The repetition and the predictability of a word in a conversation are two factors that are believed to affect whether it is emphasized: Predictable, repeated words are less acoustically prominent than unpredictable, new words. However, because predictability and repetition are correlated, it is unclear whether speakers lengthen unpredictable words to facilitate comprehension or whether this lengthening is the result of difficulties in accessing a new (nonrepeated) lexical item. In this study, we investigated the relationship between acoustic prominence, repetition, and predictability in a description task. In Experiment 1, we found that repeated referents are produced with reduced prominence, even when these referents are unexpected. In Experiment 2, we found that predictability and repetition both have independent effects on duration and intensity. However, word duration was primarily determined by repetition, and intensity was primarily determined by predictability. The results are most consistent with an account in which multiple cognitive factors influence the acoustic prominence of a word.

Repeated words are produced with reduced acoustic prominence compared to words that are new to a discourse. Although these effects are often attributed to priming in the production system, the locus of the effect within the production system remains unresolved because in natural speech, repetition often involves repetition of referents and lexical items simultaneously. Therefore, repetition reduction could be due to repeated mention of a referent, or repetition of a word or referring expression. In our study, we test whether repetition reduction is due to repetition of lexical items or repeated mention of referents using an event description task. The results show that repeated lexical items lead to reduced duration and intensity even in the absence of referent repetition whereas repeated referents lead to reduced intensity alone. The general pattern suggests that repetition reduction is due most strongly to repetition of the lexical item, rather than repeated mention of the referent.

In natural conversation, speakers often mention the same referents multiple times. While referents that have been previously mentioned are produced with less prominence than those that have not been mentioned, it is unclear whether prominence reduction is due to repetition of concepts, words, or a combination of the two. In the current study, we dissociate these sources of repetition by examining bilingual speakers, who have more than one word for the same concept across their two languages. Three groups of Korean-English bilinguals (balanced, English-dominant, and Korean-dominant) performed an event description task involving repetition of referents within a single language (i.e., repetition of word and concept) or across languages (i.e., repetition of concept only). While balanced bilinguals reduced prominence both within and across languages, unbalanced bilinguals only reduced prominence when repetition occurred within a language. These patterns suggest that the degree to which words and concepts are linked within a speaker’s language system determines the source of repetition reduction.

Can experience change perception? Here, we examine whether language experience shapes the way individuals process auditory and visual information. We used the McGurk effect—the discovery that when people hear a speech sound (e.g., “ba”) and see a conflicting lip movement (e.g., “ga”), they recognize it as a completely new sound (e.g., “da”). This finding that the brain fuses input across auditory and visual modalities demonstrates that what we hear is profoundly influenced by what we see. We find that cross-modal integration is affected by language background, with bilinguals experiencing the McGurk effect more than monolinguals. This increased reliance on the visual channel is not due to decreased language proficiency, as the effect was observed even among highly proficient bilinguals. Instead, we propose that the challenges of learning and monitoring multiple languages have lasting consequences for how individuals process auditory and visual information.

Most of the world's population has knowledge of at least two languages. Many of these bilinguals are also exposed to and identify with at least two cultures. Because language knowledge enables participation in cultural practices and expression of cultural beliefs, bilingual experience and cultural identity are interconnected. However, the specific links between bilingualism and cultural identity remain largely unidentified. The current study examined which aspects of bilingualism relate to identification with first- and second-language cultures. Two-hundred-and-nine bilinguals completed a questionnaire probing linguistic background and cultural affiliations. Regression analyses indicated that cultural identification was predicted by age of language acquisition, language proficiency, foreign-accentedness, and contexts of long-term language immersion and current language exposure. Follow-up analyses revealed that the language-culture relations were mediated by the age and manner in which the second language was acquired. These findings are situated within a proposed framework of bilingual cultural identity. By identifying features of bilingualism that are relevant for cultural identity, the current research increases our understanding of the relationship between language and culture.