Oral Presentations
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Danielle Fahey
Faculty Mentor’s Department
SLHOS
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Purpose: Cognates (i.e., words that share meanings and pronunciations in more than one language) are uniquely suited to provide insight into the bilingual mental lexicon due to their overlapping nature. Previous researchers have used a cognate/non-cognate distinction (Dijkstra & Van Heuven, 2002) or measurements of orthographic changes in words (Peeters et. al, 2013) to evaluate this overlap. By comparison, this study aimed to examine how phonological and syntactic differences between cognates impact language processing in bilinguals.
Methods: Researchers categorized cognates by level of phonological overlap as identified by listeners’ ratings of similarity. These categories were described as 1) true cognates with the closest syntax and phonology, 2) lemma cognates with the same syntax but different phonology, and 3) lexemic cognates with the same phonology but different syntax.
Researchers used this continuum to develop a language identification (LID) task to test speakers of both English and Spanish. The stimuli for the task are recorded cognates and prompts to identify the language of the word. Measurements of reaction times and accuracy will be used to analyze the difficulty of each task in association with the degree of similarity between the cognates. The participant’s dominant language and age of acquisition will also be analyzed, as these have been shown to impact language use in bilingual individuals (Hernandez & Li, 2007; Abutalebi & Green, 2007).
Results: Preliminary analysis showed a significant difference between cognates and noncognates and between the categories of true cognates and lemma cognates, suggesting that phonological overlap (but not syntactic overlap) affects speed of cognate processing in an LID task.
Significance: This research provides linguists a new model of phonological and syntactic differences as a continuum. This study contributes to the limited research base on bilingualism and could have clinical applications in treatment of bilingual individuals with speech-language disorders.
References:
Abutalebi, J. (2008). Neural aspects of second language representation and language control. Acta Psychologica, 128(3), 466-478.
Dijkstra, T., & Van Heuven, W. J. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5(3), 175-197.
Hernandez, A. E., & Li, P. (2007). Age of acquisition: Its neural and computational mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 133(4), 638-650.
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(4), 315-332.
Category
Social Sciences
Overlap of Cognates in the Bilingual Mental Lexicon: A Cognate Continuum Model
UC 332
Purpose: Cognates (i.e., words that share meanings and pronunciations in more than one language) are uniquely suited to provide insight into the bilingual mental lexicon due to their overlapping nature. Previous researchers have used a cognate/non-cognate distinction (Dijkstra & Van Heuven, 2002) or measurements of orthographic changes in words (Peeters et. al, 2013) to evaluate this overlap. By comparison, this study aimed to examine how phonological and syntactic differences between cognates impact language processing in bilinguals.
Methods: Researchers categorized cognates by level of phonological overlap as identified by listeners’ ratings of similarity. These categories were described as 1) true cognates with the closest syntax and phonology, 2) lemma cognates with the same syntax but different phonology, and 3) lexemic cognates with the same phonology but different syntax.
Researchers used this continuum to develop a language identification (LID) task to test speakers of both English and Spanish. The stimuli for the task are recorded cognates and prompts to identify the language of the word. Measurements of reaction times and accuracy will be used to analyze the difficulty of each task in association with the degree of similarity between the cognates. The participant’s dominant language and age of acquisition will also be analyzed, as these have been shown to impact language use in bilingual individuals (Hernandez & Li, 2007; Abutalebi & Green, 2007).
Results: Preliminary analysis showed a significant difference between cognates and noncognates and between the categories of true cognates and lemma cognates, suggesting that phonological overlap (but not syntactic overlap) affects speed of cognate processing in an LID task.
Significance: This research provides linguists a new model of phonological and syntactic differences as a continuum. This study contributes to the limited research base on bilingualism and could have clinical applications in treatment of bilingual individuals with speech-language disorders.
References:
Abutalebi, J. (2008). Neural aspects of second language representation and language control. Acta Psychologica, 128(3), 466-478.
Dijkstra, T., & Van Heuven, W. J. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5(3), 175-197.
Hernandez, A. E., & Li, P. (2007). Age of acquisition: Its neural and computational mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 133(4), 638-650.
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(4), 315-332.