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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

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Do grammatical-gender distinctions learned in the second language influence native-language lexical processing?

Margarita Kaushanskaya¹, Samantha Smith¹

¹University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The International Journal of Bilingualism : Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Linguistic Studies of Language Behavior

|March 16, 2016

Summary

Learning Spanish influences English lexical processing in highly exposed bilinguals. Second language morphosyntax activates during native language use, impacting memory for associated proper names.

Keywords:

L2 acquisition associative learning grammatical gender

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psycholinguistics
Second Language Acquisition

Background:

Native language processing can be influenced by the structure of a second language.
Grammatical gender is a feature present in languages like Spanish but absent in English.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if knowledge of Spanish grammatical gender affects lexical processing in native English speakers.
To determine if second language acquisition impacts native language cognitive processes.

Main Methods:

Tested three groups: English monolinguals, high Spanish exposure bilinguals, and low Spanish exposure bilinguals.
Used an associative learning task in English, linking inanimate objects to proper names.
Manipulated the congruence between the Spanish gender of the object's translation and the proper name's gender.

Main Results:

High-Spanish-exposure bilinguals showed reduced accuracy in recalling proper names for gender-incongruent pairs compared to congruent pairs.
Monolinguals and low-Spanish-exposure bilinguals did not exhibit this effect.
This suggests that Spanish morphosyntactic information is accessed during English processing.

Conclusions:

Second language grammatical gender information can be activated during native language processing.
Late-life second language acquisition can lead to cross-linguistic influence on native language cognition.
Bilingualism, particularly with languages possessing distinct grammatical features, shapes cognitive processes.