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The influence of proficiency and language combination on bilingual lexical access

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2018

JESSICA G. KASTENBAUM ,
LISA M. BEDORE ,
ELIZABETH D. PEÑA ,
LI SHENG ,
ILKNUR MAVIS ,
RAJANI SEBASTIAN-VAYTADDEN ,
GRAMA RANGAMANI ,
SOFIA VALLILA-ROHTER  and
SWATHI KIRAN
JESSICA G. KASTENBAUM
Affiliation:
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
LISA M. BEDORE
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
ELIZABETH D. PEÑA
Affiliation:
School of Education University of California Irvine, Irvine California
LI SHENG
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
ILKNUR MAVIS
Affiliation:
Univeristy of Anadolu, Turkey
RAJANI SEBASTIAN-VAYTADDEN
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
GRAMA RANGAMANI
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, St Cloud State University, St Cloud, Minnesota
SOFIA VALLILA-ROHTER
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Disorders, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professionals, Boston, Massachusetts
SWATHI KIRAN*
Affiliation:
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
*
Address for correspondence: Swathi Kiran, Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, Boston University Sargent College, 635 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215kirans@bu.edu
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Abstract

The present study examines the influence of language proficiency and language combination on bilingual lexical access using category fluency in 109 healthy speakers. Participants completed a category fluency task in each of their languages in three main categories (animals, clothing, and food), each with two subcategories, as well as a language use questionnaire assessing their proficiency. Five language combinations were examined (Hindi–English, Kannada–English, Mandarin–English, Spanish–English, and Turkish–English). Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that the average number of correct items named in the category fluency task across the three main categories varied across the different groups only in English and not the other language. Further, results showed that language exposure composite (extracted from the questionnaire using a principal component analysis) significantly affected the average number of items named across the three main categories. Overall, these results demonstrate the effects of particular language combinations on bilingual lexical access and provide important insights into the role of proficiency on access.

Keywords

lexical accessbilingualcategory fluencyproficiencylanguage
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , March 2019 , pp. 300 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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