Hostname: page-component-6898cfcb55-th4rj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-11T11:52:10.434Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bilingual and monolingual processing of competing lexical items

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2003

VIORICA MARIAN
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
MICHAEL SPIVEY
Affiliation:
Cornell University
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

Performance of bilingual Russian–English speakers and monolingual English speakers during auditory processing of competing lexical items was examined using eye tracking. Results revealed that both bilinguals and monolinguals experienced competition from English lexical items overlapping phonetically with an English target item (e.g., spear and speaker). However, only bilingual speakers experienced competition from Russian competitor items overlapping crosslinguistically with an English target (e.g., spear and spichki, Russian for matches). English monolinguals treated the Russian competitors as they did any other filler items. This difference in performance between bilinguals and monolinguals tested with exactly the same sets of stimuli suggests that eye movements to a crosslinguistic competitor are due to activation of the other language and to between-language competition rather than being an artifact of stimulus selection or experimental design.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press