226
Views
5
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Lexical effects on recognition of the NU-6 words by monolingual and bilingual listeners

Pages 318-325 | Received 23 Aug 2013, Accepted 09 Dec 2013, Published online: 31 Jan 2014
 

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated how lexical effects account for word recognition in monolinguals versus bilinguals. Design: Listener-specific error rate and familiarity rating of 200 NU-6 words were obtained. Lexical data (normative familiarity, frequency of occurrence, neighborhood density, and frequency of neighborhood competitors) for these words were obtained from the Hoosier mental lexicon. Study sample: Participants included 10 monolinguals and three groups of 10 bilinguals differing mainly in age of acquisition and length of schooling/working in English. Results: Lexical effects were minimal for monolinguals’ word recognition. Listener-specific familiarity rating correlated to error rate better than the Hoosier normative rating. Frequency of occurrence was the most significant lexical variable in accounting for bilinguals’ measures and its effect was the greatest on bilinguals foreign born and educated. Age of English acquisition tended to affect familiarity rating, whereas length of schooling/working in English tended to affect error rate. Conclusions: Frequency of word occurrence significantly affects bilinguals’ familiarity rating and error rate of the NU-6 words. Listener-specific familiarity rating should be obtained to best predict error rate on the test.

Acknowledgements

The author was grateful to all the listeners who participated in this study, Dr. Howard Nusbaum for providing the Hoosier mental lexicon, and Drs. Richard Wilson and Rachel McArdle for providing the recording of the speech material as well as the density and competitor frequency data.

Declaration of interest: The author reported no declarations of interest.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 194.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.