ERIC Number: EJ1056489
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-May
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Executive Control Modulates Cross-Language Lexical Activation during L2 Reading: Evidence from Eye Movements
Pivneva, Irina; Mercier, Julie; Titone, Debra
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v40 n3 p787-796 May 2014
Models of bilingual reading such as Bilingual Interactive Activation Plus (Dijkstra & van Heuven, 2002) do not predict a central role for domain-general executive control during bilingual reading, in contrast with bilingual models from other domains, such as production (e.g., the Inhibitory Control Model; Green, 1998). We thus investigated whether individual differences among bilinguals in domain-general executive control modulate cross-language activation during L2 sentence reading, over and above other factors such as L2 proficiency. Fifty French-English bilinguals read L2-English sentences while their eye movements were recorded, and they subsequently completed a battery of executive control and L2 proficiency tasks. High- and low-constraint sentences contained interlingual homographs ("chat" = "casual conversation" in English, "a cat" in French), cognates ("piano" in English and French), or L2-specific control words. The results showed that greater executive control among bilinguals but not L2 proficiency reduced cross-language activation in terms of interlingual homograph interference. In contrast, increased L2 proficiency but not executive control reduced cross-language activation in terms of cognate facilitation. These results suggest that models of bilingual reading must incorporate mechanisms by which domain-general executive control can alter the earliest stages of bilingual lexical activation.
Descriptors: Executive Function, Language Processing, Reading, Eye Movements, Bilingualism, English (Second Language), Individual Differences, French, Sentences, Language Proficiency, Questionnaires
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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