Transposed-letter priming effects in Arabic-English bilinguals: shifting toward a default orthographic processing mode

• Boudelaa, Sami ^[1] ; Tibi, Sana ^[2] ; Alhashmi, Noor ^[1] ; Perea, Manuel ^[3]
  1. [1] United Arab Emirates University
  2. [2] Florida State University
  3. [3] Universitat de València

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: Bilingualism: Language and cognition, ISSN 1366-7289, Vol. 29, Nº 4, 2026, págs. 915-927
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1017/s1366728925100503
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • How does bilingualism affect orthographic processing across languages with different structures? This study investigates masked transposed-letter (TL) priming in Arabic-English bilinguals, comparing Arabic (a Semitic language with rigid orthography and weak TL effects) with English (an Indo-European language with flexible letter coding and strong TL effects). Using lexical decision tasks, we tested whether exposure to English enhances letter-coding flexibility in Arabic. Results showed robust TL priming in both languages, indicating that bilingual experience with English modifies Arabic orthographic processing, traditionally seen as resistant to letter transpositions. These findings suggest that bilingual orthographic processing is adaptable, with language-specific exposure reshaping letter-position encoding and enabling flexible word recognition across languages.

• Referencias bibliográficas
  • Acha, J., & Perea, M. (2008). The effects of length and transposed-letter similarity in lexical decision: Evidence with beginning, intermediate,...
  • Adelman, J. S., Johnson, R. L., McCormick, S. F., McKague, M., Kinoshita, S., Bowers, J. S., Perry, J. R., Lupker, S. J., Forster, K. I.,...
  • Ahn, J. S., and Bhanu, B. (2002). Model-based recognition of articulated objects. Pattern Recognition Letters, 23(8), 1019–1029. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8655(02)00033-8
  • Altakhaineh, A. R. M., & Zibin, A. (2017). Morpho-syntactic and semantic transfer in the acquisition of English by Jordanian Arabic-speaking...
  • Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation. Oxford University Press.
  • Azzopardi-Alexander, M., & Borg, A. (1997). Maltese (1st ed.). Routledge.
  • Baayen, R. H. (2008). Analyzing Linguistic Data: A practical introduction to statistics. Cambridge University Press.
  • Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2018). *lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using eigen and S4* (Version 1.1–17) [Computer...
  • Berent, I., Everett, D. L., & Shimron, J. (2001). Do phonological representations specify variables? Evidence from the Obligatory Contour...
  • Biederman, I. (1987). Recognition-by-components: A theory of human image understanding. Psychological Review, 94(2), 115–147. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.94.2.115.
  • Boudelaa, S. (2018). Non-selective lexical access in late Arabic-English bilinguals: Evidence from gating. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research,...
  • Boudelaa, S., & Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (2005). Discontinuous morphology in time: Incremental masked primingin Arabic. Language and Cognitive...
  • Boudelaa, S., & Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (2015). Structure, form, and meaning in the mental lexicon: Evidence from Arabic. Language, Cognition...
  • Boudelaa, S., Carreiras, M., Jariya, N., & Perea, M. (2025). SUBTLEX-AR: Arabic word distributional characteristics based on movie subtitles....
  • Boudelaa, S., Boujraf, S., Belahcen, F., & Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (2023). Impaired morphological processing: Insights from multiple sclerosis....
  • Boudelaa, S., & Marslen-Wilson, W. D. (2010). ARALEX: A lexical database for modern standard Arabic. Behavior Research Methods, 42(2),...
  • Boudelaa, S., Norris, D., & Kinoshita, S. (2024). The differential effects of consonant and vowel diacritics in Arabic. Journal of Memory...
  • Boudelaa, S., Norris, D., Mahfoudhi, A., & Kinoshita, S. (2019). Transposed letter priming effects and allographic variation in Arabic:...
  • Boudelaa, S., Perea, M., & Carreiras, M. (2025). Are the early stages of orthographic processing universal? Insights from masked priming...
  • Brysbaert, M., & Stevens, M. (2018). Power analysis and effect size in mixed-effects models: A tutorial. Journal of Cognition, 1(1), 1–20....
  • Caramazza, A., & Yeni-Komshian, G. (1974). Voice onset time in two French dialects. Journal of Phonetics, 2(3), 239–245.
  • Cook, V. J. (2000). Introduction: The changing L1 in the L2 user’s mind. In Cook, V. J. (Ed.), Effects of the second language on the first...
  • Daniels, P. T. (2018). An exploration of writing. Equinox Publishing.
  • Davis, C. J., & Bowers, J. S. (2006). Contrasting five different theories of letter position coding: Evidence from orthographic similarity...
  • De Bot, K. (1992). A bilingual production model: Levelt’s “speaking” model adapted. Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/13.1.1.
  • Dehaene, S., & Cohen, L. (2011). The unique role of the visual word form area in reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(6), 254–262....
