Low L2 Proficiency Research Articles

Homophone priming in bilingual preference formation.

Homophone (HP) priming occurs when phonologically ambiguous words persistently coactivate their contextually irrelevant meanings. If suppressing those meanings fails, they subliminally bias preferences. Yet, it is unclear if prior findings generalize beyond individual words and to bilingual contexts. This has implications for consumer behavior and the debate on differences between first (L1) and second language (L2) lexical processing. We present four multi-item experiments with German-English bilinguals. An initial eye-tracked primed choice task established that homophones affect decision making. Three visual preference experiments with written and/or auditory primes and high- or low-proficiency L2 users found that homophones bias preferences more in L1 than L2. The L1-L2 gap widened if listening or low proficiency made suppression more difficult. We argue that the interplay between reduced suppression in L2 as predicted by activation-suppression models and lower subjective frequency of L2 homophones assumed by the frequency lag hypothesis explain the size of the L1-L2 priming gap. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Why second-language speakers sometimes, but not always, derive scalar inferences like first-language speakers: Effects of task demands

ABSTRACT Many studies report that the computation of scalar inferences, such as the inference from ‘some’ to ‘not all’, is cognitively costly. However, a number of studies on scalar inferences in L2 suggest the opposite conclusion, reporting that, even though processing L2-input is often thought to be cognitively demanding, people are at least as likely to compute scalar inferences in L2 as L1. Here, we propose that cognitive difficulties with computing scalar inferences in L2 may be masked by the use of experimental tasks that encourage participants to take their time to process target sentences. Thus, we found that, in a self-paced pen-and-paper experiment, participants did not significantly differ in the propensity with which they computed scalar inferences in L1 and L2. However, in a computerized experiment in which sentences were flashed on screen, low-proficiency L2 speakers were significantly less likely to compute scalar inferences in L2 than L1. These results underscore the importance of analyzing task demands in research on pragmatics and multilingualism.

Higher reading spans mitigate context effects on lexical processing by low-proficiency L2 learners: a self-paced reading study

AbstractThis study examines context effects on lexical processing by low-proficiency Japanese learners of English during sentence comprehension, and the role of individual differences in verbal working memory (WM). Thirty Japanese learners of English as a second language (L2) and 27 speakers of English as a first language (L1) were recruited for a self-paced reading task with high and low context sentences to assess lexical processing abilities, and a reading span task to measure WM capacities. Bayesian modeling indicated that, at the group level, L2 learners had slower lexical processing times for low context sentences compared to high context ones, especially in the spillover region, while L1 speakers showed no difference. At the individual level, higher WM capacities among L2 learners appeared to mitigate these context effects, supporting the interactive-compensatory model (Stanovich in Read Res Q, 10.2307/747348, 1980; Remedial Spec Educ 5(3):11–19, 10.1177/074193258400500306, 1984). The findings highlight context effects on L2 lexical processing and the crucial role of WM in managing these effects among L2 learners.

Language contexts induced by the interlocutors’ proficiencies modulate bilingual language monitoring

Abstract Using a voluntary object-naming paradigm, we examined if bilinguals with high or low L2 proficiency monitor their language selection and production according to their interlocutors' L2 language proficiency. Telugu (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals were introduced to audio-visual stimuli that consisted of animated interlocutors that were high or low proficient in English. In Experiment 1, interlocutors were presented at different frequencies in each block, and in Experiment 2, the presentation of each interlocutor was blocked. We predicted that the frequency of interlocutors would modulate language activation and selection. The participants named the objects language that came to their minds to respond to interlocutors. Indeed, consistent with our predictions, monitoring contexts induced by such interlocutors influenced latencies, language choice and switch-cost. High-L2 proficient participants employed higher language control than low-L2 proficient participants. These results support the hypothesis that bilinguals are sensitive toward their interlocutors' language proficiency and employ context-appropriate cognitive control.

