Translation Priming Research Articles

An electrophysiological investigation of translation and morphological priming in biscriptal bilinguals

Abstract The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether the pattern of cross-language masked translation priming reflects the asymmetric link between first language (L1) and second language (L2) and whether it occurs via morphological decomposition with unbalanced Korean-English bilinguals. In Experiment 1, the targets were Korean (L1) compound words (e.g., 꿀벌, “kkwu-pel”, honeybee), and the primes were English (L2) words: either 1) translated compound words (e.g., honeybee), 2) translated constituents (e.g., bee), or 3) unrelated constituents (e.g., ear). Experiment 2 was the same as Experiment 1, except that the targets were in English (L2), and the primes were in Korean (L1). In the ERP results, the unrelated constituent primes relative to the translated compound or constituent primes produced N400 effects for both language directions (L1 to L2 and L2 to L1). In addition, the translated constituent primes relative to the translated compound primes elicited both P250 and N400 effects only in the direction of L1 to L2, suggesting translation priming via morphological decomposition. Taken together, the results indicate that both cross-language translation priming and morphological priming occur between different scripts (between non-cognate words), and that the effects are stronger when L1 primes L2 than the other way around.

Cross-language associative priming is influenced by language proficiency and executive control.

The present study investigated the impact of language proficiency and executive control (EC) ability on cross-language semantic activation using an English semantic priming lexical-decision task. Primes were either English-French homographs (i.e., words that share spelling but not meaning, e.g., pain means "bread" in French; related trial) or matched control words (e.g., pale; unrelated trial). Type of Priming was either translation (e.g., pain-BREAD) or cross-language associative (e.g., pain-BUTTER). A living/nonliving judgment task and a colour Stroop task measured individual differences in language proficiency and EC, respectively. Reaction time (RT) data from 58 bilingual young adults were analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. Experimental variables (Type of Priming, relatedness), and individual-differences variables (English language proficiency, EC ability) served as fixed variables. Unlike previous studies on cross-language semantic activation, the current study included EC ability as an individual difference variable and found that it interacted with language proficiency to impact associative priming performance. Linear mixed-effects models for associative priming revealed that participants with slow English access exhibited increased positive priming from homographs, whereas individuals with fast lexical access experienced negative priming. Furthermore, these effects were exaggerated for individuals with poor EC. No effects of individual difference variables were observed on translation priming. These results suggest that theories of bilingual word recognition need to incorporate individual difference variables beyond language proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

An ERP Investigation of L2–L1 Translation Priming in Adult Learners

A longstanding debate centers around how beginning adult bilinguals process words in their second language (L2). Do they access the meaning of the L2 words directly or do they first activate the native language (L1) translation equivalents in order to access meaning? To address this question, we used ERPs to investigate how newly learned L2 words influence processing of their L1 translation equivalents. We taught participants the meanings of 80 novel L2 (pseudo)words by presenting them with pictures of familiar objects. After 3 days of learning, participants were tested in a backward translation priming paradigm with a short (140 ms) stimulus onset asynchrony. L1 targets preceded by their L2 translations elicited faster responses and smaller amplitude negativities than the same L1 targets preceded by unrelated L2 words. The bulk of the ERP translation priming effect occurred within the N400 window (350–550 ms), suggesting that the new L2 words were automatically activating their semantic representations. A weaker priming effect in the preceding window (200–350 ms) was found at anterior sites, providing some evidence that the forms of the L1 translation equivalents had also been activated. These results have implications for models of L2 processing at the earliest stages of learning.

Cross-linguistic activation of implicit causality biases in Korean learners of English

This study investigates how the strength of referential biases associated with implicit vs explicit causality predicates in Korean affects Korean-speaking learners’ reference choices in English. Sentence-completion experiments with Korean (Experiment 1a) and English (1b) native speakers showed that Korean speakers referred to the subject more following predicates with explicit vs implicit causality marking, whereas English speakers showed no difference in referential bias for the English translation correspondents of these predicates, which did not contain explicit causality marking. In Experiment 2, Korean learners of English completed an English sentence-completion task, either preceded or followed by a translation task, to test whether strength of referential bias in Korean would affect their referential choices in English. After factoring in individual differences in cross-linguistic associations, results provided evidence that cross-language activation at the word level affects reference processing at a discourse level, with the predicted effect somewhat enhanced by translation priming.

