Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T01:20:06.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sentence context effects in bilingual word recognition: Cognate status, sentence language, and semantic constraint*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2014

TON DIJKSTRA ,
JANET G. VAN HELL  and
PASCAL BRENDERS
TON DIJKSTRA*
Affiliation:
Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands
JANET G. VAN HELL
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University, Department of Psychology, USA & Radboud University Nijmegen, Behavioural Science Institute, The Netherlands
PASCAL BRENDERS
Affiliation:
Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands & VU University Amsterdam, Department of Methods, The Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Ton Dijkstra, Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour – DCC, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In two lexical decision experiments, we investigated how sentence language affects the bilingual's recognition of target words from the same or a different language. Dutch–English bilinguals read Dutch (L1) or English (L2) sentences, presented word by word, followed by English (Experiment 1) or Dutch (Experiment 2) target words. Targets were Dutch–English cognates or non-cognates in isolation or preceded by sentences providing a high or a low semantic constraint. English cognates were facilitated irrespective of whether they were preceded by high or low constraining English sentences (no language switch) or Dutch sentences (switch). For Dutch cognates, inhibition effects arose in low constraining sentences (irrespective of Dutch or English) and in English (switch) sentences (irrespective of semantic constraint). Thus, under mixed language conditions, sentence constraint modulates target word processing but does not always completely eliminate cross-linguistic effects. The results are interpreted in a BIA+ model that extends monolingual views on sentence comprehension.

Keywords

sentence processingsemantic constraintcognatebilingualword recognition
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , October 2015 , pp. 597 - 613
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

We thank Henriette Raudszus for her help in data collection and her significant comments on Experiment 2. We are also grateful to Ana Schwartz, Wouter Duyck, and an anonymous reviewer for their informative feedback on an earlier version of the text.

