Semantic Priming Effects in a Bilingual Gujarati Speaker Ashita Zaveri, B.S. Matthew Carter, Ph. D, CCC-SLP Valdosta State University

Disclosure Statement No authors had any financial or non- financial conflicts of interest associated with the content of this presentation.

Background Language is a complex, dynamic system of conventional symbols that is used in various modes for thought and communication. Lexical decision task (LDT) is a procedure used in this experiment to measure how quickly one can classify a stimulus as words or nonwords.

Background According to Ferrand, Segui, & Grainger, masked priming is when a stimulus (the prime) is followed immediately by a given target. In Groot, Thomassen, & Hudson’s (1986) study, automatic spreading activation in semantic memory comes about when a word (prime) is being recognized and its corresponding memory representation is activated in the course of this process.

Background According to Cook and Gor (2015), lexical access is a complex of several cognitive functions that involve both representational and processing components. Cross-language priming is when L1 is primed with L2. For example, a related or unrelated Gujarati (a language originated from the state of Gujarat, India) word is compared to a related or unrelated English word (e.g. niche meaning down compared to up).

Research Question Hypothesis Does cross-linguistic semantic priming occur in Gujarati and English bilingual speakers? Semantic priming will occur within L1 to L1 words and L2 to L2 words, but not in L1 to L2.

Methods Participant Procedures A 24 year-old male participant who is bilingual in Gujarati and English was used in this experiment. Gujarati is his first language (L1) and English is his second language (L2). Procedures 120 audio-recorded words were presented to the participant. A cross-appeared on the screen first, indicating the fixation period that was 3,000 milliseconds long. Then the prime was presented to the participant who was instructed not to respond to the prime. The interstimulus interval (ISI) was presented after the prime for 1,500 milliseconds. Then, the target was presented for 4,000 milliseconds.

Methods Measures The independent variable was the presentation language and the dependent variable was the reaction time to the stimuli. The program generated the number of correct and incorrect answers and the reaction time in milliseconds. Analysis Any errors that occurred within the testing were removed from the reaction time analysis. Congruent means both words in the pair were presented in the same language; and noncongruent means that there were some grouping of English and Gujarati words. Congruent pairs and noncongruent pairs were compared by subtracting the mean reaction time to related stimuli from the mean reaction time to unrelated stimuli three times. This process determined the priming effects.

Mean Reaction Time (ms) Results Pair Types Mean Reaction Time (ms) NONCONGRUENT RELATED 5523.11 ms CONGRUENT RELATED 5507.80 ms NONCONGRUENT UNRELATED 6083.88 ms CONGRUENT UNRELATED 5563.43 ms

Discussion Relation of Data to Hypothesis Findings from the data collected did not support the hypothesis because priming mostly occurred between L1 to L2. Interpretation Overall priming occurred Priming did not occur when going from Gujarati to Gujarati because there were very few of these pairs that were responded correctly. Priming did occur from English to English. The participant responded faster to semantically-related words.

Discussion Interpretation cont: The participant was relying heavily on the semantics associations between the Gujarati and English word pairs. Participant did not have to rely as heavily on semantics for the congruent word pairs since he was capable of responding almost as quickly to the unrelated words as he was to related words. However, the participant did need that semantic link when trying to code-switch between the two languages.

Implications A strategy of using a child’s or an adult’s native language as a means of helping learners understand the meaning of new words is called semantization. Semantization is used to teach vocabulary to children or adults who speak English as a second language (ESL). This process can aid children with language delays or help children and adults who struggle with the English language.

Limitations A sample size of 1 participant was obtained for this study The study was only allowed a 6- week period to gather and analyze all the data. There were not enough words and correct responses to predict priming within L1.

Recommendations Obtain a larger sample size Allowing a larger time span for the study Obtain a larger sample wordlist

Conclusion The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the priming effects and how fast the participant can access and retrieve their lexicon in both the languages according to the response time. If priming does occur between Gujarati and English, then lexical access and lexical storage may exhibit similar processes. The participant relied heavily on semantics associations between Gujarati and English word pairs, but did not rely as heavily on semantics for the congruent word pairs since he was capable of responding almost as quickly to unrelated words as he was to related words.

References Cook, S. V., & Gor, K. (2015). Lexical access in L2. Mental Lexicon, 10(2), 247-270. Ferrand, L., Segui, J., & Grainger, J. (1996). Masked priming of word and picture naming: The role of syllabic units. Journal of Memory and Language, 35(5), 708-723. Groot, A. M., Thomassen, A. J., & Hudson, P. T. (1986). Primed-lexical decision: The effect of varying the stimulus-onset asynchrony of prime and target. Acta Psychologica, 61(1), 17-36.