Translation equivalents facilitate lexical access in very young bilinguals

Poulin‐Dubois, Diane; Kuzyk, Olivia; Legacy, Jacqueline; Zesiger, Pascal; Friend, Margaret

doi:10.1017/s1366728917000657

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…The frequency with which a word is encountered or used influences the resting level of activation in a cumulative way. If the labels for a given concept are activated in parallel in both languages whenever one of them is used, both labels should experience the “frequency boost” associated with language use, which should increase the word's resting activation level in each language, as suggested by Poulin-Dubois, Kuzyk, Legacy, Zesiger and Friend (2018). We propose calling the frequency boost associated with target word retrieval a direct frequency effect and the frequency boost associated with the target's translation equivalent an indirect frequency effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of second-language vocabulary on word retrieval in the native language

et al. 2019

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When bilinguals produce words in one language, their translation equivalents in the other language are thought to be activated as well. A common assumption is that this parallel co-activation produces interference, which slows down word retrieval. The current study aimed to evaluate the assumption of lexical interference during word retrieval by testing whether late Portuguese–English bilinguals were slower to name pictures in their native language when they knew the word in their second language compared to when they only knew the native language label. Instead of interfering with production, knowing the second-language label facilitated speed of word retrieval in the native language for both cognate and non-cognate translation-equivalent pairs. We suggest that using the second language may provide an indirect frequency boost for translation-equivalent words in the native language. This frequency boost has both long-term and short-term effects, strengthening connections to native-language labels when the translation equivalent is retrieved.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of second-language vocabulary on word retrieval in the native language

et al. 2019

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“…Second, whereas several studies have examined the effects of bilingualism on performance on memory generalization imitation paradigms in this age range (Brito & Barr, 2012; Brito & Barr, 2014; Brito, Grenell & Barr, 2014), to our knowledge, infants of this age have never been directly compared on a battery of executive function tasks. This group is of notable interest because it delimits a developmental period during which children are progressing from receptive to productive language and rapidly acquire translation equivalents in their vocabulary (Bosch & Ramon-Casas, 2014; David & Wei, 2008; Legacy, Reider, Crivello, Kuzyk, Friend, Zesiger & Poulin-Dubois, 2017; Poulin-Dubois, Kuzyk, Legacy, Zesiger & Friend, 2017). It is also a key developmental period for executive functions, which can be measured with traditional executive function tasks that require minimal social, motor, and language skills (Hendry et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of bilingualism on infants’ cognitive flexibility

et al. 2021

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Research suggests that bilinguals often outperform monolinguals on tasks that tap into executive functions, such as those requiring conflict resolution and cognitive flexibility. Recently, better attentional control has been detected in infants as young as 6 months, thereby providing a possible basis for a cognitive benefit before language production. The goal of the present study was to examine if cognitive flexibility is more advanced in bilingual infants. A detour reaching task assessing conflict resolution, a delayed response task assessing shifting, and a multiple location task assessing maintaining, were administered to 17-month-old infants. The main findings revealed that being bilingual did not improve performance on any of the executive function tasks. Furthermore, current exposure to a second language or language proficiency did not impact executive functioning. We conclude that a bilingual advantage in cognitive flexibility may not be present before children have enough experience in code switching.

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“…For example, in one study, parent report data indicated that 16-month-old French-English bilingual children understood more words in their most-heard language (i.e., dominant language), even though they showed equal performance in both languages in a lab-based vocabulary measure (Legacy, et al, 2018). When this was assessed in 22-month-old bilinguals learning French or English and an additional language, similar results were found, with bilinguals producing and comprehending more words in their dominant than nondominant language when assessed via CDI (Poulin-Dubois et al, 2018). Moreover, studies examining other language pairs have also found variability in bilinguals' language experience.…”

Section: Early Lexical Development In Bilingual Contextsmentioning

confidence: 59%