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Not all code switches are equal: investigating the interplay between individual differences in bilingual language experience and language-specific effects.
Poster Session B, Wednesday, September 30, 4:30 - 6:30 pm, Wangari Maathai
Annie C. Gilbert1,2,3, Louis Friedland-Yust1,2,4, Cassandra Sorin1,2,5, Hannah Kogan1,2,6, Shari R. Baum1,2; 1School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 2Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, Montreal, Canada, 3Département de lettres et communication sociale, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada, 4Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France, 5Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, 6Integrated Program in Neuroscience, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Bilinguals vary substantially in their ability to process code switches. While some bilinguals are apparently able to switch seamlessly between languages, others have a difficult time processing utterances containing elements from more than one language. This raises questions as to what individual differences could predict a listener’s ability to successfully process code switches. The present study addresses this question by investigating the processing of lexical insertions by sequential French-English bilinguals using an event-related potentials (ERP) paradigm. Lexical insertions constitute a specific type of code switch in which a word from a different language is inserted into an utterance. Stimuli consisted of 116 pairs of utterances (58 per language, English and French) containing either an utterance-consistent target word (English target word in English utterance; French target word in French utterance) or a lexical insertion from the other language (French target word in English utterance or vice versa) produced by a native speaker of both languages. Data from 82 French-English bilinguals (38 native English, 44 native French listeners) has been collected and processed. Analyses of the ERPs time-locked to target word onset revealed different patterns of effects involving Phonological Mismatch Negativities (PMNs, associated with phonological unexpectedness) and N400-like negativities (associated with lexical integration). For instance, English lexical insertions in French utterances triggered PMNs only within French-L1 listeners (not within English-L1 listeners), but triggered N400-like negativities across participants (irrespective of first language). This pattern of results suggests that while everyone reacted to the presence of unexpected English lexical material in French utterances (N400-like effects), French-L1 listeners seemed more sensitive than English-L1 listeners to the presence of English phonological material in French utterances (PMN effects). Conversely, French lexical insertions into English utterances triggered no significant PMNs in any group of participants, but triggered N400-like negativities among French-L1 listeners only (not within English-L1 listeners). Taken together, these results suggest that lexical insertion processing is modulated by both language-specific effects (English vs. French) and language acquisition order effects (L1/L2). Follow-up analyses are presently underway investigating the impact of individual differences on the amplitude of the PMNs and N400-like components associated with the processing of lexical insertions. Preliminary results from these analyses suggest significant effects of participants’ own code-switching habits, as well as language exposure and proficiency effects. For example, French-L1 listeners who reported less exposure to English or less frequent use of code switches in their own speech showed greater PMNs to English lexical insertions in French utterances. Such results suggest that these listeners are more sensitive to the presence of English phonological material in French utterances than their counterparts with more English exposure or more frequent use of code switches in their own speech. Final results will be discussed emphasizing the interplay between individual differences in language experience, language-specific (Eng./Fr.) and acquisition order-specific (L1/L2) effects.
Topic Areas: Multilingualism, Speech Perception