The Bilingual Interactive Activation (Plus) Model(s) (BIA and BIA+). The Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA) model of lexical access
1.7 Goals, Research Questions and Hypotheses
The overall aim of the study was to explore how Bodo−Assamese bilinguals represent, comprehend, and produce words in their two languages. In order to
achieve that, the study explores important issues like lexical representation and processing, as well as examines the factors which influence them. The specific research questions addressed are as follows:
1) Is lexical access selective or non-selective?
2) Are cognates represented and processed differently from non-cognates? If yes, is the difference task-specific?
3) To what extent is the co-activation of languages modulated by differences in age of acquisition and proficiency in the second language?
4) Does a language-specific difference, such as script, modulate cross-language activation, the locus of language selection, and the manner of language/lexical selection during bilingual word recognition and production?
5) Is lexical processing asymmetrical?
Considering the fact that there is a strong support from existing literature (Jared &
Kroll, 2001; Van Heuven et al., 1998, Woutersen, 1997, Marian, Spivey, & Hirsch, 2003; Costa & Caramazza, 1999; Hermans et al., 1998) for non-selective access in bilingual language processing, we predicted that lexical representations from the first language will be accessed during processing of words from the second language and vice versa in case of Bodo-Assamese bilinguals. We further predict that non- selective access would result in cognates being processed differently than the non- cognates, in that, cognates will be responded to faster than non-cognates and the difference would be more evident in tasks having a phonological component.
With respect to the AoA and proficiency factor, a number of studies claim that bilinguals who differ in their second language AoA and proficiency have different architectures as well as distinct processing mechanisms. Based on previous findings (Silverberg & Samuel, 2004; Sunderman & Priya, 2011) and the predictions of the RHM, we predicted that similar differences will be found in this study. In order to look at proficiency separately from AoA, we tested three groups of bilinguals and we predicted that proficiency, more than AoA, will be a deciding factor for the locus
of selection. Hence the Early High Proficient bilinguals and Late High Proficient bilinguals are expected to show similar results in various processing tasks.
Existing studies provide proof of cognate facilitation in different script bilinguals (Gollan et al., 1997; Bowers, Mimouni, & Arguin, 2000; Kim & Davis, 2003; Voga
& Grainger, 2007; Fotovatnia & Taleb, 2012; Hoshino & Kroll, 2008, Nakayama et al., 2013) Many of these studies confirm that phonological similarity “survives script difference and different-script bilinguals can utilize phonological similarity between a prime and a target in making lexical decision tasks” (Higashitani, 2015; p.
30). Considering these findings and in keeping with the non-selective view we predicted that even though Bodo and Assamese do not share the script, significant cross language activation will be seen in processing, also aided by the fact that the languages share phonological similarity, which in turn can be contributed to the geographical contiguity.
Evidence for the processing asymmetry is well attested in previous research and concerns the revised hierarchical model’s predictions that ensue from the assumed asymmetries in the strengths of the connections between the lexical and conceptual nodes within a single developmental stage (De Groot, 2011). Considering these findings, we predicted that reaction times will be faster in the backward direction than in the forward direction and that the magnitude of priming effect will be larger in the forward direction than in the backward direction.
To address these questions, a series of word recognition and production experiments compared the performance of three groups of Bodo-Assamese bilinguals in their first and second language. In total, thirty two experiments were conducted using eight different tasks to obtain converging evidence on the role of different variables in bilingual word recognition as well as production. Most studies in the areas of lexical representation and processing in bilinguals have been performed with bilinguals whose two languages share the same script (Roman script). Here it is important to mention that the L1 and L2 under study belong to different language families, do not share the script. On the other hand, owing to living side by side each other through centuries, they have come to share many linguistic features, namely,
lexical and phonological features. A critical manipulation in the present experiments is whether the written lexical form is perceptually present or absent. Moreover, based on the observations with existing empirical studies, the thesis was designed in order to contribute to the understanding of cognate facilitation effect. The logic of the experiments with cognate materials was to determine whether there is cognate facilitation even when two languages differ in scripts (i.e., when cognate status is based on shared phonology only). In addition to that, both age of acquisition and proficiency have been taken into account, in order to discern how these two factors interact to affect L1 and L2 processing in two dissimilar languages. The experiments aim to shed some light on these issues while investigating the primary objectives mentioned above.