The Second Language Influence on Perception of the Native Language Words

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A Brief Overview Of The Research

Research on bilingual word recognition has mainly focused on visual modality. Little attention is paid to evaluating auditory word recognition and interpretation by bilinguals. The study’s relevance stems from the need to assess skills if the speech is delivered by a bilingual rather than a native speaker. In this regard, researchers have questioned whether bilinguals have fundamentally independent speech perception systems. In addition, the researchers focused on the effects of lexical access selectivity on the perception of non-native speech. The study found that auditory word recognition is not a selective language ability, and sub-phonological cues do not interfere with interlingua interaction.

Auditory Word Recognition By Bilinguals

Hearing word recognition is one of the primary phonological skills in childhood. It allows people to think critically about and assess the need for information. The target mechanisms of speech are shaped somewhat differently for bilinguals, as memory and the ability to absorb additional cultural experiences through language change their perception of the world. The paper’s authors pointed out that bilinguals are more likely to concentrate on the subject matter, and the time to fixate on distractors is lengthened.

This study raises an important question: can second language skills interfere with listening in the native language?

Purpose of the study

Lexical access is the ability of bilinguals to implement under different conditions. In this study, lexical access referred to the skill of bilinguals to perceive speech in a foreign language from other bilinguals. The issues of accent and its severity and the similarity of phonological structures were essential. The study tried to determine which factors influence to a greater extent and which do not play a role in forming lexical access. Because of the ambiguity of early research, the authors sought evidence of a linguistically indiscriminate approach to lexical access.

The purpose was driven by the need to understand the mechanisms of native language word recognition and the influence of distracting speech components on the fixation of auditory information.

The Study’s Questions

The research questions are consistent with the general tactic of seeking answers in the field. The research questions address current controversies that are managed through a multidirectional approach. Because of this, the questions posed are a natural extension of the topic and can act as its goals or plan points. The problem with the study was that it was impossible to account for all factors of auditory speech perception. However, through the use of a dual assessment approach, the study makes sense for determining the abilities of bilinguals.

Research Hypothesis

The hypothesis of this study differs significantly from previous studies because it was conducted in an environment dominated by a second language rather than the native language. In this respect, the study is unique because of its fundamentally new approach. The authors processed and compared results in a three-way study, making the work reliable and valid. The hypothesis was tested in three experiments, differing in the target sample and their ability to reproduce speech in a second language after listening to it. The experiments aimed to determine how auditory perception of information changes depending on linguistic skills. The authors evaluated a sample of proficient but unbalanced bilinguals who lived in a predominantly native language environment to test the hypothesis conservatively.

Experiments

All experiments followed a similar pattern: participants were required to solve a problem. In this case, the task was in two different languages, and the three focus groups had to solve it based on their skills. For completeness, two control groups participated in the experiment: Dutch and English speakers.

Experiment 1 is the most interesting because English is the cross-national “currency” in communication. Since non-native speakers participated in the study, it is Experiment 1 that can fully reflect the correlation between the abilities of bilinguals and their skills.

Experiment: Vocabulary decision task in English with Dutch-English bilinguals

For ease of perception, the native language was designated as L1 (Dutch), and the second and subsequent L2, L3, etc. All participants were indeed bilingual and considered their skills to be high. In the experiment, all participants were asked to rate their proficiency in three languages: L1, L2 (English), and L3 (French). A 7-point Likert scale was used for this purpose. Time constraints during the experiment allowed for a responsible and complete approach to assessing knowledge. The training session was conducted to visualize the progress of the experiment.

In the experiment, participants listened to interlingua homophones presented by speakers of Dutch (1A) or English (1B). Participants received written instructions and then had to make a decision.

Experiment Methodology

The stimuli consisted of homophones; control words in English; English filler words; non-words: phonemes without meaning but with English phonology. Each test began with a fixing cross in the center of the screen. After a few seconds, the target was presented audibly. 1A: Each target was spoken by a native Dutch speaker who had a high level of English. 1B: Each target was spoken by a native English speaker proficient in Dutch. Participants then had to decide if they had heard the English word or not.

Findings

The authors evaluated obtained data for error rate, latency, and accuracy. An ANOVA as the independent variable and RT as the dependent variable were used to estimate latency. ANOVA as the independent variable and error rate as the dependent variable were used for accuracy.

Comparison: Response time was slower when a native Dutch speaker uttered the targets. The main effect of the target type confirmed that homophones are more challenging to master than control words in English. The error rate correlated with the participants’ self-assessment of the experiment.

Discussion

The authors suggest two possible explanations for the main speaker effect. First, the native English speaker’s pronunciation was without accent and could match lexical representations closer. Second, the authors noticed that English speakers tended to stretch their pronunciation, so the duration of the target words was longer. Perhaps lexical activation had time to accumulate, and participants recognized the words more easily. The authors subsequently compared these results with other experiments, which allowed them to establish a correlation in the perception of homophones.

Reference

Lagrou, E., Hartsuiker, R. J. & Duyck, W. (2011). Knowledge of a second language influences auditory word recognition in the native language. Journal of experimental psychology, 37(4), 952-965. Web.

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