Papers by Katarzyna Jankowiak
Language and Linguistics Compass, 2021
Recently, much psycholinguistic research has been devoted to examining cognitive mechanisms engag... more Recently, much psycholinguistic research has been devoted to examining cognitive mechanisms engaged in language processing in the bilingual context, as this might provide in-depth insights into how different languages interact with one another as well as how and to what extent language competence affects cognition. At the same time, along with such a growing interest in studying bilingual populations, psycholinguistics as a discipline has been rapidly developing owing to the more and more widespread use of physiological research methods. Particularly, electroencephalography (EEG) has received much scholarly attention, as it can elucidate the exact time course of language processing. The present contribution explores current trends in EEG research on bilingual language processing and discusses how event-related potential (ERP) studies and their findings have been extended from the monolingual to the bilingual context. To this end, the paper discusses selected ERP experiments into language co-activation across different modalities, bilingual executive control, electrophysiological correlates of new meaning construction, neural changes accompanying foreign language learning, and the automaticity of emotional responding in bilingual speakers.
Electrophysiological insights into the role of proficiency in bilingual novel and conventional metaphor processing
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
While novel and conventional metaphor comprehension has received much attention in the monolingua... more While novel and conventional metaphor comprehension has received much attention in the monolingual context, thus far little electrophysiological research has been conducted with a view to examining how bilingual speakers process metaphors in their non-native language (L2) as well as how L2 proficiency level might modulate such processes. The present study aims to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of novel and conventional metaphor comprehension in intermediate and advanced Chinese-English bilingual speakers. The participants performed a semantic decision task to English (L2) novel metaphoric, conventional metaphoric, literal, and anomalous word pairs. The results showed a graded N400 effect from literal utterances, to conventional metaphors, novel metaphors, and finally to anomalous utterances in both groups of participants, indicating that both types of metaphors were more cognitively taxing than literal utterances, irrespectively of L2 proficiency level. Additionally...
Applied Psycholinguistics
Previous translation process research has pointed to an increased cognitive load when translating... more Previous translation process research has pointed to an increased cognitive load when translating metaphoric compared to literal language. Yet, studies conducted thus far have not examined the role of translation direction (i.e., L1–L2 vs. L2–L1) in novel metaphor translation and have not tested whether and how this process might be modulated by the linguistic form of a novel meaning. In the present study, Polish (L1) – English (L2) translation students translated novel nominal metaphors (A is B), novel similes (A is like B), and literal sentences, in either L1–L2 or L2–L1 translation directions, while their translation behavior was recorded using a keystroke logging method. The results revealed longer translation durations for both metaphors and similes relative to literal utterances. Furthermore, we found slower translation times for novel nominal metaphors compared to novel similes and literal sentences, yet only in the L2–L1 translation direction. Such results might indicate tha...
Metaphors are like lenses: Electrophysiological correlates of novel meaning processing in bilingualism
International Journal of Bilingualism
Aims and objectives: The study provides new insights into how bilingual speakers process semantic... more Aims and objectives: The study provides new insights into how bilingual speakers process semantically complex novel meanings in their native (L1) and non-native language (L2). Methodology: The study employs an EEG method with a semantic decision task to novel nominal metaphors, novel similes, as well as literal and anomalous sentences presented in participants’ L1 and L2. Data and analysis: In total, 29 native speakers of Polish (L1) who were highly proficient in English (L2) took part in the study. The collected EEG signal was analyzed in terms of an event-related potential analysis. The statistical analyses were based on behavioral data (reaction times and accuracy rates) as well as mean amplitudes for the four conditions in the two languages within the N400 and LPC time windows. Findings: The results revealed the N400 effect of utterance type modulated by language nativeness, where the brainwaves for anomalous sentences, novel nominal metaphors, and novel similes converged in L2,...
Teaching learning guide for: Current trends in electrophysiological research on bilingual language processing
Language and Linguistics Compass
The two studies reported in the article provide normative measures for 120 novel nominal metaphor... more The two studies reported in the article provide normative measures for 120 novel nominal metaphors, 120 novel similes, 120 literal sentences, and 120 anomalous utterances in Polish (Study 1) and in English (Study 2). The presented set is ideally suited to addressing methodological requirements in research on metaphor processing. The critical (sentence-final) words of each utterance were controlled for in terms of their frequency per million, number of letters and syllables. For each condition in each language, the following variables are reported: cloze probability, meaningfulness, metaphoricity, and familiarity, whose results confirm that the sentences are well-matched. Consequently, the present paper provides materials that can be employed in order to test the new as well as existing theories of metaphor comprehension. The results obtained from the series of normative tests showed the same pattern in both studies, where the comparison structure present in similes (i.e., A is like B) facilitated novel metaphor comprehension, as compared to categorical statements (i.e., A is B). It therefore indicates that comparison mechanisms might be engaged in novel meaning construction irrespectively of language-specific syntactic rules.
