Chapter 9
The translation ambiguity disadvantage in language processing
The influence of proficiency
Many words can be translated in more than one way across
languages. For example, the German word Kiefer can be
translated into English as both pine and jaw. This mis-mapping of
translations across languages, known as translation
ambiguity, causes difficulty in language processing and
language learning. Here, I discuss how translation ambiguity affects
language processing in bilinguals of various proficiencies, including
individuals who were raised bilingual. I further describe an analysis aimed
at understanding how the disadvantage associated with translation ambiguity
changes with increased second language proficiency.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Measuring translation ambiguity
- Moderately proficient bilinguals
- Analysis of the translation-ambiguity disadvantage with
proficiency
- Conclusion
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Notes
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References