References

Altarriba, J., Kroll, J. F., Sholl, A., & Rayner, K. (1996). The influence of lexical and conceptual constraints on reading mixed-language sentences: Evidence from eye fixations and naming times. Memory and Cognition, 24, 477–492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baayen, R. H., Piepenbrock, R., & Van Rijn, H. (1993). The CELEX lexical database (CD-ROM). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, Linguistic Data Consortium.Google Scholar
Brenders, P., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). An EEG study on sentence context effects in bilingual word recognition: Cognate status, sentence language, and semantic constraint. Ms., Radboud University Nijmegen.Google Scholar
Brenders, P., Van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2011). Word recognition in child second language learners: Evidence from cognates and false friends. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 109, 383–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bultena, S., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Cognate effects in sentence context depend on word class, L2 proficiency, and task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67, 1214–1241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Groot, A. M. B., Dannenburg, L., & Van Hell, J. G. (1994). Forward and backward word translation by bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 600–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T., Miwa, K., Brummelhuis, B., Sappelli, M., & Baayen, R. H. (2010). How cross-language similarity and task demands affect cognate recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 62, 284–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T., & Van Heuven, W. J. B. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5, 175–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duyck, W., Van Assche, E., Drieghe, D., & Hartsuiker, R. (2007). Visual word recognition by bilinguals in a sentence context: Evidence for non-selective lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 663–679.Google Scholar
Elston-Güttler, K. E., Gunter, T. C., & Kotz, S. A. (2005). Zooming into L2: Global language context and adjustment affect processing of interlingual homographs in sentences. Cognitive Brain Research, 25, 57–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerard, L. D., & Scarborough, D. L. (1989). Language-specific access of homographs by bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 305–315.Google Scholar
Grosjean, F. (2001). The bilingual's language modes. In Nicol, J. L. (ed.). One mind, two languages: Bilingual language processing, pp. 1–22. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kellas, G., Paul, S. T., Martin, M., & Simpson, G. B. (1991). Contextual feature activation and meaning access. In Simpson, G. B. (ed.), Understanding word and sentence, pp. 47–71. Amsterdam: North Holland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Libben, M., & Titone, D. A. (2009). Bilingual lexical access in context: Evidence from eye movements during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 381–390.Google Scholar
Meuter, R. F. I., & Allport, A. (1999). Bilingual language switching in naming: Asymmetrical costs of language selection. Journal of Memory and Language, 40, 25–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreno, E. M., Federmeier, K. D., & Kutas, M. (2002). Switching languages, switching palabras: An electrophysiological study of code switching. Brain and Language, 80, 188–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulmann, S., Elston-Güttler, K. E., Gunter, T. C., & Kotz, S. (2006). Is bilingual lexical access influenced by language context? NeuroReport, 17, 727–731.Google Scholar
Peeters, D., Dijkstra, T., & Grainger, J. (2013). The representation and processing of identical cognates by late bilinguals: RT and ERP effects. Journal of Memory and Language, 68, 315–332.Google Scholar
Perfetti, Ch. A., & Hart, L. (2002). The lexical quality hypothesis. In Verhoeven, L., Elbro, C. & Reitsma, P. (eds.), Precursors of functional literacy, pp. 189–213. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Proverbio, A. M., Leoni, G., & Zani, A. (2004). Language switching mechanisms in simultaneous interpreters: An ERP study. Neuropsychologia, 42, 1636–1656.Google Scholar
Schwanenflugel, P. J. (1991). Why are abstract concepts hard to understand? In Schwanenflugel, P. J. (ed.), The psychology of word meanings, pp. 223–250. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Schwanenflugel, P. J., & LaCount, K. L. (1988). Semantic relatedness and the scope of facilitation for upcoming words in sentences. Journal of Experimental Research: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 14, 344–354.Google Scholar
Schwanenflugel, P. J., & Shoben, E. J. (1985). The influence of sentence constraint on the scope of facilitation for upcoming words. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 232–252.Google Scholar
Schwartz, A. I., & Kroll, J. F. (2006). Bilingual lexical activation in sentence context. Journal of Memory and Language, 55, 197–212.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. B., & Krueger, M. A. (1991). Selective access of homograph meanings in sentence contexts. Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 627–643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, G. B., Peterson, R. R., Casteel, M. A., & Burgess, C. (1989). Lexical and sentence context effects in word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 88–97.Google Scholar
Starreveld, P. A., De Groot, A. M. B., Rossmark, B. M. M., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Parallel language activation during word processing in bilinguals: Evidence from word production in sentence context. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17, 258–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinney, D. A. (1979). Lexical access during sentence comprehension: Reconsiderations of context effects. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 18, 645–659.Google Scholar
Titone, D., Libben, M., Mercier, J., Whitford, V., & Pivneva, I. (2011). Bilingual lexical access during L1 sentence reading: The effects of L2 knowledge, semantic constraint, and L1–L2 intermixing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 1412–1431.Google Scholar
Van Assche, E., Drieghe, D., Duyck, W., Welvaert, M., & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2011). The influence of semantic constraints on bilingual word recognition during sentence reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 64, 88–107.Google Scholar
Van Assche, E., Duyck, W., & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2012). Bilingual word recognition in a sentence context. Frontiers in Psychology, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00174.Google Scholar
Van Assche, E., Duyck, W., Hartsuiker, R. J., & Diependaele, K. (2009). Does bilingualism change native-language reading? Cognate effects in sentence context. Psychological Science, 20, 923–927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Hell, J. G., & De Groot, A. M. B. (1998a). Conceptual representation in bilingual memory: Effects of concreteness and cognate status in word association. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 193–211.Google Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & De Groot, A. M. B. (1998b). Disentangling context availability and concreteness in lexical decision and word translation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51A, 41–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & De Groot, A. M. B. (2008). Sentence context modulates visual word recognition and translation in bilinguals. Acta Psychologica, 128, 431–451.Google Scholar
Van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2002). Foreign language knowledge can influence native language performance in exclusively native contexts. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 9, 780–789.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Voga, M., & Grainger, J. (2007). Cognate status and cross-script translation priming. Memory and Cognition, 35, 938–952.Google Scholar
Zwitserlood, P. (1989). The locus of the effects of sentential-semantic context in spoken-word processing. Cognition, 32, 25–64.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Dijkstra Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Dijkstra Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 256.5 KB