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Bilingualism in Multimodal Language Processing: A priming study on processing of gestures in English temporal expressions

Holmer, Sonja LU (2023) KOGM20 20231
Cognitive Science
Abstract
At its core, language is multimodal (Kendon, 1986; McNeill, 1994), and information presented through different channels
of information, such as visually, in the shape of gestures, or verbally, in the shape of speech or signs, together facilitate online language processing (Kelly, Healey, Özyürek, & Holler, 2015; Kelly, Özyürek, & Maris, 2010). This thesis extends previous studies on multimodal processing (Kelly et al., 2015) into the domain of TIME, and additionally investigates the influence of bilingualism on integration of speech and gestures in a priming experiment. The task of 75 monolingual speakers of English and 75 English-Mandarin Chinese bilingual participants was to decide whether a written prime (PAST or FUTURE) was related to... (More)
At its core, language is multimodal (Kendon, 1986; McNeill, 1994), and information presented through different channels
of information, such as visually, in the shape of gestures, or verbally, in the shape of speech or signs, together facilitate online language processing (Kelly, Healey, Özyürek, & Holler, 2015; Kelly, Özyürek, & Maris, 2010). This thesis extends previous studies on multimodal processing (Kelly et al., 2015) into the domain of TIME, and additionally investigates the influence of bilingualism on integration of speech and gestures in a priming experiment. The task of 75 monolingual speakers of English and 75 English-Mandarin Chinese bilingual participants was to decide whether a written prime (PAST or FUTURE) was related to different temporal expressions in English. The temporal expressions were accompanied by a matched or mismatched gesture along the sagittal line (front to back). Response accuracy and response times were analysed with two Bayesian generalised linear mixed models. Gesture (mis)match was shown to have an effect on response time (mismatched trials were predicted to have longer response times of approx. 150 ms). Accuracy, on the other hand, was not influenced by gesture (mis)match. No certain effect of bilingualism was found for response accuracy, nor response time. An interaction effect between gesture (mis)match and bilingualism was not found either. This study therefore fails to show any effect of bilingualism on multimodal language processing, but provides further support for the integrated-systems hypothesis, according to which gesture and speech are integrated automatically and early in language comprehension. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Holmer, Sonja LU
supervisor
organization
course
KOGM20 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
bilingualism, multimodal language processing, gesture, abstract language, integrated systems hypothesis
language
English
id
9136813
date added to LUP
2023-09-14 10:46:18
date last changed
2023-09-14 10:46:18
@misc{9136813,
  abstract     = {{At its core, language is multimodal (Kendon, 1986; McNeill, 1994), and information presented through different channels
of information, such as visually, in the shape of gestures, or verbally, in the shape of speech or signs, together facilitate online language processing (Kelly, Healey, Özyürek, & Holler, 2015; Kelly, Özyürek, & Maris, 2010). This thesis extends previous studies on multimodal processing (Kelly et al., 2015) into the domain of TIME, and additionally investigates the influence of bilingualism on integration of speech and gestures in a priming experiment. The task of 75 monolingual speakers of English and 75 English-Mandarin Chinese bilingual participants was to decide whether a written prime (PAST or FUTURE) was related to different temporal expressions in English. The temporal expressions were accompanied by a matched or mismatched gesture along the sagittal line (front to back). Response accuracy and response times were analysed with two Bayesian generalised linear mixed models. Gesture (mis)match was shown to have an effect on response time (mismatched trials were predicted to have longer response times of approx. 150 ms). Accuracy, on the other hand, was not influenced by gesture (mis)match. No certain effect of bilingualism was found for response accuracy, nor response time. An interaction effect between gesture (mis)match and bilingualism was not found either. This study therefore fails to show any effect of bilingualism on multimodal language processing, but provides further support for the integrated-systems hypothesis, according to which gesture and speech are integrated automatically and early in language comprehension.}},
  author       = {{Holmer, Sonja}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Bilingualism in Multimodal Language Processing: A priming study on processing of gestures in English temporal expressions}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}