  • Dehaene, S., Cohen, L., Sigman, M., & Vinckier, F. (2005). The neural code for written words: A proposal. Trends in Cognitive Sciences,...
  • Deutsch, A., Frost, R., & Forster, K. I. (1998). Verbs and nouns are organized and accessed differently in the mental lexicon: Evidence...
  • Deutsch, A., Frost, R., Pollatsek, A., & Rayner, K. (2005). Morphological parafoveal preview benefit effects in reading: Evidence from...
  • Dijkstra, T., Grainger, J., & van Heuven, W. J. B. (1999). Recognition of cognates and interlingual homographs: The neglected role of...
  • Duñabeitia, J. A., Perea, M., & Carreiras, M. (2007). Do transposed-letter similarity effects occur at a morpheme level? Evidence for...
  • Duñabeitia, J. A., Dimitropoulou, M., Grainger, J., Hernández, J. A., & Carreiras, M. (2012). Differential sensitivity of letters, numbers,...
  • Fernandes, J., Brophy, S., & Schwieter, J. W. (2024). Bilingual language processing: Theoretical frameworks and practical applications....
  • Fernández-López, M., Solaja, O., Crepaldi, D., & Perea, M. (2024). Top-down feedback normalizes distortion in early visual word recognition:...
  • Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In Strange, W. (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic...
  • Flege, J. E., & Bohn, O.-S. (2021). The revised speech learning model (SLM-r). In Wayland, R. (Ed.), Second language speech learning:...
  • Forster, K. I., & Davis, C. (1984). Repetition priming and frequency attenuation in lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology:...
  • Francis, N. (2000). The shared conceptual system and language development in bilingual children. Journal of Child Language, 27(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900003954.
  • Francis, W. S. (2024). Second language learning and bilingualism: From theory to practice. Wiley.
  • Friedmann, N., & Haddad-Hanna, M. (2014). Types of developmental dyslexia in Arabic. In Saiegh-Haddad, E. & Joshi, M. (Eds.), Handbook...
  • Frost, R., Kugler, T., Deutsch, A., & Forster, K. I. (2005). Orthographic structure versus morphological structure: Principles of lexical...
  • García-Orza, J., Perea, M., & Muñoz, S. (2010). Are transposition effects specific to letters? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,...
  • Gathercole, V. C. M. (Ed.) (2010). In Bilinguals: Multilingualism and language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
  • Gomez, P., Ratcliff, R., & Perea, M. (2008). The overlap model: A model of letter position coding. Psychological Review, 115(3), 577–600....
  • Grainger, J. (2018). Orthographic processing: A ‘mid-level’ vision of reading. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(2), 335–359....
  • Grainger, J. (2024). Letters, words, sentences, and reading. Journal of Cognition, 7(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.396.
  • Grainger, J., Granier, J. P., Farioli, F., Van Assche, E., & van Heuven, W. J. (2006). Letter position information and printed word perception:...
  • Grainger, J., & Van Heuven, W. J. B. (2004). Modeling letter position coding in printed word perception. In Bonin, P. (Ed.), Mental lexicon:...
  • Green, D. W., & Abutalebi, J. (2013). Language control in bilinguals: The adaptive control hypothesis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology,...
  • Hoberman, R. D. (1997). Maltese morphology. In Kaye, A. S. (Ed.), Morphologies of Asia and Africa (Vol. 1, pp. 257–281). Eisenbrauns.
  • Hoffman, D. D., & Richards, W. A. (1984). Parts of recognition. Cognition, 18(1–3), 65–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(84)90022-2.
  • IELTS. (2023). IELTS Guide for Researchers. Retrieved from https://www.ielts.org
  • Ionin, T., & Montrul, S. (2010). The role of L1 transfer in the interpretation of articles with definite plurals in L2 English. Language...
  • Ionin, T., Zubizarreta, M. L., & Maldonado, S. B. (2008). Sources of linguistic knowledge in the second language acquisition of English...
  • Izquierdo, J., & Collins, L. (2008). The facilitative role of L1 influence in tense-aspect marking in L2 French: A comparison of production...
  • Jessner, U. (2002). The effect of bilingualism on third language acquisition. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(1–2),...
  • Jiang, N. (2000). Lexical representation and development in a second language. Applied Linguistics, 21(1), 47–77. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.1.47.
  • Jiang, N. (2004). Semantic transfer and its implications for vocabulary teaching in a second language. The Modern Language Journal, 88(3),...
  • Kecskes, I. (1998). The state of L1 knowledge in foreign language learners. WORD, Journal of the International Linguistics Association, 49(3),...
  • Kecskes, I., & Papp, T. (2000). Foreign language and mother tongue. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Khateb, A., Khateb-Abdelgani, M., Taha, H. Y., & Ibrahim, R. (2014). The impact of orthographic connectivity on visual word recognition...
  • Kinoshita, S., & Norris, D. (2009). Transposed-letter priming of pre-lexical orthographic representations. Journal of Experimental Psychology:...
