Late Bilinguals Research Articles

Emotionality ratings and electrodermal responses to university-related expressions in a native and a non-native language

ABSTRACT To what extent does emotional reactivity differ when bilinguals process input in their native (L1) or non-native language (L2)? Does the L1 elicit a significantly stronger emotional arousal or can salient second language experience generate comparably strong associations between emotions and the L2? These questions were addressed through two measures of emotional arousal, (online) skin conductance responses (SCR) and (offline) emotionality ratings. Russian-English late bilinguals, UK university students, were presented different types of university-related expressions in English and Russian. The vocabulary types were university-related emotionally-laden expressions (‘Плагиат’/‘Plagiarism’) and neutral words (‘Круг’/‘Circle’). Two main results emerged. First, in L1, SCRs showed a significantly increased electro-dermal activity when participants reacted to university-related words. Emotionality ratings showed contrasts based on stimulus type in both languages. These results indicate that university-related words qualify as a category of emotionally charged expressions. Second, between-language tests showed that electrodermal reactivity was not more reduced in L2 than in L1, which was also mirrored in emotionality ratings. These findings are located within the existing empirical context, and alternative interpretations are provided to further our understanding of how an emotionally salient L2 context contributes to shifts from mother tongue dominance to an increased emotional power of the second language.

Ultra-Rapid and Automatic Interplay Between L1 and L2 Semantics in Late Bilinguals: EEG Evidence

Ultra-Rapid and Automatic Interplay Between L1 and L2 Semantics in Late Bilinguals: EEG Evidence

L2 word recognition in French–English late bilinguals: Does modality matter?

Abstract Research in second language (L2) learning often considers one modality only during task completion. It is unclear if L2 performance is as accurate whatever the modality. L2 learning at school is characterized by a predominance of written materials. One might expect written L2 word recognition to be more accurate than spoken one. This modality effect could also depend on L2 proficiency and the presence of cognate items, closer orthographically than phonologically for most language pairs. Two experiments were conducted with 50 intermediate proficiency French–English bilinguals. Experiment 1 highlighted this modality effect on accuracy and a session effect reflecting a benefit from oral to written modality on latency. In Experiment 2, which included both cognate and non-cognate words, modality effect was even stronger for cognate words and cognate effect depended on modality. In both experiments, these effects depend on L2 proficiency. These findings are discussed according to bilingual word recognition models.

Neurophysiology of non-native sound discrimination: Evidence from German vowels and consonants in successive French–German bilinguals using an MMN oddball paradigm

Abstract The present electroencephalographical multi-speaker MMN oddball experiment was designed to study the phonological processing of German native and non-native speech sounds. Precisely, we focused on the perception of German /ɪ-iː/, /ɛ-ɛː/, /a-aː/ and the fricatives [ʃ] and [ç] in German natives (GG) and French learners of German (FG). As expected, our results showed that GG were able to discriminate all the critical vowel contrasts. In contrast, FG, despite their high L2 proficiency level, were only marginally sensitive to vowel length variations. Finally, neither GG nor FG discriminated the opposition between [ʃ] and [ç], as revealed by the absence of MMN response. This latter finding was interpreted in terms of low perceptual salience. Taken together, the present findings lend partial support to the Perceptual Assimilation Model for late bilinguals (PAM-L2) for speech perception of non-native phonological contrasts.

Effect of AoA-L2 on L1 and L2 networks in early and late bilinguals

Aim: The age of acquisition of second language (AoA-L2) affects the neural representation of the first language (L1) and L2. Although previous task-fMRI studies showed different activation patterns of language networks in early and late bilinguals, little is known about the effect of AoA-L2 on L1 and L2 resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) networks in bilinguals. In this study, we attempted to reveal the differences in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and topological properties of L1 and L2 networks related to AoA-L2 in bilinguals. Design: We pooled 10 early bilinguals and 11 late bilinguals with high proficiency level in L2 (PL-L2) and acquired their brain rs-fMRI data. By taking the brain regions obtained from a previous meta-analysis study as the seeds, we constructed L1 and L2 networks, and then estimated the RSFC and topological properties of L1 and L2 networks. Findings: Significantly higher RSFC between the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and lateral occipital gyrus (LOG) in the L1 network, and significantly higher RSFC between the IFG and angular gyrus (ANG) in the L2 network were observed in early bilinguals than in late bilinguals. Early bilinguals showed significantly higher clustering coefficient, global and local efficiency, but lower characteristic path length, than late bilinguals in the L2 network. Originality: Through analyzing the RSFC and topological properties of L1 and L2 networks, we observed the influence of AoA-L2 on the brain neuroplasticity in bilinguals. The findings may provide a new perspective for understanding the neuroplasticity in bilinguals with different L2 experience. Implications: The AoA-L2 affects the RSFC and topological properties of the L2 network more obviously relative to the L1 network in bilinguals. The effect of the L2 experience on the L1 network is hardly detected in bilinguals with high PL-L2.

