Abstract: This chapter synthesises some of the main findings from research investigating cross-language influence (CLI) in Second Language (L2) and Third Language (L3) speech learning. In addition to an overview of the findings that have gathered growing consensus in the fields of L2 and L3 phonology, and how these results have been tested and explained in various theories of L2 speech, this chapter points to methodological and theoretical considerations discussed in three areas that hold promise for future research in L2 and L3 speech: (i) the relationship between L2/L3 speech perception and L2/L3 speech production, (ii) the acquisition of phonological processes vs. phonological contrasts, and (iii) the distinction between static and dynamic phonetic interactions in L2 and L3 speech.

Abstract: The interaction between the bilingual child’s two languages, coined as Cross-linguistic influence (CLI), is a well-reported phenomenon in bilingual language development. Although CLI has long dominated bilingualism research, issues about its nature (a representational change or by-product of language co-activation), timing and duration remain less well understood. Is CLI only observed during early bilingual development, and does it fade away as children grow older? Does it lead to qualitative and quantitative differences in language development between bilinguals and monolinguals? The present chapter addresses these questions by reviewing state-of-the-art studies reporting CLI in simultaneous and sequential bilingual children’s acquisition of morphology and syntax. We also discuss how extra-linguistic factors such as age of acquisition, dominance, input quality and quantity modulate CLI.

Abstract: Suppose we are good tennis players and want to learn to play ping-pong. Does the way we play tennis affect how we play ping-pong? Would we play ping-pong in the same way if we were not tennis experts? This was one of Albert’s recurring metaphors when drawing a line of thought toward language interactions in bilingual language processing. The argument behind the anecdote referred to what extent the sustained interaction between bilinguals’ two languages results in structural changes within the language network. This chapter aims to push the tennis metaphor one step further by asking whether playing tennis affects how we play football, a sport involving quite different skills. Bringing the sports metaphor into language, this chapter reviews interactions occurring between bilinguals’ two languages involving different articulatory and perceptual mechanisms, such as sign and oral languages. This chapter is then devoted to bimodal bilingualism, reviewing the most relevant results on cross-linguistic interactions across modalities.

Abstract: The present chapter provides a state-of-the-art review of research into cross-language influences in the processing of multi-word expressions (MWEs) in a second language (L2). Two lines of research are considered: first, how L2 speakers process congruent MWEs versus L2-only MWEs; second, how L2 speakers process L1-only MWEs translated into the L2 compared with control phrases. Studies have shown that congruent MWEs generally have a processing advantage over L2-only MWEs in L2 speakers. In contrast, evidence is mixed with regard to whether or not translated L1-only MWEs exhibit a processing advantage over matched controls in L2 speakers, with facilitation so far observed for idioms, but not for other types of MWEs. We consider possible reasons for these mixed findings.

Abstract: This chapter provides an overview of findings on cross-language influence in the phonetic and phonological domain in children exposed to two (or more) languages in early childhood. The chapter first summarizes theoretical models which have been used to account for cross-linguistic interaction. It then examines findings on speech perception and production. It reviews the acquisition of phonetic and prosodic contrasts, differentiation of acoustic features such as Voice Onset Time and rhythm, and development of syllable structure and segments. Finally, it addresses important themes in early bilingualism such as quantitative and qualitative aspects of language input, the influence of the lexicon, and differences between simultaneous and early sequential bilinguals.

Abstract: Abstract This chapter aims to acknowledge Prof. Albert Costa’s contribution to the research field of language anticipation in L2 readers/listeners. It starts with a brief introduction to contrasting psycholinguistic models regarding the issue of lexical pre-activation during language comprehension and it describes how the Event Related Potential (ERP) technique advanced the anticipation/integration debate in native (L1) speakers. Then, the first studies looking at lexical anticipation in a second language (L2) with ERPs conducted by Costa’s lab are reported. The following section describes the influence of Costa’s results in the debate on the pre-activation of the phonological form of predictable words, as well as how his original work developed into further work on lexical anticipation in L2 at sentence and discourse levels. Costa’s heritage extended to other linguistic aspects related to L2, like processing foreign-accented speech. The chapter ends with some conclusions and future directions.

Abstract: As with all aspects of L2 acquisition, the L1 has a marked influence on the acquisition of multiword expressions (MWEs). However, providing a unified framework to explain the L1’s influence on the acquisition of MWEs is challenging, particularly because MWEs vary in a number of ways. In this chapter, I begin by discussing various types of MWEs and how these can affect acquisition. I then move on to review research to date documenting the L1’s influence on L2 MWE acquisition before considering additional factors that have been shown to alter the effects of the L1. I conclude by calling for a holistic account of the acquisition of L2 MWEs that incorporates the influence of the L1 and other additional factors.

