Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bobb, Susan C.
• Hoshino, Noriko
• Sunderman, Gretchen
• Kauffman, Ann E.
• Hutchinson, Sarah
• Palleschi, Alexis
• Cox, Kelby
• Chung-Fat-Yim, Ashley
• Kubota, Maki
• Fitzgerald, Jacklynn
• Rocha-Hidalgo, Joscelin
• Marian, Viorica

Titel

What Makes a Good Language Learner? Individual Differences in Cognitive Control Abilities and Success in Spanish-English Translation

Ist Teil von

• Translational issues in psychological science, 2023-12, Vol.9 (4), p.422-432

Ort / Verlag

Washingon: Educational Publishing Foundation

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EBSCOhost APA PsycARTICLES

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Previous research has documented a shift in how language learners process their second language (L2). Initially, they pay attention to how L2 words overlap in their form with words in the native language (L1). With increasing L2 proficiency, language learners are less susceptible to these form-related similarities across translations (Sunderman & Kroll, 2006) and focus on the meaning of words (Talamas et al., 1999). At question in the current study is the extent to which individual differences in cognitive abilities attenuate the translation strategy that less proficient learners use. We hypothesized that L2 learners with stronger proactive control, as indexed by the AX-continuous performance task (AX-CPT), would be less susceptible to form-related interference across translations. Results suggest that, contrary to our hypothesis, participants who rely more on proactive rather than reactive goal maintenance experience increased form-related as well as semantic interference. Translation strategies in recognition appear to be influenced by individual variation in cognitive control and may be sensitive to task conditions (Braver et al., 2009). We interpret these results in light of the Revised Hierarchical Model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994) and the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (Braver, 2012) and suggest that models of translation be expanded to include task variables. What Is the Significance of This Article for the General Public? This research examined key factors that support students in learning a foreign language. We found that learner strategies matter. Students who tend to predict answers experienced greater challenges in recognizing the correct translation of a word in their foreign language.