Cover not available

In:Cross-language Influences in Bilingual Processing and Second Language Acquisition:
Edited by Irina Elgort, Anna Siyanova-Chanturia and Marc Brysbaert
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 16] 2023
► pp. 187–210

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 8
Cross-language influences in the processing of L2 multi-word expressions

 | Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington | Henan University of Technology
 | Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington | Ocean University of China
 | Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
Published online: 1 May 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.16.08du
Abstract
The present chapter provides a state-of-the-art review of research into cross-language influences in the processing of multi-word expressions (MWEs) in a second language (L2). Two lines of research are considered: first, how L2 speakers process congruent MWEs versus L2-only MWEs; second, how L2 speakers process L1-only MWEs translated into the L2 compared with control phrases. Studies have shown that congruent MWEs generally have a processing advantage over L2-only MWEs in L2 speakers. In contrast, evidence is mixed with regard to whether or not translated L1-only MWEs exhibit a processing advantage over matched controls in L2 speakers, with facilitation so far observed for idioms, but not for other types of MWEs. We consider possible reasons for these mixed findings.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Processing of congruent and L2-only MWEs
  • 3.Processing of translated L1-only MWEs
    • 3.1Research on idioms
    • 3.2Research on collocations and binomials
    • 3.3Reconciling research on idioms versus collocations and binomials
  • 4.Mechanisms underpinning the congruency effect in L2 MWE processing
    • 4.1L1 MWE activation account
    • 4.2L2 MWE experience account
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (63)
References
Arnon, I., McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2017). Digging up the building blocks of language: Age-of-acquisition effects for multiword phrases. Journal of Memory and Language, 92, 265–280. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arnon, I., & Snider, N. (2010). More than words: Frequency effects for multi-word phrases. Journal of Memory and Language, 62(1), 67–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beck, S. D., & Weber, A. (2016). Bilingual and monolingual idiom processing is cut from the same cloth: The role of the L1 in literal and figurative meaning activation. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benor, S. B., & Levy, R. (2006). The chicken or the egg? A probabilistic analysis of English binomials. Language, 82(2), 233–278. [URL]. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J. (2006). From usage to grammar: The mind’s response to repetition. Language, 82(4), 711–733. [URL]. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carrol, G., & Conklin, K. (2014). Getting your wires crossed: Evidence for fast processing of L1 idioms in an L2. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17(4), 784–797. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Cross language lexical priming extends to formulaic units: Evidence from eye-tracking suggests that this idea ‘has legs’. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20(2), 299–317. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Is all formulaic language created equal? Unpacking the processing advantage for different types of formulaic sequences. Language and Speech, 63(1), 95–122. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carrol, G., Conklin, K., & Gyllstad, H. (2016). Found in translation: The influence of the L1 on the reading of idioms in a L2. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(3), 403–443. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cieślicka, A. (2006). Literal salience in on-line processing of idiomatic expressions by second language learners. Second Language Research, 22(2), 115–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Do nonnative language speakers chew the fat and spill the beans with different brain hemispheres? Investigating idiom decomposability with the divided visual field paradigm. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 42(6), 475–503. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cieślicka, A., & Heredia, R. R. (2017). How to “save your skin" when processing L2 Idioms: An eye movement analysis of idiom transparency and cross-language similarity among bilinguals. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 5(3), 81–107.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conklin, K., & Carrol, G. (2018). First language influence on the processing of formulaic language in a second language. In A. Siyanova-Chanturia & A. Pellicer-Sánchez (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective (pp. 62–77). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Groot, A. M., Delmaar, P., & Lupker, S. J. (2000). The processing of interlexical homographs in translation recognition and lexical decision: Support for non-selective access to bilingual memory. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 53(2), 397–428. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dijkstra, A., van Heuven, W. J. B., & Grainger, J. (1998). Simulating cross-language competition with the bilingual interactive activation model. Psychologica Belgica, 38(3–4), 177–196. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dijkstra, A., & van Heuven, W. J. B. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5(3), 175–197. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Du, L., Elgort, I., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2021). Cross-language influences in the processing of multiword expressions: From a first language to second and back. Frontiers in Psychology. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Durrant, P., & Doherty, A. (2010). Are high-frequency collocations psychologically real? Investigating the thesis of collocational priming. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 6(2), 125–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(2), 143–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Forster, K. I., & Frost, R. (1997). Translation priming with different scripts: Masked priming with cognates and noncognates in Hebrew–English bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23(5), 1122–1139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gyllstad, H., 2016. Comparing L1 and L2 phraseological processing: Free combinations, collocations and idioms. Poster session presented at AAAL 2016, Orlando, Florida, United States. Retrieved on 30 July 2022 from [URL]
Gyllstad, H., & Wolter, B. (2016). Collocational processing in light of the phraseological continuum model: Does semantic transparency matter? Language Learning, 66(2), 296–323. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hallin, A. E., & Van Lancker Sidtis, D. (2017). A closer look at formulaic language: Prosodic characteristics of Swedish proverbs. Applied Linguistics, 38(1), 68–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hernández, M., Costa, A., & Arnon, I. (2016). More than words: Multiword frequency effects in non-native speakers. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(6), 785–800. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiang, N. (2000). Lexical representation and development in a second language. Applied Linguistics, 21(1), 47–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiang, N., & Nekrasova, T. M. (2007). The processing of formulaic sequences by second language speakers. The Modern Language Journal, 91(3), 433–445. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Juhasz, B. J. (2018). Experience with compound words influences their processing: An eye movement investigation with English compound words. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(1), 103–112. