Foreign language comprehension achievement: insights from the cognate facilitation effect

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Second Language Acquisition
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Native language influences foreign word recognition, modulated by non-native language proficiency.
• Cross-language similarity, particularly the cognate facilitation effect, plays a role in second language learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how reliance on cross-language similarity and domain-general cognitive factors impact reading comprehension in a non-native language.
• To examine these influences across different stages of second language learning.

Main Methods:

• Tested native Spanish speakers learning English at elementary and intermediate levels.
• Employed a regression model approach to analyze the relationship between cognitive skills, cognate facilitation, and reading achievement.

Main Results:

• Domain-general cognitive skills predicted second language reading achievement irrespective of proficiency level.
• Reliance on native language (cognate facilitation) positively predicted reading achievement at elementary levels but negatively at intermediate levels.

Conclusions:

• The link between native and foreign language lexical representations benefits early learners.
• Intermediate learners benefit more from direct non-native lexical-semantic mappings, with reliance on cross-language similarity becoming detrimental.