How permeable are native and non-native syntactic processing to crosslinguistic influence?

This study explores the boundary conditions of crosslanguage permeability in syntactic processing among late bilinguals, testing crosslinguistic influence (CLI) both from the first language (L1) to the second language (L2) and from the L2 to the L1. Findings from a visual world experiment with four groups of German-English and English-German bilinguals showed robust evidence for order of acquisition, but not for usage and immersion in L2, constraining CLI in the processing of structurally ambiguous wh-questions in German. Whereas CLI from the L1 persistently affected L2 sentence processing even among near-native and immersed L2 users, L1 processing appeared resilient against influence from the L2, even after long-term L2 immersion. These findings suggest that the timing of linguistic input in development plays a more critical role than current language use with regard to CLI in sentence processing among late bilinguals. The study highlights how systematic and bidirectional investigations of CLI contribute towards more nuanced models of the bilingual mind.

Spoken word recognition in a second language: The importance of phonetic details.

Spoken word recognition depends on variations in fine-grained phonetics as listeners decode speech. However, many models of second language (L2) speech perception focus on units such as isolated syllables, and not on words. In two eye-tracking experiments, we investigated how fine-grained phonetic details (i.e. duration of nasalization on contrastive and coarticulatory nasalized vowels in Canadian French) influenced spoken word recognition in an L2, as compared to a group of native (L1) listeners. Results from L2 listeners (English-native speakers) indicated that fine-grained phonetics impacted the recognition of words, i.e. they were able to use nasalization duration variability in a way similar to L1-French listeners, providing evidence that lexical representations can be highly specified in an L2. Specifically, L2 listeners were able to distinguish minimal word pairs (differentiated by the presence of phonological vowel nasalization in French) and were able to use variability in a way approximating L1-French listeners. Furthermore, the robustness of the French "nasal vowel" category in L2 listeners depended on age of exposure. Early bilinguals displayed greater sensitivity to some ambiguity in the stimuli than late bilinguals, suggesting that early bilinguals had greater sensitivity to small variations in the signal and thus better knowledge of the phonetic cue associated with phonological vowel nasalization in French, similarly to L1 listeners.

Online Control of Voice Intensity in Late Bilinguals' First and Second Language Speech Production: Evidence From Unexpected and Brief Noise Masking.

Purpose Speech production requires the combined efforts of feedforward control and feedback control subsystems. The primary purpose of this study is to explore whether the relative weighting of auditory feedback control is different between the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) production for late bilinguals. The authors also make an exploratory investigation into how bilinguals' speech fluency and speech perception relate to their auditory feedback control. Method Twenty Chinese-English bilinguals named Chinese or English bisyllabic words, while being exposed to 30- or 60-dB unexpected brief masking noise. Variables of language (L1 or L2) and noise condition (quiet, weak noise, or strong noise) were manipulated in the experiment. L1 and L2 speech fluency tests and an L2 perception test were also included to measure bilinguals' speech fluency and auditory acuity. Results Peak intensity analyses indicated that the intensity increases in the weak noise and strong noise conditions were larger in L2-English than L1-Chinese production. Intensity contour analysis showed that the intensity increases in both languages had an onset around 80-140 ms, a peak around 220-250 ms, and persisted till 400 ms post vocalization onset. Correlation analyses also revealed that poorer speech fluency or L2 auditory acuity was associated with larger Lombard effect. Conclusions For late bilinguals, the reliance on auditory feedback control is heavier in L2 than in L1 production. We empirically supported a relation between speech fluency and the relative weighting of auditory feedback control, and provided the first evidence for the production-perception link in L2 speech motor control.

