What role does social context play in Spanish-Valencian bilingual language processing?
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Presenter Language
English
Research Area
Sociolinguistics and Psycholinguistics
Location
MBSC Omaha Room 304
Start Date
17-10-2024 4:00 PM
End Date
17-10-2024 4:30 PM
Abstract
Research shows that bilinguals share one lexicon for all their languages, which is accessed in a non-selective manner (Dijkstra & van Heuven, 2012). And while linguistic and contextual factors affect the activation and retrieval of bilinguals’ languages (Altarriba, 2003; Pallier et al., 2001), the impact of social factors on bilingual lexical retrieval remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating whether the social context ‘family/home’ triggers the activation of the language associated with it among bilingual speakers in the Valencian Community (Spain).
Sixty-two Spanish-Valencian bilinguals aged 15-17 (27F, 34M, 1Other) participated in a picture-word verification task conducted in the language not used in their ‘family/home’ context. The experiment began with participants reading a priming text describing a family-related event. Following this, they were shown 28 images (7 family-associated words, 7 control words [not family-associated], and 14 filler words), each accompanied by a label. After seeing each picture, they had to decide whether the label matched the picture while their response time was measured.
Preliminary results from the linear regression analysis indicate that participants responded faster to family-associated words than to control words. This was observed despite matching control and family words for various linguistic factors (e.g. word frequency, word length, orthographic and phonological neighbors, imageability, concreteness). These initial findings suggest that the social context evoked by the priming text can influence the retrieval of items related to this context, even when the experiment is conducted in the language not used in that context.
Factors such as participants’ self-reported frequency of language use, self-reported proficiency in Valencian and Spanish, and the importance of each language to their identity will be examined to shed light on the influence of social context in bilingual language processing. Findings will be discussed within the complex sociolinguistic and cultural context of the Valencian Community, especially considering recent political changes impacting language policy and planning.
This study contributes to our understanding of bilingual memory and language processing, particularly in communities where Spanish is in contact with another Romance language. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of incorporating social contextual factors in psycholinguistic research.
What role does social context play in Spanish-Valencian bilingual language processing?
MBSC Omaha Room 304
Research shows that bilinguals share one lexicon for all their languages, which is accessed in a non-selective manner (Dijkstra & van Heuven, 2012). And while linguistic and contextual factors affect the activation and retrieval of bilinguals’ languages (Altarriba, 2003; Pallier et al., 2001), the impact of social factors on bilingual lexical retrieval remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating whether the social context ‘family/home’ triggers the activation of the language associated with it among bilingual speakers in the Valencian Community (Spain).
Sixty-two Spanish-Valencian bilinguals aged 15-17 (27F, 34M, 1Other) participated in a picture-word verification task conducted in the language not used in their ‘family/home’ context. The experiment began with participants reading a priming text describing a family-related event. Following this, they were shown 28 images (7 family-associated words, 7 control words [not family-associated], and 14 filler words), each accompanied by a label. After seeing each picture, they had to decide whether the label matched the picture while their response time was measured.
Preliminary results from the linear regression analysis indicate that participants responded faster to family-associated words than to control words. This was observed despite matching control and family words for various linguistic factors (e.g. word frequency, word length, orthographic and phonological neighbors, imageability, concreteness). These initial findings suggest that the social context evoked by the priming text can influence the retrieval of items related to this context, even when the experiment is conducted in the language not used in that context.
Factors such as participants’ self-reported frequency of language use, self-reported proficiency in Valencian and Spanish, and the importance of each language to their identity will be examined to shed light on the influence of social context in bilingual language processing. Findings will be discussed within the complex sociolinguistic and cultural context of the Valencian Community, especially considering recent political changes impacting language policy and planning.
This study contributes to our understanding of bilingual memory and language processing, particularly in communities where Spanish is in contact with another Romance language. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of incorporating social contextual factors in psycholinguistic research.