Unraveling the Complexities of Second Language Lexical Stress Processing: The Impact of First Language Transfer, Second Language Proficiency, and Exposure

AbstractWe investigated the role of cue weighting, second language (L2) proficiency, and L2 daily exposure in L2 learning of suprasegmentals different from the first language (L1), using eye‐tracking. Spanish monolinguals, English–Spanish learners, and Mandarin–Spanish learners saw a paroxytone and an oxytone verb (e.g., FIRma–firMÓ “s/he signs–signed”), listened to a sentence containing one of the verbs, and chose the one that they heard. The three languages have contrastive lexical stress, but suprasegmentals have a greater functional load in Mandarin than in English. Monolinguals predicted suffixes accurately with both stress conditions and favored oxytones, but learners predicted suffixes accurately only with oxytones, the condition activating fewer lexical competitors. Monolinguals predicted suffixes accurately sooner but at a slower rate than did learners. L2 proficiency, but not L1 or L2 exposure, facilitated L2 predictions. In conclusion, learners of a contrastive‐stress L1 rely on L2 suprasegmentals to the same extent as monolinguals, regardless of their L1. Lower L2 proficiency and higher cognitive load (more lexical competitors) reduce learners’ reliance on suprasegmentals.

Adult L2 learners’ morphological sensitivity in a morphosyllabic language

Abstract This study examined adult L2 learners’ morphological sensitivity in Chinese, a morphosyllabic language, and explored whether there is any modulating effects of L2 proficiency. Two word naming experiments (segment shifting and standard word naming) were administered to three participant groups, including native Chinese speakers, higher L2 Chinese proficiency learners, and lower L2 Chinese proficiency learners. In both experiments, reaction times (RTs) displayed only main effects of Chinese proficiency group and word type. This suggests that the morphological processing of L2 learners did not differ from that of native speakers, although the RTs of L2 learners were longer and exhibited more variability. Concerning error rates, both experiments showed that learners with higher and lower L2 proficiency had significantly higher error rates for words with unreliable morphological cues compared to those with reliable cues. Taken together, these findings indicate that L2 learners developed sensitivity to intraword morphological structure and employed decompositional strategies when reading Chinese words, irrespective of their L2 proficiency levels.

Greater coverage vs. deeper processing? Comparing individual and collaborative processing of teacher feedback

Despite the proliferation of research on how second language (L2) learners engage with feedback on L2 writing in recent years, little is known about how young and low-proficiency L2 learners process teacher feedback. The present study investigated how Chinese lower-secondary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) cognitively and behaviourally engaged with teacher feedback in two conditions: individual written languaging and collaborative oral languaging. Eighty-one students (aged 13–14 years, A1–A2 English proficiency) from two classes and two English teachers at a public lower-secondary school in China participated in this study. Comprehensive teacher feedback (focusing on language errors, content, and organization) was provided to students on three writing tasks completed over six weeks. Findings showed that collaborative processing of teacher feedback elicited students’ deeper cognitive processing, drew their attention to issues beyond linguistic errors and encouraged learner autonomy. On the other hand, individual written languaging promoted students’ noticing of teacher feedback in their languaging process, although with a primary focus on grammar and mechanics. Written languaging also enabled students to act on more teacher feedback points in their revisions than the collaborative processing condition. Pedagogical implications from the comparison of the two feedback processing conditions are discussed.

Exploring early L2 writing development through the lens of grammatical complexity

The present study explores the development of grammatical complexity in L2 English writing at the beginner, lower intermediate, and upper intermediate levels to see (i) to what extent the developmental stages proposed in Biber et al. (2011) are evident in low-proficiency L2 writing, and if so, what the patterns of progression are, and (ii) whether students gradually move away from speech-like production toward more advanced written production. We use data from COBRA, a corpus of L1 Brazilian Portuguese learner production, along with BR-ICLE and BR-LINDSEI. All the data were tagged using the Biber tagger (Biber, 1988) and the Developmental Complexity tagger (Gray et al., 2019), and subsequently analyzed using a technique developed in Staples et al. (2022) to quantify developmental profiles across levels. The technique considers not only overall change in frequency across levels, but also the incremental variation across each adjacent level (based on % frequency changes). The results show that the features were infrequent overall, with a majority of both clausal and phrasal features exhibiting an increase in frequency across the levels, albeit to varying degrees. This general pattern is contrary to predictions based on findings from previous studies, which found phrasal features increasing in use and clausal features decreasing in use. Nonetheless, for the features associated with each developmental stage, the frequencies generally increased, becoming more similar to advanced written production and more dissimilar to spoken production, as hypothesized in Biber et al. (2011).