Native-like Event-related Potentials in Processing the Second Language Syntax: Late Bilinguals

Background: The P600 brain wave reflects syntactic processes in response to different first language (L1) syntactic violations, syntactic repair, structural reanalysis, and specific semantic components. Unlike semantic processing, aspects of the second language (L2) syntactic processing differ from the L1, particularly at lower levels of proficiency. At higher L2 proficiency, syntactic violations are more likely to result in P600, similar to the L1 native speakers. Objectives: This study aims to assess the effect of proficiency on L2 syntactic processing in late bilinguals and determine whether L1-like cerebral activation patterns will result. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive quantitative research, the subjects were two groups of Persian-English bilinguals (L1=Persian, L2=English; n=10 high-proficient, n=10 low-proficient; gender=female who started learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) after the age of 15 through explicit instructions. Within the violation paradigm, Event-related Potentials (ERPs) were collected from the subjects in the neurocognitive lab of Shahid Beheshti University, Iran, in 2019- 20. The experimental trials of the ERP task included violated English regular past tense verbs. ERP components were compared with those of the L1 (components closer to P600). Results: The t-value for P600 peak latency differed significantly only for the Incorrect past tense verb (ICV) condition and only in O2 (P=0.039463, t=2.2205, CI: 0.003112- 0.11249, P<0.05) between the two groups (higher in the high proficient group). Conclusion: P600 for the high-proficient group demonstrated that L2 proficiency was a more determinant factor in L1-like cortical representation of L2 than the age of acquisition and or the type of context.

Factors influencing bilinguals’ speed and accuracy of number judgments across languages: A meta-analytic review

• For bilinguals, number judgments are overall faster and more accurate in the first language. • Early schooling in the first language predicts a first language advantage in number speed and accuracy. • Low or medium second language proficiency predicts a first language advantage in number task performance. • Late onset of bilingualism predicts a first language advantage in number task performance. • The findings support models of number representation that posit language experience-based format effects. Are bilinguals faster and/or better at performing numerical judgments in one language than in their other language? What factors moderate language differences in number processing ease? To address these issues, we conducted a meta-analysis of 38 studies (based on 1861 participants) in which bilinguals’ speeded performance and accuracy on number tasks was compared across languages within subjects. Analysis of 63 independent effect sizes for reaction time data and 28 for accuracy data showed an overall language difference favoring the first language. This effect was particularly observed in reaction time studies for number tasks involving arithmetic judgments or number naming. The L1 effect was characteristic of bilinguals with low or medium proficiency in the second language, those who were schooled in the first language, and those whose stated preference for arithmetic was the first language. Further, a first language advantage was most characteristic of late bilinguals (for reaction time). For accuracy, additional moderators of a first language advantage included differences between the languages in decade unit counting system. No other effects were significant. The findings lend support to models of number cognition that posit format-sensitive codes. They further clarify that a privileging of the first language is not uniform but varies by bilingualism onset, proficiency, language of early schooling, and language-specific characteristics.

Functional and structural differences in brain networks involved in language processing and control in highly proficient early and late bilinguals

Age of acquisition and proficiency have been identified as possible determinants in the neural localization of second language representation and in the nature of control mechanisms. However, the relationship is not yet clear between age of acquisition and proficiency on the one hand, and language switching and executive functions on the other. In the present study, we used anatomical and functional Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging to investigate the impact of age of acquisition. Two groups of highly proficient early and late bilinguals, carefully matched in other measures of proficiency, performed an overt picture-naming task in blocked and switched conditions. We found that switching between languages in highly proficient bilinguals involves an increase of activity in areas reported as components associated with domain-general inhibitory processes. There was no effect of task language, only of whether the task involved language switching. Comparing the two groups indicated that highly proficient bilinguals use the same neural network for language production and control regardless of age of acquisition. Structural differences were apparent between the two groups in regions associated with language control. We propose that language switching recruits a neural network that is engaged for domain-general executive control functions and that proficiency rather than age of acquisition exerts influence on language representations. • Proficient bilinguals switched between their two languages symmetrically. • This was true for the late learners as well as for early learners. • Switching languages activates more brain regions than using one language. • Switching activates brain regions involved with general inhibition.

Early bilingual experience is associated with change detection ability in adults

To adapt to their more varied and unpredictable (language) environments, infants from bilingual homes may gather more information (sample more of their environment) by shifting their visual attention more frequently. However, it is not known whether this early adaptation is age-specific or lasts into adulthood. If the latter, we would expect to observe it in adults who acquired their second language early, not late, in life. Here we show that early bilingual adults are faster at disengaging attention to shift attention, and at noticing changes between visual stimuli, than late bilingual adults. In one experiment, participants were presented with the same two visual stimuli; one changed (almost imperceptibly), the other remained the same. Initially, participants looked at both stimuli equally; eventually, they fixated more on the changing stimulus. This shift in looking occurred in the early but not late bilinguals. It suggests that cognitive processes adapt to early bilingual experiences.