Limitations of translation activation in masked priming: Behavioural evidence from Chinese-English bilinguals and computational modelling

Electrophysiological and behavioural evidence suggests that Chinese translations of English words are automatically activated when Chinese-English bilinguals read English words (e.g., Thierry & Wu, 2007; Wu & Thierry, 2010; Zhang, van Heuven, & Conklin, 2011). The present study investigated the impact of translation activation in three behavioural experiments with in total 118 Chinese-English bilinguals. First, we investigated whether Chinese phonology was the source of the effects of Chinese character repetition in the Chinese translations of English masked primes and targets (hidden repetition priming) observed in Zhang et al.’s (2011), and whether these hidden repetition priming effects were affected by Chinese morpheme complexity and prime duration. However, we failed to find any evidence of hidden repetition priming. An exact replication of Zhang et al. (2011) was conducted next, which again provided no evidence for hidden repetition priming. However, cross-language priming data collected with the same group of participants did reveal masked translation priming and crucially Chinese character repetition priming with masked Chinese primes and English targets (partially hidden repetition priming), indicating that the activation of Chinese translations in the masked priming paradigm is limited to English target words. Computational modeling work provided further support that translation form activation is limited to target words in the masked priming paradigm.

Lexical access in trilinguals

Abstract An original double-masked translation priming study investigates how trilingual translation trainees process their non-dominant languages (L2 and L3) and how these languages influence one another. We recruited 24 French (L1)- English (L2)- Spanish (L3) unbalanced trilinguals to perform lexical decision tasks in their L2 and L3. Target words were preceded by two primes, which were either the same word (repetition), a translation in one language, translations in two languages or unrelated words (in one or two languages). The results highlighted strong translation priming effects, with a repetition effect in both target languages. In addition, when the translation primes belonged to the other non-dominant language, reaction times (RTs) were slower in comparison to semantically unrelated primes in the same priming language. When two different languages were presented as a prime, L1 primes were more efficient when presented as first prime. These results are in line with previous experiments on masked translation priming studies in trilinguals and suggest that the multilingual lexicon is mediated by the L1.

L2-L1 Translation Priming Effects in a Lexical Decision Task: Evidence From Low Proficient Korean-English Bilinguals.

One of the key issues in bilingual lexical representation is whether L1 processing is facilitated by L2 words. In this study, we conducted two experiments using the masked priming paradigm to examine how L2-L1 translation priming effects emerge when unbalanced, low proficiency, Korean-English bilinguals performed a lexical decision task. In Experiment 1, we used a 150 ms SOA (50 ms prime duration followed by a blank interval of 100 ms) and found a significant L2-L1 translation priming effect. In contrast, in Experiment 2, we used a 60 ms SOA (50 ms prime duration followed by a blank interval of 10 ms) and found a null effect of L2-L1 translation priming. This finding is the first demonstration of a significant L2-L1 translation priming effect with unbalanced Korean-English bilinguals. Implications of this work are discussed with regard to bilingual word recognition models.

Cognate facilitation priming effect is modulated by writing system: Evidence from Chinese-English bilinguals

