A study of Cross-Language Repetition Priming on the Semantic Access of Chinese-English-Korean Trilinguals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65170/jtr.v1i2.23Keywords:
Trilingualism; Trilinguals; Semantic Access; Cross-Language Repetition Priming; Third Language ProficiencyAbstract
Against the backdrop of globalization driving a growing number of trilingual speakers, understanding the mechanisms of trilingual semantic access has emerged as a pivotal research direction in cognitive linguistics. Existing studies predominantly focus on Indo-European language combinations and explicit memory paradigms, leaving gaps in the exploration of mechanisms for "cross-family + multi-script" language combinations (e.g., Chinese-English-Korean) and comparative analyses across third language (L3) proficiency levels. To address this gap, the present study employed a cross-language repetition priming paradigm—characterized by high ecological validity—using 48 sets of Chinese-English-Korean translation equivalents as stimuli. Sixty-one native Chinese speakers, with English as their second language (L2) and Korean as their third language (L3), participated in semantic categorization and lexical decision tasks. The study aimed to investigate the roles of the first language (L1, Chinese) and L2 in L3 semantic access, as well as differences in access pathways across varying L3 proficiency levels. Results revealed three key findings: (1) L1 Chinese played a dynamic mediating role in L3 Korean semantic access; (2) L2 English exerted a stable mediating role in L3 Korean semantic access; (3) High-proficiency L3 learners accessed L3 semantics directly through the connection between L2 and concepts, whereas low-proficiency learners relied on dual mediation of both L1 and L2.These findings enrich research on trilingual semantic representation, extend bilingual theories to cross-family language contexts, and provide support for differentiated pedagogical strategies in third language instruction.
References
1. Alonso, J. G. (2012). Assessing multilingual lexical incorporation hypotheses through a primed picture-naming task. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 2(1), 91–107.https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.2.1.04gon DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.2.1.04gon
2. Bardel, C., & Falk, Y. (2012). The L2 status factor and the declarative/procedural distinction. In Third language acquisition in adulthood (pp. 61-78). John Benjamins Publishing Company.https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.46.06bar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.46.06bar
3. Chen, J., Zhang, C., Liu, X., & Cheng, R. (2018). The effect of L2 proficiency on English lexical semantic access in Tibetan-Chinese-English trilinguals. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 50(5), 727–737+801.
4. Chen, Y., & Wang, M. (2020). Semantic access of Chinese-English-German trilinguals in different modalities. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 52(4), 559–568+640.https://doi.org/10.19923/j.cnki.fltr.2020.04.007.
5. Cui, Z., & Zhang, J. (2009). A study on lexical and semantic representation in Tibetan-Chinese-English trilinguals. Psychological Science, 32(3), 559–562.
6. De Angelis, G. (2007). Third or additional language acquisition. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847690050 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847690050
7. Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33(2), 149–174. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1994.1008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1994.1008
8. Li, L., Mo, L., & Wang, R. (2008). Semantic access of the third language lexicon in proficient Chinese-English bilinguals. Acta Psychological Sinica, 40(5), 523–530. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2008.00523
9. Li, L., Wu, J., Chen, C., & Wang, R. (2013). Lexical access of non-target language in Chinese-English bilinguals under conceptual tasks. Journal of South China Normal University (Social Science Edition), 45(1), 50–54+158.
10. Li, L., Zhang, Y., Li, X., Guo, H., Wu, L., & Wang, R. (2016). Cross-language repetition priming effects in trilinguals' semantic access. Acta Psychological Sinica, 48(11), 1401–1409. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2016.01401 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2016.01401
11. Nation, I. S. P. (2008). 1. A study of the most frequent word families in the British National Corpus. In Vocabulary in a second language (pp. 3-13). John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.10.03nat
12. Potter, M. C., So, K.-f., von Eckardt, B., & Feldman, L. B. (1984). Lexical and conceptual representation in beginning and proficient bilinguals. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 23(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(84)90489-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(84)90489-4
13. Rebiguli · Baikeli, Lei, Z., & Wen, S. (2011). Conceptual representation characteristics of the less proficient third language in Uyghur trilinguals. Psychological Exploration, 31(2), 150–153.
14. Rebiguli · Baikeli, Wen, S., & Lei, Z. (2012). An experimental study on the semantic access model of three languages in Uyghur-Chinese-English trilinguals. Psychological Science, 35(2), 287–293.
15. Sun, X., & Li, W. (2014). A comparative study of semantic access mechanisms in different trilingual learners. Foreign Languages and Their Teaching, 36(3), 49–54.
16. Wang, R. M., Zhang, J. T., Li, L., & Mo, L. (2010). The role of bilinguals, second language in semantic access of third language. Journal of Psychological Science, 33(4), 853–856.
17. Wang, Z. (2016). Cross-language long-term repetition priming in Chinese-English-Japanese trilinguals. Modern Foreign Languages, 39(1), 64–73+146.
18. Wen, S., & Rebiguli·Baikeli. (2009). Characteristics of conceptual representation of the second language in proficient Uyghur-Chinese bilinguals. Psychological Exploration, 29(4), 65–67.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 You Ma; Hui Shi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
