The how and the when of semantic illusions in native and non-native languages

The nature and processing of semantic illusions (SI; when speakers fail to notice an anomalous word in a sentence that is contextually perfectly aligned with world knowledge) have been largely studied during first language comprehension. Although this issue is not free of controversy, findings sustain The Node Structure Theory, according to which SI is a phonological and/or semantic priming effect which occurs due to phonological and/or semantic links existing between the correct and the anomalous word. However, the question as to whether the same underlying mechanisms can be found in bilinguals and whether the effect is modulated by age of language acquisition (AoA) and language dominance remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine this issue on sequential European Portuguese-German bilinguals (and their respective control groups) using a self-paced reading paradigm. The sentences’ language, AoA (early vs. late), and type of target word used (correct vs. anomalous) were manipulated. Results showed the occurrence of SI, independently of language and AoA. Therefore, findings suggest that SI occur due to a semantic overlap between critical words and are similarly processed in L1 and L2.
This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM), School of Psychology and the Center of Humanities (CEHUM), School of Arts and Humanities, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDP/01662/2020 and UID/00305/2020) and the Center of Linguistics (CLUP), the Department of Portuguese and Romance Studies (DEPER), University do Porto. The current study has also won the ‘Prémio UMinho de Iniciação na Investigação Científica – 2021’ for which we would like to thank the University of Minho.