Search

In this behavioral and electrophysiological study, we compare novel word learning, particularly lexical form acquisition, in an immersive virtual reality (VR) context with a picture-word (PW) association context. We also test whether inhibitory control and age of second language acquisition (L2 AoA) have modulating effects. Chinese speakers of L2 English learned two sets of German words, one set in each of the contexts. Behavioral performance from a subsequent recognition task indicated that responses to VR-learned words were faster than PW-leaned words. ERPs revealed that VR-learned words elicited more negative N100 and N200 waveforms than PW-learned words. Moreover, a significant relationship between L2 AoA and N200 amplitude was observed for VR-learned words. Taken together, the results suggest that the multi-sensory, interactive experience simulated by an immersive VR context has a positive effect on early lexical form acquisition of novel words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When bilinguals switch between their two languages, they often alternate between words whose formation rules in one language are different from the other (e.g., a noun-verb compound in one language may be a verb-noun compound in another language). In this study, we analyze behavioral performance and electrophysiological activity to examine the effects of morphological configuration on language control during production and comprehension. Chinese–English bilinguals completed a joint naming-listening task involving cued language switching. The findings showed differential effects of morphological configuration on language production and comprehension. In production, morphological configuration was processed sequentially, suggesting that bilingual production may be a combination of sequential processing and inhibition of morphological levels and language interference. In comprehension, however, bottom-up control processes appear to mask the influence of sequential processing on language switching. Together, these findings underscore differential functionalities of language control in speaking and listening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of domain-general inhibitory control in trilingual speech production. Taking an individual differences approach, we examined the relationship between performance on a non-linguistic measure of inhibitory control (the Simon task) and a multilingual language switching task for a group of fifty-six native English (L1) speakers learning French (L2) and Spanish (L3). Better inhibitory control was related to reduced switch costs, but only when switching into or out of the more dominant L1, where inhibitory control has been theorized to be most important (Green, 1998). The results provide evidence of a direct link between inhibitory control abilities and language switching capabilities, and suggest constraints on the conditions under which a domain-general inhibitory control mechanism supports language switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]