Prediction and integration of semantics during L2 and L1 listening

Using the visual world paradigm, we tested whether Dutch-English bilinguals predict upcoming semantic information in auditory sentence comprehension to the same extent in their native (L1) and second language (L2). Participants listened to sentences in L1 and L2 while their eye-movements were measured. A display containing a picture of either a target word or a semantic competitor, and three unrelated objects was shown before the onset of the auditory target word in the sentence. There were more fixations on the target and competitor pictures relative to the unrelated pictures in both languages, before hearing the target word could affect fixations. Also, semantically stronger related competitors attracted more fixations. This relatedness effect was stronger, and it started earlier in the L1 than in the L2. These results suggest that bilinguals predict semantics in the L2, but the spread of semantic activation during prediction is slower and weaker than in the L1.

本研究采用视觉世界范式（visual world paradigm），旨在探究荷兰语-英语双语者在听觉语句理解过程中，对母语（L1）与第二语言（L2）中即将出现的语义信息的预测程度是否一致。实验过程中，被试聆听母语与第二语言语句，同时记录其眼动轨迹。在语句中的听觉目标词出现前，实验界面会呈现包含目标词对应图片、语义竞争词对应图片，以及三张无关物体的视觉场景。在听觉目标词引发眼动变化之前，两种语言条件下，被试对目标词与竞争词图片的注视次数均显著多于无关图片。此外，语义关联度更高的竞争词图片会吸引更多注视。相较于第二语言，母语条件下的语义关联效应更强，且出现时间更早。本研究结果表明，双语者能够在第二语言加工中开展语义预测，但相较于母语，第二语言语义预测过程中的语义激活传播速度更慢、强度更弱。