Cross-language associative priming is influenced by language proficiency and executive control.

The present study investigated the impact of language proficiency and executive control (EC) ability on cross-language semantic activation using an English semantic priming lexical-decision task. Primes were either English-French homographs (i.e., words that share spelling but not meaning, e.g., pain means "bread" in French; related trial) or matched control words (e.g., pale; unrelated trial). Type of Priming was either translation (e.g., pain-BREAD) or cross-language associative (e.g., pain-BUTTER). A living/nonliving judgment task and a colour Stroop task measured individual differences in language proficiency and EC, respectively. Reaction time (RT) data from 58 bilingual young adults were analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. Experimental variables (Type of Priming, relatedness), and individual-differences variables (English language proficiency, EC ability) served as fixed variables. Unlike previous studies on cross-language semantic activation, the current study included EC ability as an individual difference variable and found that it interacted with language proficiency to impact associative priming performance. Linear mixed-effects models for associative priming revealed that participants with slow English access exhibited increased positive priming from homographs, whereas individuals with fast lexical access experienced negative priming. Furthermore, these effects were exaggerated for individuals with poor EC. No effects of individual difference variables were observed on translation priming. These results suggest that theories of bilingual word recognition need to incorporate individual difference variables beyond language proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting writing development in dual language instructional contexts: exploring cross-linguistic relationships.

This study examined whether decoding and linguistic comprehension abilities, broadly defined by the Simple View of Reading, in grade 1 each uniquely predicted the grade 6 writing performance of English-speaking children (n = 76) who were educated bilingually in both English their first language and French, a second language. Prediction was made from (1) English to English; (2) French to French; and (3) English to French. Results showed that both decoding and linguistic comprehension scores predicted writing accuracy but rarely predicted persuasive writing. Within the linguistic comprehension cluster of tests, Formulating Sentences was a strong consistent within- and between-language predictor of writing accuracy. In practical terms, the present results indicate that early screening for later writing ability using measures of sentence formulation early in students' schooling, in their L1 or L2, can provide greatest predictive power and allow teachers to differentiate instruction in the primary grades. Theoretically, the present results argue that there are correlations between reading-related abilities and writing abilities not only within the same language but also across languages, adding to the growing body of evidence for facilitative cross-linguistic relationships between bilinguals' developing languages.

Phonological processing dynamics in bilingual word naming.

The current study investigated phonological processing dynamics in bilingual word naming. English-French and French-English bilinguals named interlingual heterophonic homographs (i.e., words that share orthography but not meaning or pronunciation across languages), heterophonic cognates (i.e., words that share both orthography and meaning across languages, but not pronunciations), interlingual homophones (i.e., words that share pronunciation, but not orthography or meaning across languages), and single-language matched control words in both English and French naming tasks. Cross-language phonological activation was strongest in bilinguals' second language. The results provided evidence for feedforward activation of phonological representations in the nontarget language, as well as feedback activation of these phonological representations from semantic representations. Results are interpreted within the more recent Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA+) framework.

The activation of phonological representations by bilinguals while reading silently: evidence from interlingual homophones.

These experiments investigated whether bilinguals activate phonological representations from both of their languages when reading silently in one. The critical stimuli were interlingual homophones (e.g., sank in English and cinq in French). French-English and English-French bilinguals completed an English lexical decision task. Decisions made by French-English bilinguals were significantly faster and more accurate for interlingual homophones than for matched English control words. In subsequent experiments, the homophone facilitation effect in the latency data disappeared when distractors were changed to pseudohomophones, when cognates and interlingual homographs were added to the experiment, and when the proportion of critical stimuli was decreased. However, the homophone effect in the error data remained. In contrast, English-French bilinguals revealed little evidence of an interlingual homophone effect. Several attempts were made to increase the saliency of the nontarget language, however these manipulations produced only a small effect in the error data. These results indicate that the activation of phonological representations can appear to be both language-specific and nonspecific depending on the proficiency of the bilinguals and whether they are reading in their weaker or stronger language.