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Related Experiment Videos

Who's in control? Proficiency and L1 influence on L2 processing.

Kerrie E Elston-Güttler1, Silke Paulmann, Sonja A Kotz

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Germany. guettler@cbs.mpg.de

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|November 5, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Second language learners

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Area of Science:

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Second Language Acquisition

Background:

  • Investigating first language (L1) activation during second language (L2) processing is crucial for understanding bilingualism.
  • Lexical decision tasks with reaction times (RTs) and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) are standard methods for studying word recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine how L2 proficiency, sentence context, and the locus of L1 activation (orthographic vs. semantic) influence L1 interference during L2 processing.
  • To explore the role of cognitive control in managing L1 activation in L2 learners.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments using German (L1) homonyms translated into English (L2) as prime-target pairs.
  • Measured reaction times (RTs) and event-related brain potentials (ERPs), specifically the N200 and N400 components.
  • Manipulated L2 proficiency and sentence context to observe their effects on L1 activation.

Main Results:

  • Low-proficiency learners showed reversed N200 and RT priming, indicating L1 interference, regardless of sentence context.
  • High-proficiency learners exhibited RT interference without sentence context, but no effects when words were in context.
  • Native speakers showed null results in sentence context, similar to high-proficiency L2 learners.

Conclusions:

  • Cognitive control modulates L1 activation in L2 processing, influenced by L2 proficiency and sentence context.
  • Early L1 activation, reflected in the N200 component, appears to be primarily orthographic rather than semantic.
  • Findings contribute to understanding bilingual word recognition and the function of the N200 ERP component.

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