Abstract: We review how second language (L2) printed and spoken word recognition is affected by first language (L1) characteristics. First, sublexical word properties in bilingual word recognition are considered, in particular diacritical marks and Capital Letters in a script, script-specific letters, language-sensitive bigrams, and grapheme to phoneme correspondences (GPCs). Next, we focus on cross-language effects for words varying in orthographic neighbourhoods and morphological family size, cognates, and interlingual homographs. For both sublexical and lexical aspects, we examine if language membership information might be used to facilitate processing. Finally, we describe how cross-language similarities and differences play out during second language acquisition. A summary of sublexical and lexical cross-linguistic effects in L2 processing and acquisition concludes the chapter.

Abstract: The field of neuropsychology can contribute to bilingualism research from a multidisciplinary perspective that ranges from psycholinguistics and brain imaging studies. While the psycholinguistic approach provides the outlook on linguistic processes in experimental study of patients with brain damage, neural models define the underlying brain areas of such processes and help to predict language deficits in said patients. Current neural models of bilingualism do not provide accurate predictions of deficits in bilinguals with brain damage since they have not been tested in a systematic way. However, they do offer a roadmap for the underlying cognitive and linguistic processes of bilingual language control and speech production. In this chapter, I propose how a neurolinguistic approach to bilingualism might be implemented in neuropsychology by including: (a) the application of traditional methods of cognitive (neuro)psychology to the field of bilingualism, such as dissociations, (b) the use of psycholinguistic methods, and (c) how neurodegenerative diseases may be a neuropsychological paradigm in which one can study bilingual language processes.

Abstract: This section briefly summarizes Albert Costa’s main scientific contributions and introduces the main themes elaborated in the nine chapters comprised in this volume. These chapters review the main theories and most recent findings related to bilingual language representation and selection in a broad sense. They cover topics like the temporal dynamics of lexical access and selection in monolinguals and bilinguals, the neurolinguistics of language control, bimodal bilingualism, lexical anticipation, lexical and syntactic alignment, or the foreign-language effect. All chapters who are written by internationally renowned researchers and experts that collaborated with Prof. Costa in developing new (often pioneering) research. Together, they provide a broad overview of the state of the art in the psycholinguistics of bilingualism. They present thought-provoking inquiries and point to future challenges and new research directions related to each topic.

Abstract: In this chapter, we review the literature on how foreign-accented speech modulates cognitive processes related to language comprehension and describe the interactions between native and non-native speakers. First, we focus on how language comprehension processes are modulated when native listeners listen to foreign-accented speakers. Whilst the results about acoustic-phonetic and syntactic processing are relatively consistent throughout the literature on the subject, there is currently a debate on what the effects of foreign-accented speech are on lexical-semantic processing. Secondly, we analyze the literature on how foreign listeners process foreign-accented speech, a field of research that has grown recently. Then, we discuss how native and non-native speakers align with one another during verbal interactions. Finally, we examine the cognitive biases that native listeners show when interacting with non-native speakers that modulate social cognition processes.

Abstract: Abstract Semantically driven lexical access in spoken language production is the process of transposing a communicative intention into phono-articulatory codes. At each stage of processing, from lexical-semantic retrieval through to phono-articulatory processing, more representations are active than are minimally necessary to produce the target word. In recognition of that fact, research over the past three decades has been driven by a (putative) need to answer a core question: How is conflict resolved at the lexical level? The ‘standard view’ involves some form of the idea that selection of the target word is governed by a stochastic process implemented via a biased competition mechanism, with the nature of the ‘bias’ differing quite widely across proposals. Here we argue that the standard view is out of synchrony with a range of findings; interestingly, and as a matter of historical precedent, a number of those findings pre-date the earliest formulations of the standard view. Stepping back, we argue for a new approach to framing the question of word retrieval: no mechanism is needed to resolve conflict at the lexical level, because there is no conflict at the lexical level. Selection occurs at the semantic/message level. After selection of the intended meaning representation, the next opportunity in the processing pathway to re-evaluate which word to produce is at the level of the pre-articulatory response monitor. We refer to this as a ‘ballistic’ model of word retrieval to emphasize there is no uncertainty about the identity of the target word at the lexical level, and that retrieval of the correct representation at that level can be sped up, but not slowed down.

Abstract: Abstract Most theories of bilingual word recognition and production assume parallel, on-line activation of both languages, even in one-language contexts. A considerable amount of the evidence for parallel activation comes from the study of translation equivalents with similar form and meaning across two languages (cognates), which bilinguals process differently to translation equivalents with no form similarity across languages (non-cognates). The on-line account has been queried by Costa et al. (2017) , who suggest that the cognate effect can be explained by learning: on-line cross-talk during second language acquisition would lead to different representations for cognates compared to non-cognates in the bilingual mental lexicon. In this chapter, we focus on these two hypothesised origins of the cognate effect and consider the extent to which cognate effects can be explained by learning and on-line activation.

