Immersion in second language does not always attenuate and attrite first language: Evidence from Nepali–English bilinguals

Abstract

Aims and objectives:

The aims and objectives of the present research were to investigate and cross-check if immersion in a bilingual situation over a certain period of time had any modulatory effect on bilingual processing in an immigrant population. Then, main aim of the experiment was to test the performance in L1 in comparison to their L2.

Approach:

Theoretically, we tested two dominant bilingual processing theories—Bilingual Language Interaction Network for Comprehension of Speech (BLINCS) and Adaptive Control Hypothesis (ACH) in a parallel language activation paradigm using MouseTracker as a tool in a non-Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) population. Bilingual language comprehension was tested using “listen, look and click” lexical access task in mouse-tracking hand movement experiment in which participants listened to the spoken word and clicked on the matching picture on the computer screen, and bilingual language production was tested using both semantic and phonetic verbal fluency task.

Data and analysis:

Data were collected in a controlled situation from 55 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Nepal who were studying in a technical college in South India. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for Initiation Time and Response Time for mouse movement trajectories in lexical access task and, phonetic and semantic word production for verbal fluency task. Demographic profile and language measures of the participants were analyzed.

Findings:

Our results showed L2 immersion had no modulatory effect on bilingual processing. Irrespective of length of stay duration in a foreign country, the participants did not show much of processing difference in mouse initiation and response time in lexical access language comprehension mouse-tracking task. However, in language production task, the less immersed group produced more words in both phonetic and semantic fluency. Our study showed even an extended duration of L2 immersion is not detrimental to L1 mental lexicon.

Originality:

This is the first study of parallel language activation using mouse-tracking paradigm on Nepali–English bilingual population immersed in an L2 context in a foreign country.

Significance:

This study extends our earlier understanding of bilingual processing and also challenges the earlier claims of modulatory effect of L2 immersion on L1 by providing counter evidence to findings in previous studies.