Cross-language activation and semantic judgements of translation ambiguous words among Chinese–English bilinguals

Bibliographic Data

ID15087491
AuthorsTing Deng (0009-0007-3327-0452, South China Normal University, China; Xinhua Senior High School, China), John W Schwieter (0000-0003-1798-3915, Wilfrid Laurier University), Huan Lv (Foshan University, China; South China Normal University, China), Yan Zhang (0000-0001-8460-2671, South China Normal University, China; Bangxi Primary School of Guangzhou Panyu, China), Zhang Yan (0000-0003-2362-4038, South China Normal University), Jie Yuan (0009-0008-2667-8270), Ruiming Wang (0000-0002-3277-0953, South China Normal University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume29
Issue3
Pages600-627
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Bilingualism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-0069 • E-ISSN: 1756-6878
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/13670069241233388
OpenAlexW4392370404
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited33

Aims and Objectives: Translation ambiguous words are lexical items with one-to-many equivalents in another language. Some of these equivalents are more dominant (i.e., more frequently used) than others. The aim of the present study is to explore non-target language activation of translation ambiguous words among Chinese–English bilinguals. Methodology: The implicit priming paradigm was used in three experiments to explore the activation of primary and secondary first language (L1) translations when bilinguals process second language (L2) translation ambiguous words (Experiment 1); the effect of L1 translation repetition on the processing of semantically related words in an L2 (Experiment 2); and whether such patterns are observed in the reverse direction, that is, whether L2 primary translations are activated when processing L1 translation ambiguous words (Experiment 3). Data and Analysis: We use repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to analyse the data. Findings/conclusions: Experiment 1 showed that when processing pairs of semantically unrelated (SU) L2 words, primary L1 translation equivalents are activated, but not secondary L1 translation equivalents. Experiment 2 found that when the target L2 words were semantically related, performance was facilitated when their translation equivalents were the same L1 word (i.e., implicitly repeated). Similarly, Experiment 3 showed that when processing L1 words, the L2 translation equivalents are automatically activated. Moreover, under semantically related conditions, implicit repetition of the non-target L2 translation facilitated L1 judgements, while under SU conditions, L2 implicit repetition hampered L1 judgements. Originality: Most research on cross-language activation has examined L1 activation during L2 processing. However, few have investigated the reverse and findings from these few studies are inconsistent. Moreover, research on cross-language activation has mainly investigated the activation of primary translation equivalents, with very little focus on secondary translations. The present study uses the implicit priming paradigm to address these gaps in the literature. Significance: The findings support interactive theories of bilingual processing

Cognitive psychology · Linguistics · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Philosophy · Psychology · Second Language Acquisition and Learning

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