Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
Scientists Center of Language and Brain HSE used eye tracking to study how bilinguals switch from one language to another when the context changes. It turned out that the difference in alphabets slows down this process. If the letters look unusual – for example, Latin in a Russian-language text – the brain does not immediately switch to another language, even if the person knows that he is in a bilingual situation. Article published in the journal “Bilingualism: Language and Cognition”.
Bilinguals can be divided into target and non-target languages depending on the language situation they find themselves in. If a person who knows Russian and English is in an environment where everyone communicates with him in Russian, then his English is suppressed. In this situation, Russian will be his target language, and English will be non-target.
The scientists decided to study how switching between target and non-target languages occurs when the language context changes, and to test the proactive control hypothesis in bilinguals. This hypothesis suggests that with increasing exposure to a non-target language, bilinguals activate its vocabulary so that they can start using it faster. Importantly, control is carried out in advance, and not in response to information already received. This avoids delays in processing.
To test the hypothesis, the scientists conducted an experiment involving 50 adult Russian-English bilinguals. They were asked to read several sentences on different topics on a computer screen and answer questions. Initially, the target language for the participants was Russian, but the researchers created conditions so that the environment gradually became more English-speaking. At first, they were only spoken to in Russian and all tasks were in Russian. At the second stage, in addition to Russian, sentences in English appeared. At the third stage, English sentences were removed, but an English-speaking instructor came. At the last stage, English sentences also appeared, and the leader communicated only in English.
While performing the tasks, the participants’ eye movements were tracked, recording such indicators as the duration of fixation on a word, the number of returns to previous words (regressions), and word omissions. It is known that the longer the fixation, the more difficult it is to process the word, and regressions indicate the need to look at the word again to understand the meaning.
“To test access to the non-target language, we used the ‘invisible boundary’ method. When a person read a sentence in Russian, the English translation of that word appeared briefly before the target words,” the study’s authors say.
For example, in the sentence “You will need to undergo certain training to obtain a permit,” the Russian word “obuchenie” was preceded by the English word “training.”
The scientists assumed that if access to English was activated, then the fixation time on a Russian word after its English translation appeared should have decreased. However, this hypothesis was not confirmed. Despite the gradual addition of English elements in the experiment, changes in the language context did not affect early access to vocabulary.
“It is likely that the different alphabets – Cyrillic and Latin – are too different, so the brain immediately “sees” that it is a different alphabet and automatically suppresses it. In addition, it is possible that the immersion in the non-target language was not long enough, so it did not have time to activate,” the researchers explain.
Thus, the results of the study confirmed the key assumptions of the Multilink and BIA models that vocabulary processing in a bilingual environment is regulated by both bottom-up and top-down factors, but the former dominates in the context of different alphabetic systems.
The lower level is automatic information processing. So, the brain first recognizes letters, then words, and then their meanings. In the case of different alphabets (for example, Cyrillic and Latin), the brain may have difficulty recognizing the letters of another alphabet. These differences greatly affect how quickly and effectively a person can switch between languages.
The top level is conscious processing of information, which depends on context and experience. For example, if a person knows that he or she is in a bilingual environment, this may activate the brain’s “expectation” of encountering a word in the second language. However, this process requires more time and resources.
The researchers plan to conduct experiments with deeper immersion in the non-target language. “We believe that at a certain point we will record an increase in the speed of switching from language to language,” the authors suggest.
The findings of this and future studies may be useful for developing foreign language learning strategies, especially reading skills, taking into account the cognitive load associated with native language suppression, alphabet differences, and duration of language immersion.
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