Aims: The present study aims to examine the cross-script cognate facilitation effect that cognates have processing advantages over non-cognates and this effect is strong evidence supporting the non-selective access hypothesis for bilinguals. Methodology: By adopting a masked translation priming paradigm, Experiment 1 used 48 Chinese–English cognates (Chinese words) and 48 non-cognates (Chinese words) as primes and their English translation equivalences as targets. Chinese–English bilinguals were instructed to judge whether the target stimuli were real words or not. In Experiment 2, another group of participants took the same lexical decision task as in Experiment 1, except that English–Chinese cognates and non-cognates (English words) served as primes and their Chinese translation equivalences were targets. Data and analysis: Response latency and accuracy data were submitted to a repeated-measures analysis of variance. Findings/conclusions: Experiment 1 showed that Chinese–English cognates (Chinese words) and non-cognates (Chinese words) produced similar priming effect, while Experiment 2 revealed that English–Chinese cognates (English words) generated a significant priming effect, whereas non-cognates (English words) failed to induce any priming effect. Overall, Chinese words did not show cognate advantage, while English words produced a significant cognate facilitation effect. These results might be attributed to different mappings from orthography to phonology in English and Chinese. Opaque mapping from orthography to phonology in Chinese hindered phonological activation and reduced Chinese–English cognate phonological priming effect. However, English–Chinese cognates benefited from transparent mapping from sound to print and thus generated a significant phonological priming effect. Implications of the current findings for bilingual word recognition models were discussed. Originality: The present study is the first to investigate the cross-script cognate facilitation effect by ensuring both the heterogeneity of primes and targets (English and Chinese) and the homogeneity of primes (Chinese or English). The results indicated that the writing systems of the primes constrained the cross-script cognate priming effect.

Script differences and masked translation priming: Evidence from Hindi-English bilinguals.

This study reports on two experiments investigating the effects of script differences on masked translation priming in highly proficient early Hindi-English bilinguals. In Experiment 1 (the cross-script experiment), L1 Hindi was presented in the standard Devanagari script, while L2 English was presented in the Roman alphabet. In Experiment 2 (the same-script experiment), both L1 Hindi and L2 English were presented in the Roman alphabet. Both experiments revealed translation priming in the L1-L2 direction. However, L2-L1 priming was obtained in the same-script experiment, but not in the cross-script experiment. These findings are discussed in relation to the orthographic cue hypothesis as well as hypotheses that hold that script differences influence the distance between the L1 and L2 in lexical space and/or cross-language lateral inhibition. We also provide alternative accounts for these results in terms of how orthographic cues provided by L1 targets might lead to the discontinuation or disruption of processing for L2 primes.

Target accessibility contributes to asymmetric priming in translation and cross-language semantic priming in unbalanced bilinguals

The current study examined within- and cross-language connectivity in four priming conditions: repetition, translation, within-language semantic and cross-language semantic priming. Unbalanced Hebrew–English bilinguals (N = 89) completed a lexical decision task in one of the four conditions in both languages. Priming effects were significantly larger from L1 to L2 for translation priming and marginally so for cross-language semantic priming. Priming effects were comparable for L1 and L2 in repetition and within-language semantic priming. These results support the notion that L1 words are more effective primes but also that L2 targets benefit more from priming. This pattern of results suggests that the lower frequency of use of L2 lexical items in unbalanced bilinguals contributes to asymmetrical cross-language priming via lower resting-level activation of targets and not only via less efficient lexical activation of primes, as highlighted by the BIA+ model.

Language-minority children’s sensitivity to the semantic relations between words

The purpose of this study was to examine automatic language processing among Spanish-speaking language-minority children. A sample of 73 children (mean age = 90.4 months) completed two measures of semantic priming: an auditory lexical decision task and a looking-while-listening task. It was hypothesized that within- and cross-language semantic priming effects would occur but that translation priming effects would not occur. Results from vocabulary assessments indicated that language-minority children in this study were more proficient in English than they were in Spanish. Limited evidence for semantic priming effects within English and from English to Spanish emerged. In addition, substantial evidence for translation priming from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish emerged. Given the lack of within-Spanish semantic priming effects and the presence of translation priming effects from Spanish to English, the results of this study indicated that Spanish-speaking language-minority children rely on translation from their less proficient language to their more proficient language to access meaning. There was partial evidence that language-minority children’s two languages are active simultaneously, indicating that early in life children develop semantic knowledge that is associated with words known in both languages.

