Processing effects of L1/L2 from L3 in translation recognition paradigm: an exploratory ERP study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Multilingual word recognition is complex.
• Language distance influences learning sequences.
• Understanding multilingual processing requires examining brain activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate brain activation in trilinguals during a translation recognition task.
• Examine how English (L3) activates translation equivalents in native (L1) and second (L2) languages.
• Explore differences between Kazakh-Russian-English and Russian-Kazakh-English trilinguals.

Main Methods:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) recording during a translation recognition task.
• Participants: Kazakh (L1)-Russian (L2)-English (L3) speakers and Russian (L1)-Kazakh (L2)-English (L3) speakers.
• Analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically the N400 component.

Main Results:

• Behavioral data showed accuracy differences.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed participants distinguished congruent from incongruent words.
• The N400 amplitude effect was significant for incongruent L1 and L2 words in both groups.

Conclusions:

• Trilinguals access existing linguistic knowledge when processing a third language (L3).
• The level of interactivity within the multilingual language system varies.
• This study provides initial electroencephalography (EEG) evidence from Kazakh-Russian-English trilinguals.