Two Words, One Meaning: Evidence of Automatic Co-Activation of Translation Equivalents

Abstract

Research on the processing of translations offers important insights on how bilinguals negotiate the representation of words from two languages in one mind and one brain. Evidence so far has shown that translation equivalents effectively activate each other as well as their shared concept even when translations lack of any formal overlap (i.e., non-cognates) and even when one of them is presented subliminally, namely under masked priming conditions. In the lexical decision studies testing masked translation priming effects with unbalanced bilinguals a remarkably stable pattern emerges: larger effects in the dominant (L1) to the non-dominant (L2) translation direction, than vice versa. Interestingly, this asymmetry vanishes when simultaneous and balanced bilinguals are tested, suggesting that the linguistic profile of the bilinguals could be determining the pattern of cross-language lexico-semantic activation across the L2 learning trajectory. The present study aims to detect whether L2 proficiency is the critical variable rendering the otherwise asymmetric cross-language activation of translations obtained in the lexical decision task into symmetric. Non-cognate masked translation priming effects were examined with three groups of Greek (L1)–English (L2) unbalanced bilinguals, differing exclusively at their level of L2 proficiency. Although increased L2 proficiency led to improved overall L2 performance, masked translation priming effects were virtually identical across the three groups, yielding in all cases significant but asymmetric effects (i.e., larger effects in the L1 → L2 than in the L2 → L1 translation direction). These findings show that proficiency does not modulate masked translation priming effects at intermediate levels, and that a native-like level of L2 proficiency is needed for symmetric effects to emerge. They furthermore, pose important constraints on the operation of the mechanisms underlying the development of cross-language lexico-semantic links.

The neuroanatomy of bilingualism: how to turn a hazy view into the full picture

“…Similarly, even if the results obtained from studies exploring the influence of L2 proficiency and L2 AoA partially converge, there is convincing evidence that these two factors independently contribute to language processing in bilinguals' comprehension and production behaviour (Dimitropoulou, Duñabeitia, & Carreiras, 2011;Dowens, Vergara, Barber, & Carreiras, 2010;Duñabeitia, Dimitropoulou, Uribe-Etxebarria, Laka, & Carreiras, 2010;Duñabeitia, Perea, & Carreiras, 2010;Perea, Duñabeitia, & Carreiras, 2008). Thus, a thorough description of the knowledge and use of each of the languages is essential for a precise characterization of the samples being tested to make possible the replication and discussion of findings in the context of the specific linguistic background of the participants (see Tables 1 and 2 for an illustration of the variability between studies).…”

How do bilinguals identify the language of the words they read?

“…It is well-established that when bilinguals process words, they unconsciously access both of their languages, even when set in a single language context (Dijkstra et al, 2000;Dimitropoulou et al, 2011aDimitropoulou et al, , 2011bDuyck et al, 2007;Duyck and Warlop, 2009;Grossi et al, 2012;Hoshino and Thierry, 2012;Ng and Wicha, 2013;Midgley et al, 2008;Perea et al, 2008;Spalek et al, 2014;Schwartz et al, 2007;Thierry an Wu, 2004;Thierry and Wu, 2007;Van Heuven et al, 1998Zhang et al, 2011). However, bilinguals need to know in which language they are reading to correctly retrieve the meaning of words.…”

Developmental changes associated with cross-language similarity in bilingual children

“…One of the most interesting findings from studies on bilingual word processing is the degree of automaticity with which bilinguals activate translation equivalents when reading words in one of their languages (e.g., Basnight-Brown & Altarriba, 2007;Dimitropoulou, Duñabeitia, & Carreiras, 2011a, 2011bDuñabeitia, Perea, & Carreiras, 2010;Duyck & Warlop, 2009;Grainger & Frenck-Mestre, 1998;Schoonbaert, Duyck, Brysbaert, & Hartsuiker, 2009;Schoonbaert, Holcomb, Grainger, & Hartsuiker, 2010;Thierry & Wu, 2007). In this vein, recent behavioral studies have shown that it is easier to recognize native (L1) and non-native (L2) 3 words when they are preceded by their translation equivalents in the form of briefly presented primes (e.g., masked priming paradigm).…”

“…Interestingly, this facilitation effect for translation equivalents has been shown to depend on several factors such as L2 proficiency, translation direction and sub-and supra-lexical properties of translation equivalents. It has generally been found that the influence of the L1 over L2 word processing is significantly greater than vice versa when it comes to translation recognition in unbalanced bilinguals, giving rise to a translation direction asymmetry which only disappears at L2 native-like levels of proficiency (see Dimitropoulou et al, 2011aDimitropoulou et al, , 2011bDuñabeitia, Perea, & Carreiras, 2010;Schoonbaert et al, 2009). While balanced simultaneous bilinguals automatically activate translation equivalents to the same extent when reading words in any of their languages independently of the translation direction, at lower levels of L2 proficiency the translation facilitation effects are mainly found in the L1-L2 direction (e.g., De Groot & Nas, 1991;Dimitropoulou et al, 2011a;Gollan, et al, 1997;Jiang & Forster, 2001;Kim & Davis, 2003;Williams, 1994) and only a few studies have found a translation facilitation effect in the L2-L1 direction (Dimitropoulou et al, 2011b;Duyck & Warlop, 2009;Schoonbaert et al, 2009;Schoonbaert et al, 2010).…”