Abstract: This chapter focusses on models of language production and the temporal organization of the processes involved in lexical access. Albert Costa contributed significantly to advancing our understanding of lexical access. Through the investigation of multilingual speakers, he added an important dimension to this discussion. Here, we provide a discussion of discrete and cascaded/interactive accounts of lexical access and summarize some of the crucial experimental evidence that has been offered for and against these different theories, roughly over the years when Albert contributed to these debates. We will also discuss whether or not lexical selection is competitive and what research on multilingual speech production contributed to our knowledge on lexical access. The discussion is mainly restricted to behavioral data, with some references to electrophysiological studies. We conclude that considering the experimental evidence a strict version of discrete processing models is difficult to maintain. Research on bilingual language production has made important contributions to the discussion, however, the picture is not yet complete.

Abstract: This chapter is dedicated to the contribution of the theoretical review of Costa, Pickering, and Sorace (2008) to our understanding of alignment in second-language dialogue, or, more broadly, conversations involving at least one less proficient speaker. We first briefly describe the review’s foundation, the Interactive Alignment Account, and some of its theoretical considerations. We then highlight the main hypotheses put forward by Costa et al. (2008), following each with subsequently obtained relevant evidence. As proposed by these authors, the emerging picture is indeed one in which second-language dialogue is characterized by enhanced non-automatic alignment and, in some cases, reduced automatic alignment, with important roles of audience design, second-language proficiency, and modeling behavior. While recent advances have been made in this area, some of Costa et al.’s (2008) hypotheses have not been tested, and some have produced conflicting evidence; we thus end with a list of research questions aimed to inspire future work on this topic.

Abstract: Professor Albert Costa (1972-2018) was one of the most influential scholars in the fields of psycholinguistics and bilingualism. This book provides a faithful look at the most relevant lines of research in which he worked during his academic career. Written by some of his close collaborators and friends, the book presents a coherent summary of the most relevant psycholinguistic theories on language processing and bilingualism, including critical reviews to current models of lexical access, the representation of cognate words, neurolinguistic models of bilingualism, cross-linguistic effects in bimodal bilinguals (sign language), prediction processes and linguistic alignment in bilinguals, the influence of foreign-language effects in social cognition and the effects of bilingualism in emotion and decision making processing. This volume is a tribute to Prof. Costa and his work, and is born from a deep love and respect for his way of approaching the science of multilingualism from a psycholinguistic perspective.

Abstract: There is evidence that the emotional reactivity in a foreign language is reduced as compared to native languages. This differential emotional reactivity has effects in various cognitive domains, as revealed by the so-called foreign language effect on decision-making. This opens doors to the potential use of foreign languages in scenarios where a modulation of the role of emotional involvement would be desirable, like conflict resolution, healthy choices, or psychotherapy. The current chapter focuses on whether fear acquisition and extinction can be modulated by the language context in which people are set. With the lead of Prof Albert Costa, we explored whether this emotional distance could modulate fear conditioning and fear extinction, essential mechanisms for the understanding and treatment of different mental disorders. Our findings provided evidence that certain verbal conditioning processes may be affected by language context, opening the avenue to the potential use of a foreign language in clinical contexts.

Abstract: Over the last decades, a variety of verbal models have been proposed to account for empirical findings on bilingual word processing and second language (L2) acquisition. However, in these domains only a small number of computational models have seen the light, including localist connectionist models like the Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA) model (Dijkstra & van Heuven, 1998; van Heuven et al., 1998), the Bilingual Interactive Activation + (BIA+) model (Dijkstra & van Heuven, 2002), and Multilink(+) (Dijkstra et al., 2019; 2022a). In this chapter, we review structural and processing characteristics of these models, such as input coding, lateral inhibition, word frequency, language nodes, and task demands. Finally, advantages and limitations of current computational models are discussed.

Abstract: Several decades of reading research in bilinguals have revealed evidence for cross-language influences on the visual recognition of simple words (e.g., farm). However, comparatively little is known about cross-language transfer mechanisms involved when reading morphologically complex words (e.g., farmer or farmhouse). In this chapter, we provide a review of studies examining the processing of affixed and compound words in bilinguals, with a particular focus on studies directly targeting cross-language transfer. The key findings support the idea that bilinguals rapidly and simultaneously activate the morphological features in both of their languages during the early, automatic stages of visual word recognition. Implications for theoretical models of morphological processing in bilinguals and future directions are discussed.