure in the conceptual space matter, the relative widths of the categories in bilinguals’ two languages matter, the task demands matter, and the type of bilingual matters.

Acquiring L1-English L2-Spanish Code-Switching: The Role of Exposure to Language Mixing

This paper explores the code-switching behavior of second language (L2) bilinguals as a lens into the development of their L2 linguistic systems. Specifically, it investigates the acceptability judgments of L1-English L2-Spanish bilinguals on intra-sentential code-switching, comparing those judgments to a group of Spanish–English bilinguals who acquired both languages as an L1. The particular issues of proficiency and bilingual language behavior are analyzed, testing whether either factor has an effect on L2 code-switching intuitions. The results suggest that both proficiency and bilingual language behavior are relevant. L2 bilinguals with an intermediate/advanced proficiency level of Spanish were more likely to align with 2L1 bilinguals with regard to code-switching judgments, as were L2 bilinguals who reported prior experience with language mixing. L2 bilinguals with lower proficiency in Spanish, as well as those who reported never engaging in code-switching, however, were more likely to diverge from the 2L1 bilinguals in their judgments.

Toward a Speech Communities Approach: A Review Article

Abstract The present paper offers a review of Stefano Manfredi’s Arabi Juba: un pidgin-créole du Soudan du Sud (2017), discussing the potential benefits of its methodological approach for the field of Arabic linguistics and dialectology. Manfredi’s volume represents the latest and most comprehensive description of Juba Arabic, a pidgin / creole spoken in South Sudan. It includes a socio-historical introduction describing the conditions from which the speech community that gave rise to Juba Arabic first emerged, followed by nine chapters that provide a detailed description of the language at the phonological, morphological and syntactical levels. The paper also discusses how Manfredi’s approach goes in the direction of a linguistics of speech communities invoked by Magidow (2017) and how it might represent a model for future grammars of dialectal Arabic. Manfredi (2017), in fact, provides a multidimensional description of Juba Arabic, in which the diverse nature of its speakers (monolinguals native speakers vs bilinguals L2 speakers with different L1s) and the prolonged contact with its lexifier language (Sudanese Arabic) give origin to acrolectal and basilectal varieties. Manfredi analyzes internal variation from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective, resorting to the concept of “dynamic synchrony” to describe ongoing processes of language change. The linguistic situation of the Arabic-speaking world after the end of the colonial period, on the other hand, witnesses a more and more intense contact between different Arabic dialects and an increased influence from MSA, through mass media and growing rates of literacy. The situation of language contact that results from these circumstances needs more refined conceptual tools in order to be effectively described. For this reason, and in light of Magidow (2017), this review article argues that the approach adopted by Manfredi might be successfully imported in the field of Arabic dialectology.

Lexical and semantic connections in number words translation

The present study investigated the influence of lexical links and conceptual mediation in number word translation. In four experiments, a semantic blocking paradigm was used with numerical stimuli and stimuli from other non-number categories. The performance of Spanish L1–English L2 bilinguals was examined in backward and forward translation (Experiment 1 and 3), in naming Arabic digits and pictures (Experiment 2A) and in reading L1 and L2 words (Experiment 2B). The blocked context produced a facilitatory effect for numerical stimuli in the lower range. This result contrasts with the interference effect observed for stimuli from non-number categories in translation and naming tasks. These results are interpreted to mean that the translation of number words, particularly those in the lower range of the numeric sequence, takes place with a large influence of the lexical connections. It supports the suggestions that the influence of processing routes depends on the type of items.

Semantic and conceptual factors in Spanish–English bilinguals’ processing of lexical categories in their two languages

This study examines possible semantic interaction in fully fluent adult simultaneous and early second language (L2) bilinguals. Monolingual and bilingual speakers of Spanish and English ( n = 144) were tested for their understanding of lexical categories that differed in their two languages. Simultaneous bilinguals came from homes in which Spanish or Spanish and English were spoken when they were children, and L2 bilinguals entered the US as children. Accuracy data show higher ultimate attainment of language-specific semantic knowledge in English than in Spanish, but in both languages the interaction of the semantic categories with conceptual knowledge is observable. The data reveal subtle differences in early bilinguals’ extensions of words, but only in some types of categories, and modified by level of proficiency.

