Semantic and conceptual factors in Spanish–English bilinguals’ processing of lexical categories in their two languages

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11655642
AutoresVirginia C Mueller Gathercole (0000-0002-4597-1383, Florida International University, autor de correspondencia), Hans Stadthagen-Gonzalez (0000-0001-6779-072X, University of Southern Mississippi), Rocío Pérez-Tattam (0000-0001-6526-4902, Swansea University), FERYAL YAVAŞ (Florida International University)
Año2016
Volumen32
Número4
Páginas537-562
Fecha de publicación2016-07-23
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSecond language Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0267-6583 • E-ISSN: 1477-0326
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0267658316657134
OpenAlexW2489274182
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas43

This study examines possible semantic interaction in fully fluent adult simultaneous and early second language (L2) bilinguals. Monolingual and bilingual speakers of Spanish and English ( n = 144) were tested for their understanding of lexical categories that differed in their two languages. Simultaneous bilinguals came from homes in which Spanish or Spanish and English were spoken when they were children, and L2 bilinguals entered the US as children. Accuracy data show higher ultimate attainment of language-specific semantic knowledge in English than in Spanish, but in both languages the interaction of the semantic categories with conceptual knowledge is observable. The data reveal subtle differences in early bilinguals’ extensions of words, but only in some types of categories, and modified by level of proficiency

Age of Acquisition · Cognition · Language proficiency · Linguistics · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Language Development and Disorders · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development