Cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual reading is item specific
Lallier M, Martin CD, Acha J, Carreiras M (2021). Cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual reading is item specific. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24, 891–901. https:// doi.org/10.1017/S1366728921000183
Abstract
The grain size of orthographic representations prompted by a consistent orthography (like
Spanish or Basque) increases if reading is simultaneously learned in another language with
an inconsistent orthography (like French). Here, we aimed to identify item properties that
trigger this grain-size accommodation in bilingual reading. Twenty-five French–Basque and
25 Spanish–Basque bilingual children attending Grade 3 read Basque words and pseudowords
containing “complex” letter clusters mapping to one sound in French but several sounds in
Basque or Spanish, and “simple” letter clusters mapping to the same sound structure in all
three languages. Only French speaking children read “complex” Basque words faster than
“simple” ones, suggesting that they accessed multi-letter “French” units to boost lexical processing.
A negative complexity effect was found for pseudowords across groups. We discuss
the existence of flexible cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual reading, proposing that the
grain size of orthographic representations adjusts to item-specific characteristics during
reading.