Lexico-syntactic interactions during the processing of temporally ambiguous L2 relative clauses: An eye-tracking study with intermediate and advanced Portuguese-English bilinguals

Abstract

There is extensive evidence showing that bilinguals activate the lexical and the syntactic representations of both languages in a nonselective way. However, the extent to which the lexical and the syntactic levels of representations interact during second language (L2) sentence processing and how those interactions are modulated by L2 proficiency remain unclear. This paper aimed to directly address these issues by using an online technique (eye-tracking) that is highly sensitive to the lexical and syntactic processes involved in sentence reading. To that purpose, native-speakers of European Portuguese (EP) learning English as L2 at intermediate and advanced levels of proficiency were asked to silently read temporally ambiguous L2 relative clause (RC) sentences disambiguated with a High-Attachment (HA) or Low-Attachment (LA) strategy while their eye-movements were monitored. Since EP and English native speakers differ in the way they process and comprehend this syntactic structure (EP: HA, English: LA), HA preferences were used as a marker of L1 RC syntax interference. Additionally, the cognate status of the complex NP that preceded the RC was manipulated to further analyze how the lexical co-activation of both languages would also affect the syntactic representations of the non-target (L1) language. Results showed cognate facilitation in early and late reading time measures regardless of L2 proficiency, and also that the cognate status of the complex NP impacted L2 reading performance, particularly at lower levels of L2 proficiency. These findings provide compelling evidence for a bilingual reading system that seems to be highly dynamic and interactive not only within each level of processing, but, importantly, across levels of representation. They also suggested that, as the level of L2 proficiency increases, L1 RC syntax interference becomes stronger, in a syntactic parser that seems to operate in a more integrated and nonselective way, with both strategies being equally available to guide L2 reading comprehension. Results are discussed attending to the current models of bilingual syntactic processing.

Interactive Alignment and Lexical Triggering of Code-Switching in Bilingual Dialogue

“…Thus, the likelihood that a Dutch-English bilingual produces a code-switched sentence would be higher in “The boy puts the apple in the bag” than in “The boy puts the carrot in the bag,” because “apple” overlaps with its Dutch translation “appel” but “carrot” does not overlap with its Dutch translation “wortel” 2 . This triggering mechanism is in line with the ubiquitous finding that the activation of cognates in language processing leads to a relatively high level of cross-language activation in the bilingual’s mind, thus influencing language processing at both the lexical and sentence level (e.g., Costa et al, 2000 ; Van Hell and Dijkstra, 2002 ; Christoffels et al, 2007 ; Van Hell and De Groot, 2008 ; Van Assche et al, 2009 , 2012 ; Soares et al, 2019 ). This cross-language activation caused by cognates makes both languages highly available for selection and can thus trigger the use of both languages in the same utterance.…”

“…It is not about how characteristics of a word (e.g., accessibility or frequency) influence the likelihood of that specific word to be switched. Such lexical influences on code-switching are typically investigated in This triggering mechanism is in line with the ubiquitous finding that the activation of cognates in language processing leads to a relatively high level of cross-language activation in the bilingual's mind, thus influencing language processing at both the lexical and sentence level (e.g., Costa et al, 2000;Van Hell and Dijkstra, 2002;Christoffels et al, 2007;Van Hell and De Groot, 2008;Van Assche et al, 2009Soares et al, 2019). This cross-language activation caused by cognates makes both languages highly available for selection and can thus trigger the use of both languages in the same utterance.…”

Does Spanish knowledge contribute to accurate English word spelling in adult bilinguals?

“…The cognate facilitation effect has been shown in word production (Colomé & Miozzo, 2010;Costa, Caramazza & Sebastián-Gallés, 2000;Hoshino & Kroll, 2008;Kroll, Dietz & Green, 2000;Sadat, Martin, Magnuson, Alario & Costa, 2016), as well as in visual and auditory word recognition, including lexical decision performance of bilingual adults who have similar first language (L1) and second language (L2) proficiency (Comesaña, Ferré, Romero, Guasch, Soares & García-Chico, 2015) and those with higher L1 proficiency compared to L2 (Dijkstra, Miwa, Brummelhuis, Sappelli & Baayen, 2010;Valente et al, 2018). These results also highlight how person-level factors like L2 proficiency, language dominance, and age of acquisition may moderate the size of observed cognate effects (Comesaña, Bertin, Oliveira, Soares, Hernández & Casalis, 2018;Lijewska, 2020;Soares, Oliveira, Ferreira, Comesaña, Macedo, Ferré & Fraga, 2019). For example, among bilinguals who varied in Welsh and English dominance, Broersma, Carter and Acheson (2016) report both facilitative and inhibitive cognate effects dependent on dominance and task demands.…”

How deep is your emotion? Emojis facial expressions on the emotional processing of text messages

“…Tabela 2), e/ou se eles podem também decorrer do facto de esses emojis apresentarem expressões faciais mais salientes. Deverão continuar-se a explorar estas questões usando desejavelmente medidas mais sensíveis ao curso temporal de processamento, como por exemplo eye-tracking (e.g., [45]) ou potenciais evocados (e.g., [46]), técnicas que poderão oferecer novos insights quer acerca da natureza deste efeito (poderá a lentificação do processamento sugerir maior intensidade emocional?) quer sobre as suas dinâmicas temporais, numa nova e promissora linha de investigação.…”