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kyriacou, M., Conklin, K., & Thompson, D. (2021). When the idiom advantage comes up short: Eye-tracking canonical and modified idioms. Frontiers in Psychology, 3253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R. (2000). A dynamic usage-based model. In M. Barlow & S. Kemmer (Eds.), Usage based models of language (pp. 1–64). CSLI.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Libben, M. R., & Titone, D. A. (2009). Bilingual lexical access in context: Evidence from eye movements during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(2), 381–390. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pulido, M. F., & Dussias, P. E. (2020). Desirable difficulties while learning collocations in a second language: Conditions that induce L1 interference improve learning. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(3), 652–667. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Römer, U., O’Donnell, M. B., & Ellis, N. C. (2014). Second language learner knowledge of verb–argument constructions: Effects of language transfer and typology. The Modern Language Journal, 98(4), 952–975. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2015). On the ‘holistic’ nature of formulaic language. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 11(2), 285–301. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., Canal, P., & Heredia, R. R. (2019). Event-related potentials in monolingual and bilingual non-literal language processing. In J. W. Schwieter & M. Paradis (Eds.), The handbook of the neuroscience of multilingualism (pp. 508–529). John Wiley & Sons. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., Conklin, K., & Schmitt, N. (2011a). Adding more fuel to the fire: An eye-tracking study of idiom processing by native and non-native speakers. Second Language Research, 27(2), 251–272. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., Conklin, K., & van Heuven, W. J. B. (2011b). Seeing a phrase “time and again” matters: The role of phrasal frequency in the processing of multiword sequences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(3), 776–784. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Omidian, T. (2020). Key issues in researching multi-word items. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 529–545). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Van Lancker Sidtis, D. (2019). What online processing tells us about formulaic language. In A. Siyanova-Chanturia & A. Pellicer-Sánchez (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective (pp. 38–61). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sonbul, S., El-Dakhs, D. A. S., & Al-Otaibi, H. (2020). Productive versus receptive L2 knowledge of polysemous phrasal verbs: A comparison of determining factors. System, 95, 102361. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tabossi, P., Fanari, R., & Wolf, K. (2009). Why are idioms recognized fast? Memory & Cognition, 37(4), 529–540. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thierry, G., & Wu, Y. J. (2007). Brain potentials reveal unconscious translation during foreign-language comprehension. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(30), 12530–12535. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Titone, D., Columbus, G., Whitford, V., Mercier, J., & Libben, M. (2015). Contrasting bilingual and monolingual idiom processing. In R. R. Heredia & A. B. Cieślicka (Eds.), Bilingual figurative language processing (pp. 171–207). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Titone, D., & Connine, C. M. (1999). On the compositional and noncompositional nature of idiomatic expressions. Journal of Pragmatics, 31(12), 1655–1674. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tremblay, A., Derwing, B., Libben, G., & Westbury, C. (2011). Processing advantages of lexical bundles: Evidence from self-paced reading and sentence recall tasks. Language Learning, 61(2), 569–613. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ullman, M. T. (2014). The declarative/procedural model: A neurobiologically motivated theory of first and second language. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (pp. 135–160). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Underwood, G., Schmitt, N., & Galpin, A. (2004). The eyes have it. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic sequences: Acquisition, processing, and use (pp. 153–172). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Hell, J. G., & Tanner, D. (2012). Second language proficiency and cross-language lexical activation. Language Learning, 62(s2), 148–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Heuven, W. J. B., Dijkstra, A., & Grainger, J. (1998). Orthographic neighborhood effects in bilingual word recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 39(3), 458–483. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vilkaitė, L. (2016). Are nonadjacent collocations processed faster? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(10), 1632–1642. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, X., & Forster, K. I. (2010). Masked translation priming with semantic categorization: Testing the Sense Model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(3), 327–340. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolter, B., & Gyllstad, H. (2011). Collocational links in the L2 mental lexicon and the influence of L1 intralexical knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 32(4), 430–449. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Frequency of input and L2 collocational processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(3), 451–482. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolter, B., & Yamashita, J. (2015). Processing collocations in a second language: A case of first language activation? Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(5), 1193–1221. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Word frequency, collocational frequency, L1 congruency, and proficiency in L2 collocational processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(2), 395–416. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wu, Y. J., & Thierry, G. (2010). Chinese-English bilinguals reading English hear Chinese. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(22), 7646–7651. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yamashita, J., & Jiang, N. (2010). L1 Influence on the acquisition of L2 collocations: Japanese ESL users and EFL learners acquiring English collocations. TESOL Quarterly, 44(4), 647–668. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zeng, T., Branigan, H. P., & Pickering, M. J. (2020). Do bilinguals represent between-language relationships beyond the word level in their lexicon? Journal of Neurolinguistics, 55, Article 100892. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, T., van Heuven, W. J. B., & Conklin, K. (2011). Fast automatic translation and morphological decomposition in Chinese-English bilinguals. Psychological Science, 22(10), 1237–1242. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhu, T., & Minda, J. P. (2021). An investigation of idiom processing advantage using translated familiar idioms. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie Expérimentale, 75(2), 162–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Fioravanti, Irene, Anna Siyanova‐Chanturia & Alessandro Lenci
2025. Collocation in the Mind: Investigating Collocational Priming in Second Language Speakers of Italian. Language Learning 75:1 ► pp. 179 ff. DOI logo
Ma, Le & Wei Hong
2025. How Do Congruency and L2 Proficiency Impact the Processing of Chinese L2 Collocations? Evidence From Different L1 Activation States. International Journal of Applied Linguistics DOI logo
Chen, Zhuo & Nan Fang
2024. Chinese EFL learners’ processing of English binomials: the role of interlexical and intralexical factors. Frontiers in Psychology 15 DOI logo
Kyriacou, Marianna & Franziska Köder
2024. Not Batting an Eye: Figurative Meanings of L2 Idioms Do Not Interfere with Literal Uses. Languages 9:1 ► pp. 32 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue