Word processing in bilingualism: A scoping review based on event-related potentials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31157/an.v28i3.461Keywords:
psycholingüistics, bilingualism, recognition, EEG, semantic cognitionAbstract
Event-related potentials (ERP) allow for the analysis of processes involved on language comprehension with high temporal precision. Bilinguals, people who use two or more languages on their daily life, present functional patters derived from handling two or more linguistic systems. The aim of this review is to present the main ERP components involved in word recognition for bilingual people. Through a systematic search on indexed databases, 16 original research articles were selected and divided into: sub-lexical factors involved in word recognition, semantic factors, and translation processes. We found the second language learning elicits changes in cortical activity from the earliest stages of learning. Although its temporal course, compared to the first language, lags. Easiness of word processing and recognition is facilitated by factors such as morphology and phonetics, and stimuli emotionality. Nonetheless, it is concluded that, methodologically, all studies present the same characteristic pattern, which corresponds to the initial, medium, and latter moments of word recognition. Finally, we discuss new possible lines of research.
References
Grosjean F. Bilinguals: A Short Introduction. En: Grosjean F, Li P, editores. The psycholinguistics of bilingualism. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell; 2013.
Sarli L, Justel N. Adquisición y Recuerdo de Palabras Emocionales en Población Monolingüe y Bilingüe. Rev Colomb Psicol. 2020;29(2):25–40. doi:10.15446/rcp.v29n2.78445 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v29n2.78445
Hoversten LJ, Brothers T, Swaab TY, Traxler MJ. Early processing of orthographic language membership information in bilingual visual word recognition: Evidence from ERPs. Neuropsychologia. 2017;103:183–90. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.07.026
Hoshino N, Thierry G. Language selection in bilingual word production: Electrophysiological evidence for cross-language competition. Brain Res. 2011;1371:100–9. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2010.11.053 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2010.11.053
Wang P, Tan C-H, Li Y, Zhang Q, Wang Y-B, Luo J-L. Event-related potential N270 as an index of social information conflict in explicit processing. Int J Psychophysiol. 2018;123:199–206. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.03.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.03.005
Luck SJ. An introduction to the event-related potential technique. 2a ed. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books; 2014.
Beres AM. Time is of the essence: A review of electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in language research. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2017;42(4):247–55. doi:10.1007/s10484-017-9371-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-017-9371-3
Duncan CC, Barry RJ, Connolly JF, Fischer C, Michie PT, Näätänen R, et al. Event-related potentials in clinical research: guidelines for eliciting, recording, and quantifying mismatch negativity, P300, and N400. Clin Neurophysiol. 2009;120(11):1883–908. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2009.07.045 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2009.07.045
Kutas M, Federmeier KD. Thirty years and counting: finding meaning in the N400 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP). Annu Rev Psychol. 2011;62(1):621–47. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.131123 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.131123
Kutas M, Hillyard SA. Reading senseless sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongruity. Science. 1980;207(4427):203–5. doi:10.1126/science.7350657 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7350657
van Berkum JJ, Hagoort P, Brown CM. Semantic integration in sentences and discourse: evidence from the N400. J Cogn Neurosci. 1999;11(6):657–71. Doi:10.1162/089892999563724 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/089892999563724
Chen C-Y, Zhang JX, Li L, Wang R. Bilingual memory representations in less fluent Chinese-English bilinguals: an event-related potential study. Psychol Rep. 2015;116(1):230–41. doi:10.2466/28.PR0.116k13w7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2466/28.PR0.116k13w7
Kaan E. Event-related potentials and language processing: A brief overview: Event-related potentials and language processing. Lang Linguist Compass. 2007;1(6):571–91. doi:10.1111/j.1749-818x.2007.00037.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2007.00037.x
Núñez-Peña MI, Corral MJ, Escera C. Potenciales evocados cerebrales en el contexto de la investigación psicológica: una actualización. Anuario de Psicología. 2004;35(1):3–21.
Picton TW, Bentin S, Berg P, Donchin E, Hillyard SA, Johnson R, et al. Guidelines for using human event-related potentials to study cognition: Recording standards and publication criteria. Psychophysiology. 2000;37(2):127–52. doi:10.1111/1469-8986.3720127 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8986.3720127
Grainger J, Holcomb PJ. Watching the word go by: On the time-course of component processes in visual word recognition: Time-course of word recognition. Lang Linguist Compass. 2009;3(1):128–56. doi:10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00121.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00121.x
Yonelinas AP. The nature of recollection and familiarity: A review of 30 years of research. J Mem Lang. 2002;46(3):441–517. doi:10.1006/jmla.2002.2864 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2002.2864
Abutalebi J, Green D. Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. J Neurolinguistics. 2007;20(3):242–75. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2006.10.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2006.10.003
de Groot AM. Determinants of word translation. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1992;18(5):1001–18. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.18.5.1001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.18.5.1001
Dijkstra T, van Heuven WJB. The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Biling (Camb Engl). 2002;5(3):175–97. doi:10.1017/s1366728902003012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728902003012
Ameel E, Malt BC, Storms G, Van Assche F. Semantic convergence in the bilingual lexicon. J Mem Lang. 2009;60(2):270–90. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2008.10.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2008.10.001
Lauro J, Schwartz AI. Bilingual non-selective lexical access in sentence contexts: A meta-analytic review. J Mem Lang. 2017;92:217–33. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2016.06.010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2016.06.010
Hämäläinen S, Sairanen V, Leminen A, Lehtonen M. Bilingualism modulates the white matter structure of language-related pathways. Neuroimage. 2017;152:249–57. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.02.081 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.02.081
Legault J, Fang S-Y, Lan Y-J, Li P. Structural brain changes as a function of second language vocabulary training: Effects of learning context. Brain Cogn. 2019;134:90–102. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2018.09.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2018.09.004
Soskey L, Holcomb PJ, Midgley KJ. Language effects in second-language learners: A longitudinal electrophysiological study of spanish classroom learning. Brain Res. 2016;1646:44–52. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2016.05.028 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2016.05.028
Bleasdale FA. Concreteness-dependent associative priming: Separate lexical organization for concrete and abstract words. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1987;13(4):582–94. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.13.4.582 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.13.4.582
Grainger J. Word frequency and neighborhood frequency effects in lexical decision and naming. J Mem Lang. 1990;29(2):228–44. doi:10.1016/0749-596x(90)90074-a DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-596X(90)90074-A
Leminen A, Smolka E, Duñabeitia JA, Pliatsikas C. Morphological processing in the brain: The good (inflection), the bad (derivation) and the ugly (compounding). Cortex. 2019;116:4–44. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.016 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.016
Nelson DL, Schreiber TA. Word concreteness and word structure as independent determinants of recall. J Mem Lang. 1992;31(2):237–60. doi:10.1016/0749-596x(92)90013-n DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-596X(92)90013-N
Lehtonen M, Hultén A, Rodríguez-Fornells A, Cunillera T, Tuomainen J, Laine M. Differences in word recognition between early bilinguals and monolinguals: behavioral and ERP evidence. Neuropsychologia. 2012;50(7):1362–71. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.02.021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.02.021
Liang L, Chen B. Processing morphologically complex words in second-language learners: the effect of proficiency. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2014;150:69–79. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2014.04.009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2014.04.009
Taler V, López Zunini R, Kousaie S. Effects of semantic richness on lexical processing in monolinguals and bilinguals. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016;10:382. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00382 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00382
Peeters D, Dijkstra T, Grainger J. The representation and processing of identical cognates by late bilinguals: RT and ERP effects. J Mem Lang. 2013;68(4):315–32. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2012.12.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.12.003
Bice K, Kroll JF. Native language change during early stages of second language learning. Neuroreport. 2015;26(16):966–71. doi:10.1097/WNR.0000000000000453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000000453
Kissler J, Koessler S. Emotionally positive stimuli facilitate lexical decisions-an ERP study. Biol Psychol. 2011;86(3):254–64. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.12.006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.12.006
Citron FMM, Weekes BS, Ferstl EC. Effects of valence and arousal on written word recognition: time course and ERP correlates. Neurosci Lett. 2013;533:90–5. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2012.10.054 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2012.10.054
Kissler J, Herbert C, Winkler I, Junghofer M. Emotion and attention in visual word processing: an ERP study. Biol Psychol. 2009;80(1):75–83. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.03.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.03.004
Bradley MM, Lang PJ. Measuring emotion: the Self-Assessment Manikin and the Semantic Differential. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1994;25(1):49–59. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(94)90063-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(94)90063-9
Hinojosa JA, Moreno EM, Ferré P. Affective neurolinguistics: towards a framework for reconciling language and emotion. Lang Cogn Neurosci. 2020;35(7):813–39. doi:10.1080/23273798.2019.1620957 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2019.1620957
Talmi D. Enhanced emotional memory: Cognitive and neural mechanisms. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2013;22(6):430–6. doi:10.1177/0963721413498893 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413498893
Yao Z, Yu D, Wang L, Zhu X, Guo J, Wang Z. Effects of valence and arousal on emotional word processing are modulated by concreteness: Behavioral and ERP evidence from a lexical decision task. Int J Psychophysiol. 2016;110:231–42. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.07.499 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.07.499
Opitz B, Degner J. Emotionality in a second language: it’s a matter of time. Neuropsychologia. 2012;50(8):1961–7. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.04.021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.04.021
Pavlenko A. Affective processing in bilingual speakers: disembodied cognition? Int J Psychol. 2012;47(6):405–28. doi:10.1080/00207594.2012.743665 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2012.743665
Chen P, Lin J, Chen B, Lu C, Guo T. Processing emotional words in two languages with one brain: ERP and fMRI evidence from Chinese-English bilinguals. Cortex. 2015;71:34–48. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.002
Sianipar A, Middelburg R, Dijkstra T. When feelings arise with meanings: How emotion and meaning of a native language affect second language processing in adult learners. PLoS One. 2015;10(12):e0144576. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144576 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144576
Wu YJ, Thierry G. How reading in a second language protects your heart. J Neurosci. 2012;32(19):6485–9. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6119-11.2012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6119-11.2012
García AM. Brain activity during translation: A review of the neuroimaging evidence as a testing ground for clinically-based hypotheses. J Neurolinguistics. 2013;26(3):370–83. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2012.12.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2012.12.002
Chung W, Park M-K, Kim SY. An electrophysiological investigation of translation and morphological priming in biscriptal bilinguals. J Neurolinguistics. 2019;51:151–64. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2019.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2019.01.002
Palmer SD, van Hooff JC, Havelka J. Language representation and processing in fluent bilinguals: electrophysiological evidence for asymmetric mapping in bilingual memory. Neuropsychologia. 2010;48(5):1426–37. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.01.010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.01.010
Guo T, Misra M, Tam JW, Kroll JF. On the time course of accessing meaning in a second language: An electrophysiological and behavioral investigation of translation recognition. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2012;38(5):1165–86. doi:10.1037/a0028076 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028076
Moldovan CD, Demestre J, Ferré P, Sánchez-Casas R. The role of meaning and form similarity in translation recognition in highly proficient balanced bilinguals: A behavioral and ERP study. J Neurolinguistics. 2016;37:1–11. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2015.07.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2015.07.002
Ma F, Chen P, Guo T, Kroll JF. When late second language learners access the meaning of L2 words: Using ERPs to investigate the role of the L1 translation equivalent. J Neurolinguistics. 2017;41:50–69. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.006
Jouravlev O, Lupker SJ, Jared D. Cross-language phonological activation: evidence from masked onset priming and ERPs. Brain Lang. 2014;134:11–22. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2014.04.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.04.003
Timmer K, Ganushchak LY, Ceusters I, Schiller NO. Second language phonology influences first language word naming. Brain Lang. 2014;133:14–25. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2014.03.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.03.004
Timmer K, Schiller NO. The role of orthography and phonology in English: An ERP study on first and second language reading aloud. Brain Research. 2012 Nov;1483:39–53. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2012.09.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2012.09.004
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
September 2022-present © Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez. Open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No commercial re-use is allowed.
January-September 2022 © The authors. Open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No commercial re-use is allowed.
January 2014-December 2021 © Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez. Open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.