Do early successive bilinguals show the English L2 pattern of precocious BE acquisition?

This study investigated the role of age-of-acquisition in determining whether young bilingual children show a pattern of L2/nonnative English, precocious BE acquisition, or whether they show the L1/native English pattern of synchronous acquisition of BE and inflectional morphology. Two groups of children with age-of-acquisition before or after 4;0 and equivalent exposure to L2 English were given production and grammaticality-judgement tasks. The children in both age-of-acquisition groups showed the precocious BE pattern, regardless of L1 background and on both tasks. We conclude that, for this aspect of morphosyntax, bilingual children who begin to learn English after age 3;0 are best characterized as child L2 rather than bilingual L1 learners.

Frequency effects in monolingual and bilingual natural reading.

This paper presents the first systematic examination of the monolingual and bilingual frequency effect (FE) during natural reading. We analyzed single fixation durations on content words for participants reading an entire novel. Unbalanced bilinguals and monolinguals show a similarly sized FE in their mother tongue (L1), but for bilinguals the FE is considerably larger in their second language (L2) than in their L1. The FE in both L1 and L2 reading decreased with increasing L1 proficiency, but it was not affected by L2 proficiency. Our results are consistent with an account of bilingual language processing that assumes an integrated mental lexicon with exposure as the main determiner for lexical entrenchment. This means that no qualitative difference in language processing between monolingual, bilingual L1, or bilingual L2 is necessary to explain reading behavior. We present this account and argue that not all groups of bilinguals necessarily have lower L1 exposure than monolinguals do and, in line with Kuperman and Van Dyke (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 39 (3), 802-823, 2013), that individual vocabulary size and language exposure change the accuracy of the relative corpus word frequencies and thereby determine the size of the FEs in the same way for all participants.

Motion Encoding in Russian and English: Moving Beyond Talmy's Typology

The aim of the present study is twofold. One, we will show that Talmy's (1985, 1991, 2000) motion typology that groups Russian and English together as satellite‐framed languages may be justified on linguistic grounds but is inadequate from a psycholinguistic point of view. Two, we will argue that the shortcomings of the typology may account for inconclusive findings in research on language effects in motion cognition. The study examined lexicalization of motion in narratives elicited with the use of a picture bookFrog, where are you?(Mayer, 1969) from L1 speakers of Russian (n = 31), L1 speakers of English (n = 38), and Russian–English bilinguals (n = 30). All bilinguals told the story twice, once in each language, and were subdivided into early, childhood, and late bilinguals in order to control for combined effects of the Age of Arrival (AoA) and Length of Residence (LoR) in the L2 context on L2 performance. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the four motion verb corpora (L1 Russian, L1 English, Bilingual L1 Russian, Bilingual L2 English) revealed that L1 Russian speakers segment motion events in a more fine‐grained way and encode the manner, directionality, and spatiotemporal contours of motion events significantly more frequently than speakers of L1 English. Bilinguals followed language‐specific lexicalization patterns in both languages but late bilinguals displayed reduced lexical diversity in L2 English. These findings were linked to differences in obligatoriness, boundedness, and complexity of encoding of motion components in the two languages. We argue that these dimensions of motion encoding can be productively explored in instructional contexts and in future studies of language and motion cognition that go beyond Talmy's typology.

L2 Influence on Korean-English Bilinguals’ L1 Syntactic Processing of Relative Clauses

This study examines L2 influence on L1 in processing Korean relative clause sentences from Korean-English in EFL context. Transfer patterns in processing ambiguous relative clauses were compared with those identified in Korean monolinguals. This study tests Linguistic Tuning, which posits that parsers’ initial analysis of an ambiguous construction is influenced by their previous encounters with ambiguities. This study aims to examine Linguistic Tuning to see whether bilinguals L2 parsing routines can be permeated into L1 comprehension. 17 Korean-English completed online self-paced reading task with ambiguous relative clauses in Korean. The results from reading time data revealed that showed a different processing pattern to Korean monolinguals. Given a prolonged L2 exposure in an L2 environment, bilinguals’ processing routines seem to be affected by L2 experiences, hence carrying L2 processing strategies to L1 processing. This study provides another piece of evidence for Dussias and Sagarra (2007) that permeability of L1 is a natural consequent of L2 exposure and L1 is likely to be influenced and to change.