Cross-Linguistic Similarity and Task Demands in Japanese-English Bilingual Processing

Even in languages that do not share script, bilinguals process cognates faster than matched noncognates in a range of tasks. The current research more fully explores what underpins the cognate ‘advantage’ in different script bilinguals (Japanese-English). To do this, instead of the more traditional binary cognate/noncognate distinction, the current study uses continuous measures of phonological and semantic overlap, L2 (second language) proficiency and lexical variables (e.g., frequency). An L2 picture naming (Experiment 1) revealed a significant interaction between phonological and semantic similarity and demonstrates that degree of overlap modulates naming times. In lexical decision (Experiment 2), increased phonological similarity (e.g., bus/basu/vs. radio/rajio/) lead to faster response times. Interestingly, increased semantic similarity slowed response times in lexical decision. The studies also indicate how L2 proficiency and lexical variables modulate L2 word processing. These findings are explained in terms of current models of bilingual lexical processing.

即便在文字系统互不相同的语言中，双语使用者在多项任务中对同源词（cognate）的加工速度均快于匹配的非同源词（noncognate）。本研究旨在更全面地探究不同文字双语者（日-英双语者）中同源词优势的内在支撑机制。为此，本研究摒弃了传统的同源词/非同源词二元划分范式，转而采用语音重叠度、语义重叠度、第二语言（L2, second language）熟练度以及词汇变量（如词频）等连续测量指标。在第二语言图片命名任务（实验1）中，研究发现语音相似性与语义相似性之间存在显著交互作用，表明重叠程度可调节命名反应时。在词汇判断任务（实验2）中，语音相似性的提升（例如bus/basu/与radio/rajio/的对比）可缩短反应时。值得注意的是，词汇判断任务中语义相似性的提升反而延长了反应时。本研究还揭示了第二语言熟练度与词汇变量如何调节第二语言词汇加工过程。上述研究结果可结合当前双语词汇加工的主流模型进行阐释。