A Cross-linguistic Form and Meaning Priming Study on Mandarin Chinese Multilingual Speakers

Linguistics - Master's ThesisMAHF-LINGLING35

The role of phonology in visual word recognition: evidence from Chinese

Posters - Letter/Word Processing V: abstract no. 5024The hypothesis of bidirectional coupling of orthography and phonology predicts that phonology plays a role in visual word recognition, as observed in the effects of feedforward and feedback spelling to sound consistency on lexical decision. However, because orthography and phonology are closely related in alphabetic languages (homophones in alphabetic languages are usually orthographically similar), it is difficult to exclude an influence of orthography on phonological effects in visual word recognition. Chinese languages contain many written homophones that are orthographically dissimilar, allowing a test of the claim that phonological effects can be independent of orthographic similarity. We report a study of visual word recognition in Chinese based on a mega-analysis of lexical decision performance with 500 characters. The results from multiple regression analyses, after controlling for orthographic frequency, stroke number, and radical frequency, showed main effects of feedforward and feedback consistency, as well as interactions between these variables and phonological frequency and number of homophones. Implications of these results for resonance models of visual word recognition are discussed.postprin

Interactive effects of orthography and semantics in Chinese picture naming

Posters - Language Production/Writing: abstract no. 4035Picture-naming performance in English and Dutch is enhanced by presentation of a word that is similar in form to the picture name. However, it is unclear whether facilitation has an orthographic or a phonological locus. We investigated the loci of the facilitation effect in Cantonese Chinese speakers by manipulating—at three SOAs (2100, 0, and 1100 msec)—semantic, orthographic, and phonological similarity. We identified an effect of orthographic facilitation that was independent of and larger than phonological facilitation across all SOAs. Semantic interference was also found at SOAs of 2100 and 0 msec. Critically, an interaction of semantics and orthography was observed at an SOA of 1100 msec. This interaction suggests that independent effects of orthographic facilitation on picture naming are located either at the level of semantic processing or at the lemma level and are not due to the activation of picture name segments at the level of phonological retrieval.postprin

Lexico-semantic processing in adult monolingual Russian and bilingual Russian (L1) - English (L2) Speakers

The aim of the research was to examine lexico-semantic processes in monolingual Russian and bilingual Russian (L1) – English (L2) speaking adults. This has been achieved via two main approaches: The classic semantic priming paradigm in naming tasks and free recall tasks which take into account the growing body of research on the Age of Acquisition (AoA) effects in semantic processing and organisation. The Russian orthography has a unique writing system which is a combination of Roman and Cyrillic alphabets. Semantic priming was of special interest because it provides an opportunity to manipulate the semantic associations between words and the orthographic characteristics of the Russian orthography in order to address two key questions that dominate bilingual research: i) how the two languages of a bilingual are organised or stored, that is, whether each language is stored in one or more locations in bilingual memory and ii) how the two languages are processed, i.e. what mental capacities are required to process each language. Moreover, a review of the literature showed that little work has been reported in Russian, therefore, there are currently no theoretical frameworks that explain Russian (L1) monolingual or Russian (L1)-English (L2) bilingual storage or processing. The starting point was to establish the presence of semantic priming in Russian monolingual speakers. The findings of a significant priming effect in Experiment 1 were in line with the predictions and add to the large body of literature on priming. Experiments 2 and 3 examined within-language priming (L1-L1 and L2-L2 respectively) in Russian (L1)-English (L2) bilinguals and the results indicated that although the magnitude of the priming effect was similar, the Reaction Times (RTs) were nevertheless significantly faster under the L1-L1 condition. The evidence was taken as an indication that the two languages were activated automatically via semantic activation therefore contributing positively or facilitating the semantic priming effect. Between-language priming was employed in Experiments 4 and 5 which again showed a similar magnitude for priming in L1 to L2 and L2 to L1 with significantly slower RTs in the latter. Exploiting the unique properties of the Russian orthography, Experiments 6-9 manipulated Russian and English orthographies in creating orthographically unfamiliar primes and targets. One question which has preoccupied bilingual research is a) whether and b) the extent to which the interconnections between L1 and L2 are reliant upon the orthographic features of the bilinguals’ orthographies. The main objective is to examine the extent to which between-language interference occurs not just at the semantic but also at the lexical-orthographical level of language processing. The collective results for Experiments 6-9 show a robust priming effect across conditions together with a main effect for target orthography but not for target language. However, the magnitude of semantic priming varied greatly between the experiments. In conclusion, it is suggested that degree of semantic representation between L1 and L2 appears to be dependent on whether words’ orthographic representation was congruent or incongruent (novel) with the language. These findings will be further discussed within the visual word recognition literature. Experiments 10 and 11 were conducted to examine the role of Age of Acquisition (AoA) in monolingual Russian and bilingual Russian (L1)-English (L2) speakers in a free recall task as AoA is assumed to reveal semantic organisation, memory and language processing. As there are no previous reports of AoA effects in Russian, Experiment 10 was undertaken with monolinguals in order to establish the existence of AoA effect in a free recall task of words and pictures. A significant AoA effect confirmed the universal nature of AoA. Bilingual Russian (L1)-English (L2) speakers were employed in Experiment 11 using the same methodology as in Experiment 10, i.e., free recall words or pictures in either L1 or L2. Experiments 10-11 also examined list effects by using pure versus mixed blocks to present stimuli to determine whether participants employ different recall strategies depending whether they see pure or mixed lists. As predicted, the size of the AoA effect was smaller for L2 than L1 as almost all the participants reported learning English at the age of 8-9. For words, the results showed an effect between L1 and L2 with better recall in L1 but not for AoA and a significant interaction between language and AoA. For pictures there was also a main effect for L1/L2 as well as for AoA. One other finding was that type of list did not have an impact on recall. Overall, these findings are in line with the predictions that because L2 words enter into the bilinguals’ lexicon later than L1, one cannot expect the same magnitude of AoA effect under these circumstances. Evidence from picture recall show a robust AoA effect since picture processing is assumed to be language independent. To summarise, the main aim of the research programme was to examine two key issues in related to bilingual language processing and memory, that is, how the two languages of a bilingual is stored and how it is processed. Whilst the overall findings from the semantic priming experiments indicate to a shared conceptual store for L1 and L2, the results from the free recall experiments demonstrate that AoA is fundamental in the organisation of a bilinguals’ memory for pictures and words in both L1 and L2

