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Title:
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Lexical Production Phenomena as Evidence for Activation and Control Processes in Trilingual Lexical Retrieval
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Author:
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Julia Festman
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Email:
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click here to access email
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Degree Awarded:
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Bar-Ilan University
, Department of English, Program in Linguistics
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Degree Date:
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2004
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Linguistic Subfield(s):
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Psycholinguistics
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Subject Language(s):
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English
French
German, Standard
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Director(s):
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Joel Walters
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Abstract:
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The overriding purpose was to examine the processing mechanisms of activation, inhibition, and control in trilingual language production. Spontaneous language production in 3 languages (German, English and French) of 57 trilinguals was investigated in 4 studies.
Study 1 was used to explore speakers' experiences in executing language-choice decisions, and in controlling language production in the language required in the task ('target language') with regard to the other two languages not required for task execution ('non-target languages'). In a verbal-production task a variety of difficulties in making language choices emerged in verbal reports of 10 subjects, including problems of access to the target language, and strategies employed to overcome lexical retrieval problems. In stronger languages, evidence was found for speakers' abilities to alter and adjust activation states to current processing needs, while in weaker languages, non-target languages led to interference.
The objective of Study 2 was to examine spontaneous speech of 10 trilingual subjects under conditions of language alternation and to analyze it for lexical production phenomena. Subjects were more able to control performance in their target language and the activation states of non-target languages during L1 and L2 use than during L3-production.
The purpose of Study 3 was to examine TOT states and blockage in 3 languages. Study 3 investigated whether, under frequent switching conditions, processes such as access, competition, and selection in picture naming were exclusively executed in the target language, or whether non-target languages were involved. 20 trilinguals were asked to report on language access, TOT states, and cross-language blocks in a picture-naming task. The results suggest that non-target languages are included in trilingual lexical processing until the stage when the target word is selected.
In Study 4 the effects of increased processing load (due to frequent switching) on control over language production were measured in terms of speed and accuracy in retrieval. In a computerized picture-naming task, performance of 17 subjects in 3 target languages was compared across two conditions (single language vs. mixed blocks). Frequent switching across the 3 languages influenced control in three ways: 1) lexical retrieval was slower in all languages, in particular in L1; 2) the number of errors was significantly greater in L3; 3) performance was less accurate.
In general, results demonstrated that the more a language was activated, the faster and more accurate the performance, and the more frequent it was found to cause interference or block production in weaker target languages. An extension of Green's (1998) bilingual model of inhibition and control was suggested to explain trilingual processing. The ability to control is claimed to be part of a speaker's proficiency in each language, which includes the ability to activate target languages and inhibit non-target languages.
This research further suggests that high processing load reduces the efficiency of control relative to the activation level of the language: in stronger languages the processing speed is affected, in weaker languages the accuracy of production is influenced. Switching effects are attributed to the mechanisms of inhibition. 1) inhibition of stronger non-target languages in order to function as a target language is difficult to overcome. This results in slower processing and increases substitution and interference errors. 2) The difficulty in inhibiting stronger non-target languages results in more involvement of these languages in processing in the weaker languages. When the higher demands of control and resources cannot be met production in weaker languages yields more errors during switching.
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