L1 and L2 phonological and semantic priming asymmetry in Korean-English bilinguals : an ERP study

Abstract

Literature showed bilinguals tend to process L1 faster than L2, which can be explained by both BIA+ and RHM models. However, the two bilingual models have different predictions on the speed of language switch in different directions. This study aimed to determine a better-fit model to represent the bilingual visual word recognition by investigating the presence and direction of prelexical and lexical language asymmetry at the phonological and semantic level. Korean-English bilinguals performed an event-related potential (ERP) masked priming word naming task with cross-language phonological and semantic primes. Linear mixed-effects model and ERP findings suggested larger language asymmetry effects in low frequency targets. Semantically related prime-target words elicited greater P2 positivity from L1àL2, indicating stronger L1àL2 prelexical semantic inhibitions. This pattern changed at the N400 component where a reduced negativity was evoked, suggesting stronger L1àL2 lexical semantic facilitations. Phonologically related prime-target words reduced N400 negativity from L1àL2, hinting stronger L1àL2 lexical phonological facilitations without sufficient evidence to confirm its significance. The presence of prelexical and phonological asymmetry generally support BIA+, which assumed shared prelexical and lexical phonological representations. Furthermore, modulation of word frequency on priming effects supports the claim of BIA+ that higher L1 word frequency causes higher resting-level activation.