Lexical activation in late bilinguals: effects of phonological neighbourhood on spoken word production

ABSTRACT This research explores patterns of lexical activation of both languages of a bilingual when producing spoken words. Specifically, it investigates the influence of within- and cross-language measures of phonological neighbourhood, on the English picture naming performance of a diverse group of French (L1) – English (L2) late bilinguals. A novel phonological neighbourhood density measure was used that took into account the phonological and lexical constraints of this sample of late bilinguals. Results showed that both within- and cross-language neighbours influenced picture naming performance and that the length of exposure to L2 and familiarity of the target modulated these effects, with both facilitatory and inhibitory effects observed. Additionally, the previously well-attested cognate facilitation effect decreased with L2 language exposure. These results support interactive models of word production, within a language non-specific view of lexical access, and show the dynamic nature of a bilingual’s lexical connections.

Cross-linguistic influence of L2 on L1 in late Chinese-English bilinguals

AbstractCross-linguistic influence studies usually investigate how the bilingual’s first language (L1) influences the acquisition and use of their second language (L2) within the L2 context. This study, by contrast, investigates how the bilingual’s L2 may influence their L1 within the L1 environment, specifically whether the L2 affects L1 performance in an L1 environment in Chinese (L1)-English (L2) late bilinguals, in the domain of subject realisation. Typologically, Chinese allows pronominal subjects to be optionally null under certain discourse-pragmatic conditions whereas English requires obligatory pronominal subjects under most circumstances. To examine possible L2 effects, 15 Chinese-English bilinguals (Experimental) and 15 Chinese monolinguals (Control) participated in Chinese narrative tasks. Results show that bilingual participants produce significantly lower percentages of null subjects than the control group, indicating that bilinguals prefer overt subjects over null subjects in their L1 Chinese utterances under the influence of L2 English syntactic patterns.

First Language Attrition on Prosody in a Foreign Language Environment

In this study, we explore whether first language (L1) attrition affects the use of prosodic cues in anaphora resolution. 18 late Italian–Swedish bilinguals completed a speech production task in L1 Italian, wherein we measured the inter-clausal pause duration and the pronoun’s degree of prosodic prominence. They also completed a control interpretation task, wherein we analysed response preferences, to test the status of L1 attrition on anaphora resolution when sentences are not vocalized. Prominence patterns and pause features exhibited by the late bilinguals were compared to those shown by Italian and Swedish monolinguals investigated in a previous study in 2019. The results suggest L1 attrition to affect the use of prosodic cues in anaphora resolution. The attrition rate was influenced by length of residence (LoR): the longer the residence in the foreign language (FL) environment, the higher the probability of adaptation to the FL prominence patterns, for most of the prosodic cues.

Examining Co-activation Through Cross-Linguistic Influence among Bilinguals in Spoken Language Processing: Evidence from Eye Movements

The aim of this paper is to examine the cross-linguistic influences of both early and late bilinguals in spoken language processing and the differences between them. There were four undergraduates, comprising of two early and two late bilinguals, participated voluntarily in this research. The Tobii X 300 was used as the equipment to be applied when measuring and recording the eye-movements of students. Four conditions, namely between competition, within competition, simultaneous competition, and no competition, were designed as the stimuli. Findings were coded as containing zero or greater-than-zero fixations of each condition (if it was present) along with their respective filler (control). The presence of competition can be measured by employing time course sensitive response measures which is the time to first fixation. The results of this study have illustrated through the presence of cross-linguistic influence in bilinguals that the two languages in the bilinguals mind exist in a state of co-activation regardless of their age of acquisition, consistent with previous studies conducted. However, the age of acquisition of a bilingual’s second language differentiates the type of cross-linguistic influence that a bilingual is likely to face when processing their second language. Keywords: Co-activation; cross-linguistic; early and late bilinguals; spoken language processing; eye tracking

Early and late bilingual processing of Spanish gender, morphology and gender congruency

