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Article published In: Conceptual transfer, (re)conceptualisation and other cognitive aspects of crosslinguistic influence in L2 acquisition
Edited by Cecilia Gunnarsson-Largy
[Language, Interaction and Acquisition 14:1] 2023
► pp. 127–166

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The impact of the cognitive effects of L1 orthographic depth and morphological complexity on L2 French morphographic processing

ORCiD logo with link | Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès
 | Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès
 | Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès
Published online: 27 October 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.22013.ser
Abstract
Orthographic depth has been shown to influence the default orthographic processing mechanisms. However, the question of the impact of L1 orthographic depth on the processing of L2 orthography is still open. Crucially, current studies on orthographic depth tend to focus on the processing of simple words and do not consider other factors that interact with orthographic depth, such as morphological complexity. Our study is a preliminary investigation of whether the processing of L2 written inflected words shows crosslinguistic cognitive transfer effects of L1 orthographic depth and L1 morphological complexity. We focus on homophonic vs. heterophonic French subject-verb agreement (arrive / arrivent [aʁiv] (‘arrives’ (3sg) / ‘arrive’ (3pl)) vs. part [paʁ] / partent [paʁt] (‘leaves’ (3sg) / ‘leave’ (3pl)) in two groups of experienced L2 French learners whose L1 is Spanish or Italian (both exhibiting shallow orthography and complex morphology) vs. English (exhibiting deep orthography and simple morphology). Results suggest that during the processing of L2 written inflected words, L2 learners whose L1 is morphologically complex with shallow orthography rely more on orthography-oriented morphological (sub-lexical) processing; whilst L2 learners whose L1 is morphologically simple with deep orthography rely more on phonology-oriented lexical processing.
Résumé
La question de l’impact de la profondeur orthographique de la L1 sur le traitement de l’écrit en L2 reste ouverte. La plupart des études sur ce sujet se focalisent sur le traitement des mots simples et ne prennent pas en compte l’interaction entre la profondeur orthographique et la complexité morphologique. Dans cette étude exploratoire, nous nous demandons si des effets translinguistiques de transfert cognitif attribuables à la profondeur orthographique et à la complexité morphologique de la L1 émergent lors du traitement écrit de mots fléchis en L2. Nous nous focalisons sur le traitement de l’accord sujet-verbe homophonique vs. hétérophonique (arrive / arrivent [aʁiv] vs. part [paʁ] / partent [paʁt]) en français L2, auprès de deux groupes d’apprenants experts ayant une L1 à orthographe transparente et à morphologie complexe, l’espagnol ou l’italien, vs. une L1 à orthographe profonde et à morphologie simple, l’anglais. Les résultats renvoient à un transfert cognitif, lors du traitement écrit des mots fléchis en L2, des mécanismes cognitifs développés en fonction de la profondeur orthographique et de la complexité morphologique de la L1. Les apprenants ayant une L1 à orthographe transparente et à morphologie complexe semblent s’appuyer majoritairement sur la voie sub-lexicale et sur la forme orthographique des mots. En revanche, les apprenants ayant une L1 à orthographe profonde et à morphologie simple semblent s’appuyer majoritairement sur la voie lexicale et sur la forme phonologique des mots.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Orthographic depth and transfer effects
    • 2.2Orthographic depth and morphological processing
    • 2.3French verb morphography (subject-verb agreement) and L2 processing
  • 3.The current study
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Sentences and target items
    • 3.3Tasks
    • 3.4Procedure
    • 3.5Data treatment and analyses
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Overall agreement performance and crosslinguistic differences
    • 4.2Inflection audibility and crosslinguistic effects
    • 4.3Qualitative analysis of non-canonical sentences
      • 4.3.1Structure modification
      • 4.3.2Verb form alteration
  • 5.Discussion
    • Morphographic performance in L2 French learners (statistical analyses)
    • Morphographic behavior in non-canonical sentences (qualitative analysis)
    • Morphographic performance in L1 French writers vs. L2 French learners
  • 6.Conclusions and future research
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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