Lecture 11

Psycholinguistics
Lecture 11
Applied Linguistics
BBN-ANG-261
Brózik-Piniel, Katalin
ELTE-DEAL
Overview
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Definition and scope
The brain and language
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Language acquisition revisited
Language production
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Speech production models
Bilingual speech production
Language comprehension
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Functional areas of the brain
Memory
Bottom-up
Top-down
Language loss
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Definition and scope (1)
“Psycholinguistics is sometimes defined
as the study of language and the
mind. As the name suggests, it is a
subject which links psychology and
linguistics. The common aim of all who
call themselves psycholinguists is to
find out about the structures and
processes which underlie a human’s
ability to speak and understand
language.” (Aitchison, 2008, p. 1)
Definition and scope (2)
Psycholinguistics investigates the
following:
How are languages learnt?
 How is language produced?
 How is language comprehended?
 How are languages forgotten?
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Definition and scope (3)
Diachronic
Synchronic
Synthesis
Acquisition
Production
Analysis
Dissolution
Comprehension
Functional areas of the brain (1)
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Functional areas of the brain (2)
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Broca’s area is responsible for the production
of words and sentences.
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Wernicke’s area for the processing of most
speech and language.
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“Any particular linguistic function ... relies on the
simultaneous activation of multiple, disparate
cortical areas” (Rohkamm, 2004, p. 124).
Experiment
Study the following list of words for
30 seconds and try to remember the
words that appear in it.
 Write down the words you recall.
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List

smell

both

edge

plant

worst

throw
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really
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science
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choose
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break
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straight
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quite
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twelve
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lunch
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part
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cheap
Memory (1)
Working memory (WM, previously:
short-term memory)
 Long-term memory (LTM)
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Memory (2)
Working memory
Has limited capacity
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Phonological loop:
a)
b)
phonological store
rehearsal mechanism
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
 Central Executive:
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directs operations
chunks information (7±2 pieces of information)
replaces verbatim information with abstract propositions
transfers important information to LTM before it decays
determines attention (if form-meaning connections become
automatic, less attention is needed)
Language
acquisition revisited
6
Language acquisition (1)
Exemplar view
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Linguistics knowledge is constructed on the
basis of traces of multiple encounters with
the features in question (examples) stored in
the LTM (Bybee, & Hopper, 2001).

Language acquisition is emergent: it consists
of accumulating random samples (or
examples) of language and generalizing
across them.
Language acquisition (2)
L1
Crying
Cooing (2 mths)
Babbling (6 mths)
Idiomorphs (12 mths)
Single word sentences
(12-18 mths)
Creative use (UG)
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Language acquisition (3)
Skills-based cognitive approach
Transformation of declarative
knowledge (i.e., knowing that) into
procedural knowledge (i.e., knowing
how)
Connectionist (cognitive) approach
learning is strengthening connections
between neurones (“she” + “s”)
Language acquisition (4)
Processability Theory (Multidimensional model of LA)
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Language acquisition (5)
Processability theory
 Procedures at the lower levels are
prerequisites for the processes at
the higher levels.
 Consequently, the order of
production is the same as the order
of acquisition.
Language acquisition (6)
Basic assumptions on L2 acquisition:
Shared cognitive processes (cf. L1)
 Same cognitive resources available
 Acquisition mechanisms are universal
across languages
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Language production
Language production models (1)
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Monolingual models of speech
production
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Spreading activation models
Modular models
(New approaches: convergence of the
two (Kormos, 2006))
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Language production models (2)
Spreading activation models
 Activation process: many cues are
considered, but the ones that fit the
evidence best will be chosen
 On encountering one word, closely
linked words are also activated
 Allow for parallel processing at the
various levels
Language production models (3)
Modular models of speech production
 Consists of processing components that
are relatively independent within the
system
 Information processing flows from one
module to the next
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Language production models (4)
Levelt’s model
 Conceptualiser: planning the message, deciding on the
meaning one wants to convey.
 Syntactic, lexical and phonological encoding of the
message:
 Grammatical encoding: syntactic frame, selection of
lexical item (from the mental lexicon) that matches the
concept
 Phonological encoding: string of words
 Phonetic encoding: adjustments to make articulation
easier
 Articulator: production of speech sounds
 Self-monitoring: checking the correctness and
appropriateness of the produced output
(Levelt, 1999)
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
Four steps of speech production
according to Levelt (1999):
Conceptualization
 Formulation
 Articulation
 Monitoring
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Evidence for lemma (semantic and
syntactic information) and lexeme
(phonological information) distinction:
tip of the tongue phenomenon
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Which animal is easier to name in English
for a Hungarian speaker?
KEDD
KUTYA
Which object is easier to name in
English for a Hungarian speaker?
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Other phenomena that reveal
how we formulate messages
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Spoonerisms: slips of the tongue in
which an actual word or phrase is
created often with a humorous twist
to the intended meaning.
William Spooner (Victorian cleric and teacher):
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”You noble tons of soil”
”You have hissed all of my mystery lectures; in
fact you have tasted the whole worm!”
Bilingual speech production (1)
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Does the activation of L1 items spread over
to the phonological level? Yes.(codeswitching – psycholinguistically motivated)
Are only L2 items activated in the lexicon,
or do L1 items also receive activation?
Both. (Subset hypothesis, cognates)
Are there parallel speech plans? No, each
concept is labelled with a [language] tag (de
Bot & Schreuder, 1993).
Are there separate semantic and
conceptual levels of representation in the
bilingual lexicon? We don’t know.
(Kormos, 2006)
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Bilingual speech production (2)
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L2 learners’ knowledge of the target
language is rarely complete; therefore,
they have to resort to communication
strategies.
In bilingual speech production, there is an
effect of the “other” language (mostly L1).
Slower L2 production: L1 speech
production mechanisms can run in parallel
when producing L1 speech, but speech
production is only partially automatic in L2
(Kormos, 2006)
speech production.
Bilingual speech production (3)
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Decision which language to speak is made during
planning the message.
A language cue is added to concepts.
L1 and L2 words are stored in a common mental
lexicon.
L1 and L2 lexical entries compete for selection.
Syntactic information related to L2 words is stored
separately.
Syntactic processing (in L2) is often conscious.
L2 speakers often substitute similar L1 phonemes
with L2 phonemes.
L1 and L2 phonemes are probably stored together.
Articulation mechanisms are almost impossible to
modify after the critical period.
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Language
comprehension
Comprehension: Bottom up (1)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Vocal cords and the mouth produce a
sound wave.
Sound wave is picked up in our ears
and is translated into a neural signal.
(Voice Onset Timing)
Brain translates the neural signal into
phonemes.
Phonemes are combined to form
words.(Lexical segmentation)
Words combine to form sentences.
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Comprehension: Bottom-up (2)
Logogen model of comprehension:
when hearing/seeing a word a lexical
detection device (recognition unit) is
activated for that word (in concert with
others contributing to comprehension)
(Scovel, 1998)
Comprehension: Bottom-up (3)
The shortlist model of word recognition (Norris, 1994, 2005)
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Comprehension: Bottom-up (4)

