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Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2003

DAAN HERMANS
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Nijmegen
THEO BONGAERTS
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Linguistics, Department of English, University of Nijmegen
KEES DE BOT
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Nijmegen
ROBERT SCHREUDER
Affiliation:
Interfaculty Research Unit for Language and Speech, University of Nijmegen

Abstract

Two picture-word interference experiments were conducted to investigate whether or not words from a first and more dominant language are activated during lexical access in a foreign and less dominant language. Native speakers of Dutch were instructed to name pictures in their foreign language English. Our experiments show that the Dutch name of a picture is activated during initial stages of the process of lexical in English as a foreign language. We conclude that bilingual speakers cannot suppress activation from their first language while naming pictures in a foreign language. The implications for bilingual speech production theories are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The authors thank James Flege, Judith Kroll, Carol Myers-Scotton, and one anonymous reviewer for valuable comments on an earlier version of this article.