An examination of L2-L1 noncognate translation priming in the lexical decision task: insights from distributional and frequency-based analyses

The main fact that is currently known about the nature of masked L2-L1 noncognate translation priming effects in the lexical decision task is simply that those effects are significant in some studies but not in others. In an effort to better understand these effects, we examined the data pattern for very proficient Japanese–English bilinguals using RT distributional analyses. We also examined the impacts of prime and target frequency on the priming effect. Significant priming was present even on the fastest trials, becoming larger on slower trials. Nonetheless, priming effects were generally constant across prime and target frequency with the only exception being when very high frequency L2 primes were used. In that situation, priming and target frequency were negatively related, a result that essentially produced the observed pattern of increasing priming on slower trials. Implications of these results and potential reasons for the presence/absence of L2-L1 priming effects are discussed.

Social categories are shared across bilinguals׳ lexicons

Dialects and languages are socially meaningful signals that provide indexical and linguistic information to listeners. Are the indexical categories that are shared across languages used in cross-linguistic processing? To answer this question English (L1)-Māori (L2) bilingual New Zealanders participated in a priming experiment which included English-to-Māori and Māori-to-English translation equivalents, and within-language repetition priming for Māori and English. Half of the English words were produced by standard New Zealand English (Pākehā English) speakers and half by Māori English speakers. We find robust evidence for within-language repetition priming for both Māori-only and English-only trials. Across languages, there is L1–L2 priming: both Pākehā English and Māori English successfully prime Māori. The effect size, however, is larger for Māori English–Māori trials than Pākehā English–Māori trials. In the L2–L1 direction Māori only primes Māori English, not Pākehā English. These results support the hypothesis that indexical categories – e.g., ethnic identity – facilitate word recognition across languages, particularly in the L2–L1 direction, where translation priming has not always been obtained in the literature. Lexical items and pronunciation variants are activated through conceptual links and social links during bilingual speech processing.

Non-cognate translation priming in masked priming lexical decision experiments: A meta-analysis

The masked translation priming paradigm has been widely used in the last 25 years to investigate word processing in bilinguals. Motivated by studies reporting mixed findings, in particular for second language (L2) to first language (L1) translation priming, we conducted, for the first time in the literature, a meta-analysis of 64 masked priming lexical decision experiments across 24 studies to assess the effect sizes of L1–L2 and L2–L1 non-cognate translation priming effects in bilinguals. Our meta-analysis also investigated the influence of potential moderators of translation priming effects. The results provided clear evidence of significant translation priming effects for both directions, with L1–L2 translation priming significantly larger than L2–L1 translation priming (i.e., effect size of 0.86 vs. 0.31). The analyses also revealed that L1–L2 translation effect sizes were moderated by the interval between prime and target (ISI), whereas L2–L1 translation effect sizes were modulated by the number of items per cell. Theoretical and methodological implications of this meta-analysis are discussed and recommendations for future studies are provided.

L2 primes L1 – translation priming in LDT and semantic categorisation with unbalanced bilinguals

ABSTRACTThe aim of the study was to test whether proficient L2 users living in an L1-dominant environment would exhibit significant L2–L1 translation priming in a lexical decision task (LDT) and in a sematic categorisation task (SCT). Only a few previous studies have found significant L2–L1 priming in LDT whereas significant results have often been recorded in SCT but only for exemplars. In the present study, significant L2–L1 priming has been found in both tasks. Furthermore, in SCT L2–L1 priming was significant not only for exemplars but also for non-exemplars. However, the effect was stronger for exemplars than for non-exemplars. Such a pattern of results is discussed with respect to current models of lexical representation and language processing in bilinguals.

The effects of language immersion on the bilingual lexicon

Abstract Previous studies have consistently found an asymmetry where priming in the L1-L2 direction is stronger than that in the L2-L1 direction. However, some studies showed that an L2 immersion environment could attenuate bilingual speakers’ access to the L1 and result in a ‘bilingual disadvantage’. This study investigated how language immersion modulates the priming effects of late adult bilingual speakers. We compared late Chinese-English bilingual speakers with high L2 (English) proficiency in an L1 environment and those in an L2 immersion environment. Both semantic and translation priming in same-language and cross-language conditions were investigated. The results showed no ‘bilingual disadvantage’ of the immersed participants. The priming asymmetry was weakened for the immersed participants who were more comparable in their reaction time to different language conditions. Both semantic and translation priming were found in L1-L2 and L2-L1 directions, suggesting that both types of priming are similar in nature in the bilingual lexicon.

