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Related Experiment Videos

Foreign language knowledge can influence native language performance in exclusively native contexts.

Janet G Van Hell1, Ton Dijkstra

  • 1Department of Special Education, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. j.vanhell@ped.kun.nl

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|March 5, 2003
PubMed
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Foreign language knowledge influences native language performance, even in a monolingual context. Multilinguals activate other languages when processing their native tongue, especially with higher fluency in those languages.

Area of Science:

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Bilingualism Research

Background:

  • Understanding how multilinguals process language is crucial for cognitive science.
  • Previous research suggests language activation in multilinguals is nonselective.
  • The specific impact of third language (L3) knowledge on native language (L1) processing requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of second (L2) and third (L3) language knowledge on native language (L1) performance.
  • To determine if L2/L3 proficiency levels affect L1 processing.
  • To examine the nonselective nature of language activation in trilinguals.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted with Dutch-English-French trilinguals.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Participants performed word association and lexical decision tasks in their native Dutch (L1).
  • Stimuli included L1 words that were cognates with English (L2) or French (L3), and noncognates.

    • Main Results:

    • Trilinguals with higher English proficiency showed faster responses to English cognates compared to noncognates.
    • Lower French proficiency did not yield significant differences for French cognates.
    • Increased French fluency in Experiment 3 led to faster responses for both English and French cognates.

    Conclusions:

    • Language activation during L1 processing is profoundly nonselective in multilinguals.
    • A minimal level of proficiency in a nontarget language is necessary for its effects to be observed in L1 processing.
    • These findings highlight the interconnectedness of language systems in the brain.