Text: mental model
John was on his way to school.
 He was terribly worried about the
maths lesson.
 Last week, he had been unable to
control the class.
 It was unfair of the teacher to leave
him in charge.
 After all, it’s not usually part of a
caretaker’s duties.

(Field, 2003, p. 82)
Comprehension: Top-down (1)
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Phoneme restoration effect:
 It was found that the _eel was on the axle.
 It was found that the _eel was on the shoe.
 It was found that the _eel was on the
orange.
(Scovel, 1998, p. 51)
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Comprehension: Top-down (2)
Recognition of sounds
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Listeners are often unaware of the missing
phoneme and are able to understand the
sentence and report “hearing” the complete
word.
Consequences: context influences word
perception.
It is lexical context that influences
perception of phonemes and not the
sentence context.
Comprehension: Top-down (3)
Recognition of words
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Words that are frequent are recognized more
quickly than words that are infrequent.
People are quicker to decide that a given
target is a word than to recognize it as a
nonword.
Words in context are recognized more quickly
than isolated words.
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Comprehension: Top-down (4)
Are the following sentences true or false?
Please, raise your hand as soon as you
know the answer:
1.
It’s true that Wednesday always comes
after a day that is a Tuesday.
2.
It’s not true that Wednesday never
comes after a day that’s not a Tuesday.
Comprehension: Top-down (5)
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Texts: schema framework
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You have 15 seconds to read the untitled passage that follows.

“You wander around, looking high and low, and fill up a
metallic container. Some people know in advance what to put
in; others just make things up as they go along. Two
important tips. Make sure that you know what today’s date is,
as it can prove helpful. And don’t put hard things on soft. Take
the container and unload it on to a rubber surface. The
contents travel a short distance. Each of the objects, round
and square, big and small, has to be put on to a piece of
glass. Sometimes weight will be an issue, and money will
certainly have to change hands.”
(Field, 2003, p. 41)
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Comprehension: Top-down (6)

Texts: schema framework
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Title: “In the supermarket”

“You wander around, looking high and low, and fill up a
metallic container. Some people know in advance what to put
in; others just make things up as they go along. Two
important tips. Make sure that you know what today’s date is,
as it can prove helpful. And don’t put hard things on soft. Take
the container and unload it on to a rubber surface. The
contents travel a short distance. Each of the objects, round
and square, big and small, has to be put on to a piece of
glass. Sometimes weight will be an issue, and money will
certainly have to change hands.”
(Field, 2003, p. 41)
Language loss
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Language attrition (1)

Language attrition: the loss of
linguistic abilities.

Language loss can take various
forms depending on what
language is lost and in what
environment.
Language attrition (2)
Types of language loss (van Els)
what is lost (L1/L2)
 where it is lost (in L1 or L2 environment)

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Language attrition (3)
van Els: Taxonomy of possible attrition
Language environment
(L1)
Language environment
(L2)
L1
loss
L1
(e.g., aphasia)
L1
(e.g., minority communities
or immigrants)
L2
loss
L2
(e.g., language learners)
L2
(e.g., older immigrants who
revert to their L1)
Language attrition (4)
Variables affecting language
attrition:
 Age
 Level of Proficiency
 Literacy
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Language attrition research (1)
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The higher the degree of attainment the lower the degree
of attrition.
Major forgetting occurs in the first five years following
training; what remains is immune to loss for about 20-30
years.
Reading and listening skills are forgotten less than
speaking and writing.
The most remarkable change is in oral fluency.
Vocabulary is forgotten more easily than grammar.
Language attrition does not mean complete forgetting but
that the information learnt is not accessible any more.
What one knew earlier is easier to relearn than learning
completely new information.
Questions
What is working memory?
 What is a lemma?
 What is a cognate?
 What types of attrition can we talk
about?
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