Visual Letter Recognition with Cross Script Bilinguals: The Case of Russian

• Other Authors: Yarbrough, Anna (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Linguistics
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Sp_Yarbrough_fsu_0071N_14560

When studying a second language with a different alphabetic script, how does acquiring second script influence our perception of our first language? Does it change the way we read in our own language? Are both languages active and do they compete when we read? Most studies on bilingualism have shown that language visual comprehension processing is language-nonselective, i.e., both languages are active. However, almost all of the studies were conducted with same-script bilinguals, namely speakers of two languages that share the same orthographic system. The purpose of the present research is to test whether written language processing is language-selective or language-nonselective at the letter level for languages with different alphabetic scripts, namely, English and Russian. More precisely, I want to find out whether English-Russian bilinguals activate knowledge of the non-target language, Russian, when reading solely in English. In order to answer my research question, I will conduct an experiment in which English-Russian bilinguals who study Russian as their second language at FSU will complete a semantic relatedness task. In this task, they will be presented with two English words and will need to decide whether they are semantically related. A form manipulation will be used on the second word on the critical trials: it will share the onset letters with the Russian translation of the first word. For instance, in the pair “dog-cob,” the second word shares the onset with the Russian word “собака” which means “dog”. Because of the similarity of the forms, both words are expected to be activated and cause lexical interference during processing. I predict that this will result in slower reaction times and a larger percentage of errors on critical trials. If evidence supports my prediction, it will be a strong confirmation for the language-nonselective visual processing position at the letter level of visual processing. In other words, my research would show that studying a language with a different script influences the way in which we process our first language. === A Thesis submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. === Spring Semester 2018. === March 6, 2018. === bilingualism, English-Russian bilinguals, letter recognition, psycholinguistics, visual processing === Includes bibliographical references. === Gretchen L. Sunderman, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Lisa R. Wakamiya, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Robert Romanchuk, Committee Member.