Bilingualism but not bidialectalism influences cognitive control among young adult Chinese–English bilinguals

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study investigates whether bilingualism and bidialectalism influence cognitive control, and whether the two variables interact. Design/methodology/approach: The study compared two matched groups differing in second language (L2) proficiency through the Flanker and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The two groups were further divided into four groups differing in dialect proficiency, so that the effects of L2 proficiency and dialect proficiency and the interactive effect were examined. Data and analysis: A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the Flanker task data, with the task condition as the within-subject variable and the participant group as the between-subject variable. Independent t-test and ANOVA analyses were used to compare the performance differences between groups on the WCST. Findings/conclusion: The high L2 proficiency group performed better than the low L2 proficiency group both in the Flanker task and the WCST, reflecting better monitoring and shifting ability. L2 proficiency effect on cognitive control was significant. However, no dialect effect was observed, and no interaction effect was found. Further multiple regression results confirmed the role of L2 proficiency but not dialect proficiency. Originality: This is one of the first bilingual studies to incorporate both bilingualism and bidialectalism simultaneously. Significance/implications: The current research provides robust evidence that bilingualism is related to the enhancement of cognitive control, but questions the effect of bidialectalism.

Auditory pseudoword rhyming effects in bilingual children reflect second language proficiency: An ERP study

This study investigated second language (L2-English) phonological processing in 31 Spanish-English bilingual, 6- to 8-year-old schoolchildren in an event-related potential (ERP) auditory pseudoword rhyming paradigm. In addition, associations between ERP effects and L2 proficiency as measured by standardized tests of receptive language and receptive vocabulary were explored. We found a classic posterior ERP rhyming effect that was more widely distributed in children with higher L2 proficiency in group analyses and was larger for children with better L2 proficiency in correlation analyses. In contrast, the amplitude of an early (75–125 ms) auditory positivity was larger in children with lower L2 proficiency. This pattern suggests differential use of early and late auditory/phonological processing resources in the pseudoword rhyme task associated with L2 proficiency, which is consistent with the predictions of the lexical restructuring model in a bilingual context.

The acquisition of L3 French present simple and present progressive by adult L1 Chinese speakers of L2 English

AbstractThe study examines the acquisition of L3 French present form by advanced L2 English learners of L1 Chinese within the framework of theTypological Primacy Model(TPM) of Rothman (2011) and theInterpretability Hypothesisof Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou (Tsimpli, Ianthi-maria & Maria Dimitrakopoulou. 2007. The Interpretability Hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in second language acquisition.Second Language Research23. 215–242. The meaning-form distinction of the present form in relation to habitual and event-in-progress interpretations varies between French, English, and Chinese, but is constrained by the presence/absence of tense and agreement features. Thirty-two adult L1 Chinese speakers of high proficiency L2 English/low proficiency L3 French and thirty adult L1 Chinese speakers of low proficiency L2 English together with a native English control group and a French control group were invited to take part in an acceptability judgement test. The results provide partial support to the TPM, which posits that the perceived typological similarity between L3 and the previously acquired languages conditions transfer in L3 initial state. The findings are, instead, more consistent with theInterpretability Hypothesis, which assumes the inaccessibility of uninterpretable syntactic features in subsequent language acquisition. What remain available in adult multilingual acquisition are interpretable syntactic features, computational devices, and other aspects of Universal Grammar (UG).

The bilateral benefits of providing and receiving peer feedback in academic writing across varying L2 proficiency

Although the effectiveness of peer review has been examined, few have tested the joint benefits of providing and receiving feedback features and quality in L2 contexts. The present study investigated variation in key features and quality of feedback provided and received by high and low L2 proficiency students and its benefits on revision in the authentic setting of students experiencing both roles of providing and receiving peer feedback in English academic writing. Analyses on two drafts from 50 students, 1356 idea units of anonymous implementable peer feedback and back-evaluation ratings revealed that the combined effect of providing and receiving feedback on revision was prominent for all students. But the bilateral benefits of providing and receiving feedback features were more significant for high proficiency students, while providing feedback features and quality benefited low proficiency students more. The study implies that students need more bilateral training with both providing and receiving feedback.

