Project E8: Mechanisms and representation in the bilingual lexicon
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. med. Christian Büchel
Research scientists: Annette Baumgärtner, Ph.D. (neurolinguist), Dr. Frédéric Isel (psychologist)
Research assistants: Johannes Thrän, Rodrigue Talla-Kuate
Topic
This project investigates the hypothesis that the two languages of bilinguals involve a common semantic-conceptual system. This hypothesis will be examined in early and late French-German bilinguals for both perception and production, using a new methodology in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).Research questions
- Do the same neuronal populations support the processing of French and German words, which have the same meaning (e.g., maison - Haus)? Put differently, do the two lexicons use the same semantic system in word perception and production?
- To what extent does age of acquisition (AOA) of L2 play a role in a hypothezised common semantic-conceptual processing of words in both languages, when proficiency is kept constant?
Methods
A series of priming-experiments examines the neuronal representation of word meanings in L1 and L2 using functional MRI. AOA of L2 will be systematically manipulated in highly proficient bilinguals (2 levels: group 1 = early bilinguals; group 2 = late bilinguals). To test the generalisability of the results the mode of of stimulus presentation will be varied systematically (i.e., visual, auditory, pictorial presentation).Working hypotheses
- Hypothesis 1: If AOA of L2 plays a role in semantic processing in bilinguals with similarly high proficiency, then different neuronal populations should be active in a semantic task in early but not in late bilinguals.
- Hypothesis 2: If not, then the same neuronal populations should be active in a semantic task in early as well as in late bilinguals.