Polish Psychological Bulletin 49(4), 475–481, 2018
Investigating human emotions empirically is still considered to be challenging, mostly due to the... more Investigating human emotions empirically is still considered to be challenging, mostly due to the questionable validity of the results obtained when employing individual types of measures. Among the most frequently used methods to study emotional reactions are self-report, autonomic, neurophysiological, and behavioral measures. Importantly, previous studies on emotional responding have rarely triangulated the aforementioned research methods. In this paper we discuss main methodological considerations related to the use of physiological and self-report measures in emotion studies, based on our previous research on the processing of emotionally-laden narratives in the native and non-native language, where we employed the SUPIN S30 questionnaire as a self-report tool, and galvanic skin response (GSR) as a physiological measure (Jankowiak & Korpal, 2018). The findings revealed a more pronounced reaction to stimuli presented in the native relative to the non-native language, which was however reflected only in GSR patterns. The lack of correlation between GSR and SUPIN scores might have resulted from a number of methodological considerations, such as social desirability bias, sensitive questions, lack of emotional self-awareness, compromised ecological validity, and laboratory anxiety, all of which are thoroughly discussed in the article.
Though previous research has shown a decreased sensitivity to emotionally-laden linguistic stimul... more Though previous research has shown a decreased sensitivity to emotionally-laden linguistic stimuli presented in the non-native (L2) compared to the native language (L1), studies conducted thus far have not examined how different modalities influence bilingual emotional language processing. The present experiment was therefore aimed at investigating how late proficient Polish (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals process emotionally-laden narratives presented in L1 and L2, in the visual and auditory modality. To this aim, we employed the galvanic skin response (GSR) method and a self-report measure (Polish adaptation of the PANAS questionnaire). The GSR findings showed a reduced galvanic skin response to L2 relative to L1, thus suggesting a decreased reactivity to emotional stimuli in L2. Additionally, we observed a more pronounced skin conductance level to visual than auditory stimuli, yet only in L1, which might be accounted for by a self-reference effect that may have been modulated by both language and modality.
Though metaphoric language comprehension has previously been investigated with event-related pote... more Though metaphoric language comprehension has previously been investigated with event-related potentials, little attention has been devoted to extending this research from the monolingual to the bilingual context. In the current study, late proficient unbalanced Polish (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals performed a semantic decision task to novel metaphoric, conventional metaphoric, literal, and anomalous word pairs presented in L1 and L2. The results showed more pronounced P200 amplitudes to L2 than L1, which can be accounted for by differences in the subjective frequency of the native and non-native lexical items. Within the early N400 time window (300–400 ms), L2 word dyads evoked delayed and attenuated amplitudes relative to L1 word pairs, possibly indicating extended lexical search during foreign language processing, and weaker semantic interconnectivity for L2 compared to L1 words within the memory system. The effect of utterance type was observed within the late N400 time window (400–500 ms), with smallest amplitudes evoked by literal, followed by conventional metaphoric, novel metaphoric, and anomalous word dyads. Such findings are interpreted as reflecting more resource intensive cognitive mechanisms governing novel compared to conventional metaphor comprehension in both the native and non-native language. Within the late positivity time window (500–800 ms), Polish novel metaphors evoked reduced amplitudes relative to literal utterances. In English, on the other hand, this effect was observed for both novel and conventional metaphoric word dyads. This finding might indicate continued effort in information retrieval or access to the non-literal route during novel metaphor comprehension in L1, and during novel and conventional metaphor comprehension in L2. Altogether, the present results point to decreased automaticity of cognitive mechanisms engaged in non-native and non-dominant language processing, and suggest a decreased sensitivity to the levels of conventionality of metaphoric meanings in late proficient unbalanced bilingual speakers.
Event related potentials (ERPs) have frequently been employed to investigate language comprehensi... more Event related potentials (ERPs) have frequently been employed to investigate language comprehension. One of the best researched language-related ERP components is the N400, which is sensitive to various linguistic factors (e.g. plausibility, word frequency, predictability, word-level associations), and is therefore commonly referred to as an index of lexico-semantic memory. Systematic research into electrophysiological indexes of lexico-semantic processing in bilingualism and its comparison with existing monolingual research remains a crucial research avenue. The following review synthesizes the literature on the N400 effects observed in bilingual language comprehension studies in the context of selected models of bilingual lexico-semantic processing (i.e. RHM, BIA+), points to potential reasons behind some contradictory results, presents current trends in ERP bilingual research, identifies gaps in this area of research, and, finally, proposes future research directions.
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Papers by Katarzyna Jankowiak