Hearing emotion in two languages: A pupillometry study of Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals’ perception of affective cognates in L1 and L2

AbstractDifferential affective processing has been widely documented for bilinguals: L1 affective words elicit higher levels of arousal and stronger emotionality ratings than L2 affective words (Pavlenko, 2012). In this study, we focus on two closely related Chinese languages, Mandarin and Cantonese, whose affective lexicons are highly overlapping, with shared lexical items that only differ in pronunciation across languages. We recorded L1 Cantonese – L2 Mandarin bilinguals’ pupil responses to auditory tokens of Cantonese and Mandarin affective words. Our results showed that Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals had stronger pupil responses when the affective words were pronounced in Cantonese (L1) than when the same words were pronounced in Mandarin (L2). The effect was most evident in taboo words and among bilinguals with lower L2 proficiency. We discuss the theoretical implications of the findings in the frameworks of exemplar theory and models of the bilingual lexicon.

Differential effects of language proficiency and use on L2 lexical prediction

Abstract Language experience is essential for SLA. Yet, studies comparing the role of L2 proficiency and L2 use on L2 processing are scant, and there are no studies examining how these variables modulate learners’ ability to generalize grammatical associations to new instances. This study investigates whether L2 proficiency and L2 use affect L2 stress-tense suffix associations (a stressed syllable cuing a present suffix, and an unstressed syllable cuing a preterit suffix) using eye-tracking. Spanish monolinguals and English learners of Spanish varying in L2 proficiency and L2 use saw two verbs (e.g., firma-firmó ‘(s)he signs/signed’), heard a sentence containing one of the verbs, and chose the verb they had heard. Both groups looked at target verbs above chance before hearing the suffix, but the monolinguals did so more accurately and earlier than the learners. The learners recognized past verbs faster than present verbs, were faster with higher than lower L2 proficiency, and later with higher than lower L2 use. Finally, higher L2 proficiency yielded earlier morphological activation but higher L2 use produced later morphological activation, indicating that L2 proficiency and L2 use affect L2 word processing differently. We discuss the contribution of these findings to language acquisition and processing models, as well as models of general cognition.

L2 Proficiency Effects on the Use of Verb Bias Information

This study investigated whether L2 proficiency affected how L2 learners used verb bias information in their written production. Two groups of high proficiency and low proficiency L2 learners participated in a sentence completion task with direct object (DO) bias verbs, equi (EQ) bias verbs and sentential complement (SC) bias verbs. The results showed a significant difference between the two L2 learner groups in the percentage of DO and SC sentence completions preferred for each verb type. The low proficiency group used more DO structures and fewer SC structures for all three types of verbs compared to the high proficiency group. However, despite the low proficiency group’s preference for the DO sentence structure, significant correlations between the verb bias strength index of each verb and number of DO/SC sentence completions were found for both the low and high proficiency groups. These results suggest that while low proficiency L2 learners generally prefer to use the structurally more minimal DO structure as opposed to the SC structure, they are sensitive to verb bias properties and are able to use this information in their written production.

First language translation involvement in second language word processing.

Studies on bilingual word processing have demonstrated that the two languages in a mental lexicon can be parallelly activated. However, it is under discussion whether the activated, non-target language gets involved in the target language. The present study aimed to investigate the role of the first language (L1, the non-target one) translation in the second language (L2, the target one) word processing. The tasks of semantic relatedness judgment and lexical decision were both adopted, to explore the relation of the possible L1 involvement and the task demand. Besides, bilinguals with relatively higher and lower L2 proficiency were recruited, to clarify the potential influence of L2 proficiency. Results showed that the manipulation of L1 translation exerted an influence on bilinguals’ task performances, indicating that L1 translation was involved, but did not just serve as a by-product when bilinguals were processing L2 words. And about the influence of L2 proficiency, the higher proficiency bilinguals performed better than the lower proficiency ones when the L1 translations could be taken advantage of, indicating a better access to L1 translation in L2 word processing, as bilinguals’ L2 proficiency increased. As for the task demands, the L1 translation was partially involved in Experiment 1 while a full involvement was observed in Experiment 2, suggesting a differed depth of L1 translation involvement, if the task demands allowed. The present study supplemented the previous ones due to its participants (the intermediate bilinguals) and tasks (the tasks of semantic relatedness judgment and lexical decision); besides, it provided an interesting view into interpreting the “task schema” of the BIA+ model.

