The aim of the present study was to shed some light on the neurofunctional mechanisms of orthographic analysis and lexical access in the context of multiple languages, in particular on the role of age of acquisition, proficiency and exposure, three crucial factors for the cerebral organization of polyglottism. For this purpose Italian professional simultaneous interpreters with an excellent proficiency of English and variable knowledge of German took part to the experiment. Both reaction times (RTs) and electrophysiological data indicated a difference between Italian and non-native languages, suggesting a major role of the language age of acquisition rather than proficiency. However L3 data (differentiating the experimental group in two subgroups: “Very fluent” and “not much fluent” in German) suggested also the importance of the second factor. The characteristics of the task allowed us to evaluate functional differences between word and pseudo-word processing. On this subject the analysis of the N2 and N3 components showed that the left lateral-occipital and inion scalp areas, at about 260 ms post-stimulus, were sensitive to lexical factors, in particular data showed an increase in the activation of these areas (probably corresponding to the Visual Word Form Area) during the processing of words rather than pseudo-words (word superiority effect). Finally the analysis of the anterior Lexical Processing Negativity (LPN: 300-500 ms) showed that while the words of the three languages evoked a very similar response, pseudo-words were very different among them, underling greater response for L1 stimuli, intermediate for L2 stimuli and smaller for L3 stimuli.
Adorni, R., Del Zotto, M., Zani, A., Proverbio, A. (2005). Lexical processing of different languages in simultaneous interpreters: the role of age of acquisition and proficiency investigated by an ERP study. In Brain Development and Cognition in Human Infants. From Action to Cognition.
Lexical processing of different languages in simultaneous interpreters: the role of age of acquisition and proficiency investigated by an ERP study
ADORNI, ROBERTA;PROVERBIO, ALICE MADO
2005
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to shed some light on the neurofunctional mechanisms of orthographic analysis and lexical access in the context of multiple languages, in particular on the role of age of acquisition, proficiency and exposure, three crucial factors for the cerebral organization of polyglottism. For this purpose Italian professional simultaneous interpreters with an excellent proficiency of English and variable knowledge of German took part to the experiment. Both reaction times (RTs) and electrophysiological data indicated a difference between Italian and non-native languages, suggesting a major role of the language age of acquisition rather than proficiency. However L3 data (differentiating the experimental group in two subgroups: “Very fluent” and “not much fluent” in German) suggested also the importance of the second factor. The characteristics of the task allowed us to evaluate functional differences between word and pseudo-word processing. On this subject the analysis of the N2 and N3 components showed that the left lateral-occipital and inion scalp areas, at about 260 ms post-stimulus, were sensitive to lexical factors, in particular data showed an increase in the activation of these areas (probably corresponding to the Visual Word Form Area) during the processing of words rather than pseudo-words (word superiority effect). Finally the analysis of the anterior Lexical Processing Negativity (LPN: 300-500 ms) showed that while the words of the three languages evoked a very similar response, pseudo-words were very different among them, underling greater response for L1 stimuli, intermediate for L2 stimuli and smaller for L3 stimuli.
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