The present study investigates whether advanced proficiency-matched early and late bilinguals display gender agreement processing quantitatively and qualitatively similar to that of native speakers of Spanish. To address this issue, a timed grammaticality judgment task was used to analyze the effects on accuracy and reaction times of grammatical gender, morphology, and gender congruency of the article and adjective within a noun phrase. Overall results indicated no significant statistical differences between the native speakers and the two bilingual groups. Both early and late bilinguals displayed similar grammatical gender knowledge in their underlying grammars. A detailed examination of the congruency effect, however, revealed that the native speakers, not the bilinguals, displayed sensitivity to gender agreement violations. Moreover, the native and heritage speakers pattern together in accuracy and directionality of gender agreement processing: both were less accurate with incongruent articles than with incongruent adjectives, while the second language learners were equally accurate in both agreement domains. Despite having internalized gender in their implicit grammars, the late bilinguals did not show native-like patterns in real time processing. The present findings suggest that, for high proficiency speakers, there is a distinct advantage for early over late bilinguals in achieving native-like gender lexical access and retrieval. Therefore, age of acquisition, in conjunction with learning context, might be the best predictor of native-like gender agreement processing at advanced and near-native proficiency levels.

(Divergent) Participation in the California Vowel Shift by Korean Americans in Southern California

This study investigates the participation in the California Vowel Shift by Korean Americans in Los Angeles. Five groups of subjects participated in a picture narrative task: first-, 1.5-, and second-generation Korean Americans, Anglo-Californians, and (non-immigrant) Korean late learners of English. Results showed a clear distinction between early vs. late bilinguals; while the first-generation Korean Americans and the late learners showed apparent signs of Korean influence, the 1.5- and the second-generation Korean Americans participated in most patterns of the California Vowel Shift. However, divergence from the Anglo-Californians was observed in early bilinguals’ speech. Similar to the late bilinguals, the 1.5-generation speakers did not systematically distinguish prenasal and non-prenasal /æ/. The second-generation speakers demonstrated a split-/æ/ system, but it was less pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that age of arrival has a strong effect on immigrant minority speakers’ participation in local sound change. In the case of the second-generation Korean Americans, certain patterns of the California Vowel Shift were even more pronounced than for the Anglo-Californians (i.e., /ɪ/-lowering, /ɑ/-/ɔ/ merger, /ʊ/- and /ʌ/-fronting). Moreover, the entire vowel space of the second-generation Korean Americans, especially female speakers, was more fronted than that of the Anglo-Californians. These findings suggest that second-generation Korean Americans may be in a more advanced stage of the California Vowel Shift than Anglo-Californians or the California Vowel Shift is on a different trajectory for these speakers. Possible explanations in relation to second-generation Korean Americans’ intersecting gender, ethnic, and racial identities, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Does language switching behavior rely on general executive functions?

AbstractThe assumption that everyday language switching trains bilinguals’ executive functions (EF) presupposes that language switching engages domain-general EF. This study examined associations between three types of tasks in a group of Finnish-English late bilinguals: everyday language switching frequency assessed with Ecological Momentary Assessment, language switching performance on a cued bilingual naming task, and EF as measured with Simon, Flanker, and Number-letter tasks. Cued switching performance showed mainly positive associations with EF performance, but the associations between everyday language switching and cued switching performance, and between everyday switching and the EF tasks were largely against our hypotheses. The findings indicate that participants with lower monitoring capacity make more everyday language switches. This speaks against the idea that everyday language switching would facilitate executive functioning. The results suggest that associations between language switching and general EF are more complex than current models assume.

Short-Term Sources of Cross-Linguistic Phonetic Influence: Examining the Role of Linguistic Environment

While previous research has shown that bilinguals are able to effectively maintain two sets of phonetic norms, these two phonetic systems experience varying degrees of cross-linguistic influence, driven by both long-term (e.g., proficiency, immersion) and short-term (e.g., bilingual language contexts, code-switching, sociolinguistic) factors. This study examines the potential for linguistic environment, or the language norms of the broader community in which an interaction takes place, to serve as a source of short-term cross-linguistic phonetic influence. To investigate the role of linguistic environment, late bilinguals (L1 English—L2 Spanish) produced Spanish utterances in two sessions that differed in their linguistic environments: an English-dominant linguistic environment (Indiana, USA) and a Spanish-dominant linguistic environment (Madrid, Spain). Productions were analyzed at the fine-grained acoustic level, through an acoustic analysis of voice onset time, as well as more holistically through native speaker global accent ratings. Results showed that linguistic environment did not significantly impact either measure of phonetic production, regardless of a speaker’s second language proficiency. These results, in conjunction with previous results on long- and short-term sources of phonetic influence, suggest a possible primacy of the immediate context of an interaction, rather than broader community norms, in determining language mode and cross-linguistic influence.