Understanding Spanish Gender Processing in Bilinguals
Author Information
Author(s): Ana T. Pérez-Leroux, Laura Colantoni, Danielle Thomas, Crystal H. Y. Chen
Primary Institution: University of Toronto
Hypothesis
How do heritage Spanish speakers process gender information in natural speech compared to adult Spanish-speaking immigrants?
Conclusion
Heritage speakers of Spanish show different patterns in processing gender information compared to adult immigrants, particularly in how they use gender-marked determiners and noun-final vowels.
Supporting Evidence
- Heritage speakers showed less fixation to feminine nouns during processing.
- Adult immigrants demonstrated a clearer advantage in using gender-marked determiners.
- Both groups exhibited differences in gaze behavior when processing alternating versus non-alternating nouns.
Takeaway
This study looks at how people who speak Spanish and English understand gender in words. It finds that those who learned Spanish at home and those who moved to Spanish-speaking countries process gender differently.
Methodology
The study used eye-tracking to analyze how participants processed gender information in Spanish nouns during natural speech.
Potential Biases
Potential biases may arise from the self-selection of participants and their language proficiency assessments.
Limitations
The study's findings may not generalize to all bilingual populations, as it focused on specific groups of heritage speakers and immigrants.
Participant Demographics
Participants included 17 adult heritage speakers of Spanish and 21 adult Spanish-speaking immigrants, with varying ages and language backgrounds.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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