Student engagement with teacher written feedback: Insights from low-proficiency and high-proficiency L2 learners

Although studies on teacher written feedback have proliferated in recent years, much remains to be discovered about L2 learners' engagement with this practice. To bridge this gap, the study examined how low-proficiency and high-proficiency students engaged with teacher written feedback affectively, cognitively, and behaviorally in a Chinese EFL context. The study collected data from multiple sources including students' first drafts of their writing, teacher written feedback, revised drafts, students' verbal reports, and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that for this important pedagogical practice, students' engagement with teacher written feedback was mediated by their language proficiency and feedback focus. Specifically, while LP and HP students' engagement with local feedback was quite different, they shared similarities in their engagement with global feedback. The study further found a complex and nonlinear relationship across the three perspectives of engagement (i.e., affective/cognitive/behavioral), which was evidenced in the consistencies and inconsistencies of the students’ engagement. The important pedagogical implications from this study are discussed.

Languaging, Corrective Feedback, and Writing Accuracy among Low Proficiency L2 Learners

Low proficiency L2 learners make frequent grammatical errors and apply inappropriate English language use and writing conventions despite learning the language for years. To reduce the grammatical and non-grammatical errors in the low proficiency L2 learners’ writing, teachers provide Written Corrective Feedback (WCF). However, a strong claim on WCF's adverse effects on L2 learners’ language development has prompted mixed responses on the WCF’s effectiveness. Numerous studies on WCF's effectiveness were conducted, and the findings showed inconclusive results. The present study aims to examine the ‘Written Languaging’ (WL) effect of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) on low proficiency L2 learners’ writing accuracy. WL is a mediational tool used to enhance the WCF’s effectiveness. The study was conducted on 47 low proficiency L2 university students for five weeks to elicit WL of WCF's effects on low proficiency L2 learners’ writing accuracy, where a multiple-case research approach was used to collect and analyze the data of the study. An error ratio was applied to measure the overall accuracy of writing. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine whether WL's provision on the WCF affects the writing accuracy of the low proficiency L2 learners' new writing text. The finding shows that WL's provision on the WCF did not facilitate the low proficiency of L2 learners' writing accuracy because the L2 learners' writing accuracy could improve only with teachers' WCF. The study is significant to the pedagogical teaching of writing development for lower proficiency L2 learners, particularly in applying the mediational tool in the provision and processing of WCF and the complementary pedagogical strategy to WCF.

Korean English L2ers’ Sensitivity to Information Structure: An ERP Study

This paper examined the event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by information structure among Korean L2 English learners. Participants read a wh-question, followed by an it-cleft answer sentence in English. We hypothesized that L2 proficiency would modulate native-likeness or L2-uniqueness in L2 focus processing. For the L1 and high- and low-proficiency L2 groups, word-long positive shifts reflect the processing of NPs receiving constructional focus, compared to other non-focal phrases in cleft sentences. Second, as for the processing of incorrectly vs. correctly assigned focus, while the L1 group in Cowles et al. (2007) recorded N400, in our experiments the high-proficiency L2 group registered anterior P600, but the low-proficiency L2 group yielded right anterior negativity. This points to a modulatory correlation between L2 proficiency and native-likeness/L2-uniqueness of processing focus assignment in information structure.

Second Language Proficiency Modulates the Dependency of Bilingual Language Control on Domain-General Cognitive Control.

The relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control has been a hot topic in the research field of bilingualism. Previous studies mostly examined the correlation between performances of bilinguals in language control tasks and that in domain-general cognitive control tasks and came to the conclusions that they overlap, partially overlap, or are qualitatively different. These contradictory conclusions are possibly due to the neglect of the moderating effect of second language (L2) proficiency, that is, the relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control might vary with the L2 proficiency of bilinguals. To examine this hypothesis, we recruited 36 unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals to perform the Simon task (to assess domain-general cognitive control), Oxford Placement Test (to assess L2 proficiency), and picture naming tasks in single-and dual-language contexts (to evoke local and global language control). We find that Simon scores positively predicted switching costs in bilinguals with low L2 proficiency, but not in bilinguals with high L2 proficiency. Furthermore, Simon scores positively predicted mixing costs in bilinguals with high L2 proficiency, but not in bilinguals with low L2 proficiency. These results verify the moderating effect of L2 proficiency on the relationship between bilingual language control and domain-general cognitive control, that is, bilinguals with more proficient L2 rely on domain-general cognitive control less for local language control and more for global language control. This may imply a shift from local to global for the dependency of bilingual language control on domain-general cognitive control during the L2 development of bilinguals.