Eye-tracking studies of bilingual word processing, context, and executive function

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Bilingualism and multilingualism are substantially more prevalent globally than monolingualism, yet the vast majority of psycholinguistic research is based upon studies of monolingual people. One major challenge that bilinguals face is that they must acquire and represent all material required for at least two languages while flexibly determining when and how to use that knowledge. Early work indicated that bilinguals selectively access words from a language currently in use. However, compelling evidence now shows that bilinguals also access words in other known languages that look or sound similar to what is encountered. Although non-selective access, as it is termed, is widely accepted, its extent and scope remain unclear. For example, how does non-selective access in the face of cross-language ambiguity compare to within-language lexical ambiguity, how is it influenced by sentence or task context, how does it relate to individual differences in proficiency or other cognitive capacities, and does it also apply to spoken language? Answers to these questions are at the heart of current bilingual language processing models, such as BIA+ and BIMOLA. I propose to investigate questions regarding bilingual lexical processing using a highly sensitive measure of comprehension - eye movement recordings. Eye movement recording studies have important advantages over traditional psycholinguistic tasks, specifically, language processing is more natural and a range of measures can be examined that provide information about the early and later stages of comprehension simultaneously. I will address three interdependent questions in this work. First, how do bilingual adults comprehend words in semantic and non-semantic contexts while reading sentences? Second, how do bilingual adults comprehend words in context during spoken language, using the Visual World Paradigm? Finally, do individual differences in executive function correlate with critical comprehension measures obtained in these experiments? This research will advance our understanding of bilingual language processing and the cognitive capacities that modulate comprehension, thus leading to more globally realistic models of human language function.