Attention Restraint, Working Memory Capacity, and Mind Wandering: Do Emotional Valence or Intentionality Matter?

Attention restraint appears to mediate the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and mind wandering (Kane et al., 2016). Prior work has identifed two dimensions of mind wandering—emotional valence and intentionality. However, less is known about how WMC and attention restraint correlate with these dimensions. Te current study examined the relationship between WMC, attention restraint, and mind wandering by emotional valence and intentionality. A confrmatory factor analysis demonstrated that WMC and attention restraint were strongly correlated, but only attention restraint was related to overall mind wandering, consistent with prior fndings. However, when examining the emotional valence of mind wandering, attention restraint and WMC were related to negatively and positively valenced, but not neutral, mind wandering. Attention restraint was also related to intentional but not unintentional mind wandering. Tese results suggest that WMC and attention restraint predict some, but not all, types of mind wandering

The effect of study abroad experience and working memory on Chinese-English consecutive interpreting performance

This thesis investigates how study abroad experience (SAE) and working memory (WM) influence interpreting performance. Using a second language (L2) is cognitively demanding because it involves activation of a new language and the inhibition of the first language (L1). This is a general issue with all bilinguals, who have to suppress or control whichever language is currently not in use. As a special group of bilinguals, interpreters are expected to efficiently switch between the two languages by analysing input sound signals, extracting meaning, transforming, storing and retrieving the message in the input language, and then retrieving the lexicon in the target language that will be appropriate for expressing that message, (re)formulating it and finally conveying it in the target language. Moreover, some or all of these operations take place in parallel, and this multi-tasking heavily taxes interpreters’ WM. The quality of interpreting performance is known to correlate with several variables, such as language proficiency, duration of training, and interpreting experience. One factor that has received little research attention is the effect of overseas experience: Does studying in a target-language environment benefit interpreting performance? Language learners, including interpreting students, are often advised to study abroad, but the benefits of this experience, especially for interpreters, is not well understood. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the present thesis examines the relationship between SAE, WM and interpreting performance. The main research questions examine whether students with SAE outperform those without such an experience in consecutive interpreting (CI), and how WM may be involved. The results show that students with SAE surpassed their non-SAE counterparts in word translation efficiency, L2 fluency and L2 grammatical accuracy. A similar trend was observed in study abroad participants’ overall CI performance from L2 to L1. It is worth noting that the tendency was independent of participants’ WM. Concerning WM, the results indicate that it was strongly correlated with interpreters’ bidirectional CI performance. That is, a larger WM could help achieve a better CI output in both language directions. Taken together, these findings suggest that two factors turn out to significantly influence CI performance, namely, prolonged and effective overseas study, and larger available WM resources. This research illustrates the importance of SAE and WM in interpreting, and sheds light on the relationships between language context, cognitive resources and interpreting performance. A better understanding of these relationships may have implications for future interpreting training and practice