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Cross-language Influences in Bilingual Processing and Second Language Acquisition
Edited by Irina Elgort, Anna Siyanova-Chanturia and Marc Brysbaert
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 16] 2023
► pp. 230–261

Chapter 10
Cross-language influences on morphological processing in bilinguals

ORCID logo | Macquarie University | Macquarie University |
ORCID logo | Macquarie University | Macquarie University

Several decades of reading research in bilinguals have revealed evidence for cross-language influences on the visual recognition of simple words (e.g., farm). However, comparatively little is known about cross-language transfer mechanisms involved when reading morphologically complex words (e.g., farmer or farmhouse). In this chapter, we provide a review of studies examining the processing of affixed and compound words in bilinguals, with a particular focus on studies directly targeting cross-language transfer. The key findings support the idea that bilinguals rapidly and simultaneously activate the morphological features in both of their languages during the early, automatic stages of visual word recognition. Implications for theoretical models of morphological processing in bilinguals and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: visual word recognition, morphological processing, cross-language influences, bilinguals
Article outline
  • 1.Within-L1 and within-L2 morphological processing
  • 2.Theories of cross-language transfer
  • 3.Cross-language morphological processing
    • 3.1The locus of cross-language morphological transfer in visual word recognition
    • 3.2Masked morphological translation priming
    • 3.3Semantically independent morphological translation priming
    • 3.4Hidden morpheme repetition priming effects
  • 4.Theoretical implications and future directions
    • 4.1Mechanisms of cross-language morphological transfer
    • 4.2Theoretical implications for models of cross-language transfer
    • 4.3The status of stems and affixes in cross-language transfer
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 May 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.16.10kah
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