Masked translation priming with cognates and noncognates: Is there an effect of words’ concreteness?

In the domain of bilingualism, a main issue of interest has been to determine whether the two languages are shared at a conceptual level and which variables modulate the access to the conceptual system. In this study, we focused on the effects of two variables related to word-type. We tested proficient unbalanced Spanish–English bilinguals in a masked translation priming paradigm conducted in the two translation directions (L1 to L2, and L2 to L1), by orthogonally manipulating for the first time concreteness and cognate status. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was also manipulated (50 ms vs 100 ms). Results revealed modulations in masked priming effects as a function of cognate status and translation direction. However, the effect of concreteness was only observed at the long SOA. The findings are discussed in light of the most relevant models of bilingual memory, mainly the Distributed Feature Model (de Groot, 1992a).

Lexical organization of language-ambiguous and language-specific words in bilinguals.

Previous research has shown the importance of sublexical orthographic cues in determining the language of a given word when the two languages of a bilingual reader share the same script. In this study, we explored the extent to which cross-language sublexical characteristics of words-measured in terms of bigram frequencies-constrain selective language activation during reading. In Experiment 1, we investigated the impact of language-nonspecific and language-specific orthography in letter detection using the Reicher-Wheeler paradigm in a seemingly monolingual experimental context. In Experiment 2, we used the masked translation priming paradigm in order to better characterize the role of sublexical language cues during lexical access in bilinguals. Results show that bilinguals are highly sensitive to statistical orthographic regularities of their languages and that the absence of such cues promotes language-nonspecific lexical access, whereas their presence partially reduces parallel language activation. We conclude that language coactivation in bilinguals is highly modulated by sublexical processing and that orthographic regularities of the two languages of a bilingual are a determining factor in lexical access.

Masked Translation Priming Effects in Visual Word Recognition by Trilinguals.

The present study aims to investigate how trilinguals process their two non-dominant languages and how those languages influence one another, as well as the relative importance of the dominant language on their processing. With this in mind, 24 French (L1)- English (L2)- and Spanish (L3)-unbalanced trilinguals, deemed equivalent in their L2 and L3 were recruited. They were asked to perform two series of lexical decisions in the two non-native languages (L2 and L3), with a masked translation priming paradigm. Target words in both languages were primed by either the same word (repetition), a translation (in one of the other languages) or an unrelated word (in L1, L2 or L3). The results highlighted a strong link between prime and target, with an effect of repetition for both target languages. Moreover, a translation priming effect was demonstrated, only when the primes belongs to the dominant L1, i.e. L2 and L3 target words were identified faster when they were primed by the L1 translation. No translation priming effects were found for L2 and L3 primes. These results are in line with a multilingual lexicon organized by the L1, with a lack of cross-language interactions between the two non-dominant languages.

Cross-script L2-L1 noncognate translation priming in lexical decision depends on L2 proficiency: Evidence from Japanese–English bilinguals

Previous research with unbalanced, different-script bilinguals has typically produced null L2-L1 noncognate masked translation priming effects in lexical decision tasks (LDT). Two novel models of the bilingual mental lexicon have emerged to account for these null results: the episodic L2 hypothesis and the Sense model. In contrast, the BIA+ model predicts significant priming whenever bilinguals are sufficiently proficient in L2. Using Japanese–English bilinguals, the role of L2 proficiency in L2-L1 noncognate translation priming in an LDT was examined. In Experiments 1 and 2, significant priming effects were observed for highly proficient bilinguals. In contrast, in Experiment 3, less-proficient bilinguals produced a null priming effect. This pattern demonstrates that L2-L1 priming effects do arise in an LDT and those effects are modulated by L2 proficiency, consistent with the BIA+ model's expectations. The pattern can be also explained by the episodic L2 hypothesis, provided that certain modifications are made to its assumptions.