Prior Anat, Degani Tamar, Awawdy Sehrab, Yassin Rana, Korem Nachshon
University of Haifa, Israel.
University of Haifa, Israel.
Cognition. 2017 Aug;165:10-25. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.04.006. Epub 2017 Apr 28.
The ability to overcome interference from the first-language (L1) is a source of variability in second language (L2) achievement, which has to date been explored mainly in same-script bilinguals. Such interference management, and bilingual language control more generally, have recently been linked to domain general executive functions (EF). In the current study, we examined L2 proficiency and executive functions as possible predictors of susceptibility to L1 interference during L2 processing, in bilinguals whose languages do not share an orthographic system. Seventy Arabic-Hebrew bilingual university students performed two tasks indexing cross-language interference (from L1 to L2). Lexical interference was assessed using a cross-modal semantic similarity judgment task in Hebrew, with false-cognates as critical items. Syntactic interference was assessed using a self-paced reading paradigm and grammaticality judgments on Hebrew sentences whose syntactic structures differed from those of Arabic. EFs were examined using spatial and numerical Stroop tasks, to index inhibitory control, and a task switching paradigm, to index shifting abilities. We found significant L1 interference across the lexical and syntactic domains, even in proficient different-script bilinguals. However, these interference effects were not correlated, and neither type of interference was related to domain general EF abilities. Finally, offline susceptibility to syntactic interference, but not lexical interference, was reduced with greater L2 proficiency. These results suggest at least partially independent mechanisms for managing interference in the two language domains, and raise questions regarding the degree to which domain general control abilities are recruited for managing L1 interference.
克服第一语言（L1）干扰的能力是第二语言（L2）学习成绩差异的一个来源，迄今为止，这主要是在使用相同文字系统的双语者中进行研究的。这种干扰管理，以及更广泛意义上的双语语言控制，最近与领域通用的执行功能（EF）联系了起来。在本研究中，我们考察了L2熟练程度和执行功能，将其作为使用不同文字系统的双语者在L2加工过程中对L1干扰易感性的可能预测指标。70名阿拉伯语-希伯来语双语大学生完成了两项用于衡量跨语言干扰（从L1到L2）的任务。词汇干扰通过希伯来语的跨通道语义相似性判断任务来评估，其中假同源词作为关键项目。句法干扰通过自定步速阅读范式以及对句法结构与阿拉伯语不同的希伯来语句子进行语法性判断来评估。执行功能通过空间和数字斯特鲁普任务来考察，以衡量抑制控制能力，通过任务切换范式来考察，以衡量转换能力。我们发现，即使在熟练的不同文字系统双语者中，词汇和句法领域也存在显著的L1干扰。然而，这些干扰效应并不相关，且两种干扰类型均与领域通用的EF能力无关。最后，随着L2熟练程度的提高，句法干扰的离线易感性降低，但词汇干扰的离线易感性并未降低。这些结果表明，在两个语言领域中管理干扰的机制至少部分是独立的，并引发了关于在管理L1干扰时领域通用控制能力的参与程度的问题。
