Cognitive load in relation to non-standard language input

Abstract

The linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neural processes underlying simultaneous interpreting and translation have attracted widespread interest in the research community. However, an understanding of the cognitive load associated with these bilingual activities is just starting to emerge, and the underlying behavioral and physiological mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this article, we describe a promising interdisciplinary and approach to assess the behavioral and physiological indices of cognitive load during interpreting and translation in laboratory and simulated workplace settings. In this context, we emphasize the importance of ecological validity and explain how comparisons between authentic non-standard input and edited English versions of the same stimuli can be used to evaluate cognitive load while controlling for the general cognitive demands associated with interpreting and translation. The perspective we present in this article might pave the way for a clearer understanding of the multifaceted dimensions of cognitive load during simultaneous interpreting and translation as well as during the processing of ELF.

Cross cultural verbal cues to deception: truth and lies in first and second language forensic interview contexts

“…That said, the additional cognitive loading imposed by speaking in a second language is neither consistent nor static. L2 practice can lighten cognitive load whereby second language conversations become ‘easier’ because as proficiency improves control mechanisms strengthen, significantly reducing multiple language interference (e.g., Costa et al, 2006 ; Albl-Mikasa et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2021 ). Therefore, it seems sensible to expect that bilingual L2 proficiency may moderate cross-cultural differences in verbal veracity cues in an interview context (e.g., Evans et al, 2013 ).…”