DIALANG: A Diagnostic Language Assessment System (review)

Zhang, Su; Thompson, Nancy S.

doi:10.1353/cml.2005.0011

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…The vocabulary subtest was taken from the computer-based DIALANG language diagnosis system and administered to evaluate vocabulary knowledge in English ( Zhang and Thompson, 2004 ). In this test, participants indicate for each of 75 stimuli whether it is a correct word in English or a highly word-like pseudo-word.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Language Processing but Does Not Facilitate Overt Second Language Word Production

et al. 2018

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Word retrieval in bilingual speakers partly depends on executive control systems in the left prefrontal cortex – including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We tested the hypothesis that DLPFC modulates word production of words specifically in a second language (L2) by measuring the effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (anodal-tDCS) over the DLPFC on picture naming and word translation and on event-related potentials (ERPs) and their sources. Twenty-six bilingual participants with “unbalanced” proficiency in two languages were given 20 min of 1.5 mA anodal or sham tDCS (double-blind stimulation design, counterbalanced stimulation order, 1-week intersession delay). The participants then performed the following tasks: verbal and non-verbal fluency during anodal-tDCS stimulation and first and second language (L1 and L2) picture naming and translation [forward (L1 → L2) and backward (L2 → L1)] immediately after stimulation. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during picture naming and translation. On the behavioral level, anodal-tDCS had an influence on non-verbal fluency but neither on verbal fluency, nor on picture naming and translation. EEG measures revealed significant interactions between Language and Stimulation on picture naming around 380 ms post-stimulus onset and Translation direction and Stimulation on translation around 530 ms post-stimulus onset. These effects suggest that L2 phonological retrieval and phoneme encoding are spatially and temporally segregated in the brain. We conclude that anodal-tDCS stimulation has an effect at a neural level on phonological processes and, critically, that DLPFC-mediated activation is a constraint on language production specifically in L2.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Language Processing but Does Not Facilitate Overt Second Language Word Production

et al. 2018

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“…The level of proficiency in both languages was evaluated using a lexical decision task from the DIALANG ( Zhang and Thompson, 2004 ). Participants’ history of bilingualism as well as their current percentages of L1 and L2 exposure were measured by means of the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q, Marian et al, 2007 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Language Opacity and Proficiency on Reading Strategies in Bilinguals: An Eye Movement Study

et al. 2016

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Reading strategies vary across languages according to orthographic depth – the complexity of the grapheme in relation to phoneme conversion rules – notably at the level of eye movement patterns. We recently demonstrated that a group of early bilinguals, who learned both languages equally under the age of seven, presented a first fixation location (FFL) closer to the beginning of words when reading in German as compared with French. Since German is known to be orthographically more transparent than French, this suggested that different strategies were being engaged depending on the orthographic depth of the used language. Opaque languages induce a global reading strategy, and transparent languages force a local/serial strategy. Thus, pseudo-words were processed using a local strategy in both languages, suggesting that the link between word forms and their lexical representation may also play a role in selecting a specific strategy. In order to test whether corresponding effects appear in late bilinguals with low proficiency in their second language (L2), we present a new study in which we recorded eye movements while two groups of late German–French and French–German bilinguals read aloud isolated French and German words and pseudo-words. Since, a transparent reading strategy is local and serial, with a high number of fixations per stimuli, and the level of the bilingual participants’ L2 is low, the impact of language opacity should be observed in L1. We therefore predicted a global reading strategy if the bilinguals’ L1 was French (FFL close to the middle of the stimuli with fewer fixations per stimuli) and a local and serial reading strategy if it was German. Thus, the L2 of each group, as well as pseudo-words, should also require a local and serial reading strategy. Our results confirmed these hypotheses, suggesting that global word processing is only achieved by bilinguals with an opaque L1 when reading in an opaque language; the low level in the L2 gives way to a local and serial reading strategy. These findings stress the fact that reading behavior is influenced not only by the linguistic mode but also by top–down factors, such as readers’ proficiency.

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“…In the self-evaluation section, participants had to indicate on a 10 cm scale how good would they estimate their L2 reading, speaking and comprehension skills. Moreover, two tasks were performed to evaluate L2-language proficiency: a sub-test from the computer-based DIALANG language diagnosis system (Zhang and Thompson, 2004) to estimate L2 receptive vocabulary and the PVLT (Productive Vocabulary Levels Test, Laufer and Nation, 1999) to evaluate L2 productive vocabulary. For the DIA-LANG, the score ranged between 506 and 1000, with a score > 900 indicating native or near-native proficiency and a score between 600 and 900 indicating advanced proficiency with a very substantial vocabulary.…”

Section: Language Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral and electrophysiological signatures of word translation processes

et al. 2018

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Translation is a demanding process during which a message is analyzed, translated and communicated from one language to another. Despite numerous studies on translation mechanisms, the electrophysiological processes underlying translation with overt production remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigated how behavioral response patterns and spatial-temporal brain dynamics differ in a translation compared to a control within-language word-generation task. We also investigated how forward and backward translation differs on the behavioral and electrophysiological level. To address these questions, healthy late bilingual subjects performed a translation and a within-language control task while a 128-channel EEG was recorded. Behavioral data showed faster responses for translation compared to within-language word generation and faster responses for backward than forward translation. The ERP-analysis revealed stronger early ( < 200ms) preparatory and attentional processes for between than within word generation. Later (424-630ms) differences were characterized by distinct engagement of domain-general control networks, namely self-monitoring and lexical access interference. Language asymmetry effects occurred at a later stage (600ms), reflecting differences in conceptual processing characterized by a larger involvement of areas implicated in attention, arousal and awareness for forward versus backward translation.

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DIALANG: A Diagnostic Language Assessment System (review)

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Language Processing but Does Not Facilitate Overt Second Language Word Production

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Language Processing but Does Not Facilitate Overt Second Language Word Production

The Impact of Language Opacity and Proficiency on Reading Strategies in Bilinguals: An Eye Movement Study

Behavioral and electrophysiological signatures of word translation processes

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