Poster B47, Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 3:15 – 5:00 pm, Restaurant Hall
Positive L1 to L2 transfer allows for multifaceted processing in the initial stages of adult second language tone and grammar acquisition
Sabine Gosselke Berthelsen1, Merle Horne1, Yury Shtyrov2,3, Mikael Roll1;1Lund University, 2Aarhus University, 3University of St. Petersburg
How learners process linguistic input in the early stages of second language acquisition (SLA) has recently attracted a great deal of research interest. In this context, it has been shown that, in particular, semantic properties of novel words can be processed real-language-like already within minutes of contact or learning. We set out to investigate whether this type of fast acquisition can also be applied to tonal and grammatical properties of novel words and what role native language (L1) transfer plays in this context. To this effect, we taught a set of pseudowords with morphosyntactic tone to two learner groups: a group without L1 tone (Non-Tonal L1s) and a group with grammar-related L1 tone (Tonal L1s). They were exposed to the novel words with a sound-picture matching paradigm for each two and a half hours on two consecutive days while the behavioural and neural responses were recorded with continuous EEG as well as participants’ response time to random question trials dealing with sound-picture validity. We found that both groups performed identically on the behavioural level but differed significantly from each other neurophysiologically. Behaviourally, the biggest improvements in both accuracy and response times took place about 40 minutes into the acquisition. Neurophysiologically, the morphosyntactic tonal words elicited typical ERP components for grammar processing in the Tonal L1s within just 20 minutes: early left anterior negativity (ELAN), left anterior negativity (LAN) and P600. In addition, the Tonal L1s exhibited very early automatic processing (~50ms) when singling out the relevant words session-initially. In the Non-Tonal L1s, the novel words with morphosyntactic tone elicited neither a word recognition component, nor an ELAN – although we could detect ELAN-tendencies in those Non-Tonal L1s who scored best on a non-linguistic pitch detection test. Furthermore, the Non-Tonal L1s as a whole produced a LAN only after an overnight consolidation period – while LAN-tendencies were visible for the best learners in this group already on day 1. The P600, finally, was indistinguishable from that in the Tonal L1 group. We interpret these results as showing that it is possible to rapidly acquire not just semantic properties of novel words but also complex tonal and morphosyntactic content. However, it seems as though a native language based neural network for the processing of morphosyntax-related tone allows for almost instantaneous native-language-like processing of the morphosyntactic content in the tonal learners. The non-tonal learners rely on less automatic processing but can still successfully process and acquire the complex tonal words. The learner groups’ different processing strategies can be explained against the backdrop of dual-route processing: combinatorial, rule-based processing in the tonal learners and whole-word processing in the non-tonal learners.
Themes: Multilingualism, Speech Perception
Method: Electrophysiology (MEG/EEG/ECOG)