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Article published In:
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 6:3 (2016) ► pp.262–289

Phonologically-mediated meaning activation in monolinguals and bilinguals

Evidence from homophone effects in ERP

| York University
| York University
| York University

The current study investigated how language experience impacts phonologically-mediated meaning activation. Monolinguals and bilinguals made living/non-living judgments on English homophones (e.g., beech, beach) while Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Context was manipulated by making the preceding trial either unrelated (e.g., servant → beech) or semantically-related, creating priming. The related context either strengthened (e.g., oak → beech) or diminished (e.g., oak → beach) a homophone’s meaning. In the unrelated context, both groups utilized phonology similarly to access meaning, as evidenced by a later N400 and a larger late positive component (LPC) for homophones than for non-homophonic words. However, when the context primed the incorrect meaning (e.g., oak → beach), only monolinguals exhibited N400 attenuation and delayed LPCs, indicating that they were mistakenly using phonology and context to access meaning and were then required to reanalyze their interpretation. These results provide insight into how oral language experience impacts phonological activation of meaning.

Keywords: Bilingualism, Visual Word Recognition, Phonology, Homophones, Semantics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Tasks & Procedures
      • 2.2.1Language and Social Background Questionnaire (LSBQ; Luk & Bialystok, 2013)
      • 2.2.2Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT; Dunn & Dunn, 1997)
      • 2.2.3Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test (Cattell, 1957)
      • 2.2.4Semantic Classification Task
    • 2.3EEG Recording
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Background Measures
    • 3.2Behavioral Results
      • 3.2.1RTs
      • 3.2.2Accuracy
    • 3.3ERP Results
      • 3.3.1Facilitation Block: Unrelated Condition (servant → beech & beetle)
      • 3.3.2Facilitation Block: Related Condition (oak → beech & beetle)
      • 3.3.3Misleading Block: Unrelated Condition (servant → beach & bench)
      • 3.3.4Misleading Block: Related Condition (oak → beach & bench)
  • 4.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 February 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.14026.fri
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