  • Kinoshita, S., Norris, D., & Siegel, L. R. (2012). Transposed-letter effects in masked priming of prelexical orthographic representations....
  • Klassen, R., Kolb, N., Hopp, H., & Westergaard, M. (2023). Interactions between lexical and syntactic L1-L2 overlap: Effects of gender...
  • Kroll, J. F. (1993). Accessing conceptual representations for words in a second language. In Schreuder, R. & Weltens, B. (Eds.), The bilingual...
  • Kroll, J. F., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Understanding the consequences of bilingualism for language processing and cognition. Journal of...
  • Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between...
  • Kuznetsova, A., Brockhoff, P. B., & Christensen, R. H. B. (2017). lmerTest package: Tests in linear mixed effects models. Journal of Statistical...
  • Lardiere, D. (2009). Some thoughts on the contrastive analysis of features in second language acquisition. Second Language Research., 25(2),...
  • Lee, C. H., Lally, C., & Rastle, K. (2021). Masked transposition priming effects are observed in Korean in the same-different task. Quarterly...
  • Lupker, S. J., Perea, M., & Davis, C. J. (2008). Transposed-letter effects: Consonants, vowels and letter frequency. Language and Cognitive...
  • Major, R. C. (1992). Losing English as a first language. The Modern Language Journal, 76(2), 190–208. https://doi.org/10.2307/329772.
  • Massol, S., & Grainger, J. (2022). Effects of horizontal displacement and inter-character spacing on transposed-character effects in same-different...
  • Meade, G., Grainger, J., & Holcomb, P. J. (2022). The effects of bilingual language exposure on orthographic processing: Evidence from...
  • Meteyard, L., & Davies, R. A. I. (2020). Best practice guidance for linear mixed-effects models in psychological science. Journal of Cognition,...
  • Montrul, S., & Sánchez-Walker, N. (2013). Differential object marking in child and adult Spanish heritage speakers. Language Acquisition,...
  • Nakayama, M., Sears, C. R., Hino, Y., & Lupker, S. J. (2012). Cross-script phonological priming for Japanese-English bilinguals: Evidence...
  • Norris, D., & Kinoshita, S. (2008). Perception as evidence accumulation and Bayesian inference: Insights from masked priming. Journal...
  • Norris, D., Kinoshita, S., & van Casteren, M. (2010). A stimulus sampling theory of letter identity and order. Journal of Memory and Language,...
  • Pavlenko, A., Jarvis, S., Melnyk, S., & Sorokina, A. (2017). Communicative relevance: Color references in bilingual and trilingual speakers....
  • Pentland, A. (1989). Part segmentation for object recognition. Neural Computation, 1(1), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1162/neco.1989.1.1.82.
  • Perea, M., Abu Mallouh, R., & Carreiras, M. (2010). The search for an input-coding scheme: Transposed-letter priming in Arabic. Psychonomic...
  • Perea, M., Mallouh, Abu, & Carreiras, M. (2014). Are root letters compulsory for lexical access in Semitic languages? The case of masked...
  • Perea, M., Abu Mallouh, R., Mohammed, A., Khalifa, B., & Carreiras, M. (2016). Do diacritical marks play a role at the early stages of...
  • Perea, M., Gatt, A., Moret-Tatay, C., & Fabri, R. (2012). Are all Semitic languages immune to letter transpositions? The case of Maltese....
  • Perea, M., & Lupker, S. J. (2003). Transposed-letter confusability effects in masked form priming. In Kinoshita, S. & Lupker, S. J....
  • Perea, M., & Lupker, S. J. (2004). Can CANISO activate CASINO? Transposed-letter similarity effects with nonadjacent letter positions....
  • Perea, M., Nakatani, C., & van Leeuwen, C. (2011). Transposition effects in reading Japanese Kana: Are they orthographic in nature? Memory...
  • R Core Team (2018) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/.
  • Raftery, A. E. (1995). Bayesian model selection in social research. Sociological Methodology, 25, 111–164. https://doi.org/10.2307/271063.
  • Rastle, K., Chang, Y.-N., & Lally, C. (2011). The acquisition of orthographic knowledge: Insights from models of word reading and from...
  • Romero-Ortells, I., Baciero, A., Marcet, A., Perea, M., & Gómez, P. (2024). A stringent test of visuospatial position uncertainty accounts...
  • Rimzhim, A., Johri, A., Kelty-Stephen, D. G., & Fowler, C. A. (2020). Transposition effects in an Aksharic writing system: The case of...
  • Schwieter, J. W. (2024). Bilingualism and cognitive control: Perspectives and applications. Wiley.
  • Shin, J. A., & Christianson, K. (2012). Structural priming and second language learning. Language Learning, 62(3), 931–964. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00657.x.
  • Shmueli, G. (2010). To explain or to predict? Statistical Science, 25(3), 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1214/10-STS330.
  • Taha, H., Ibrahim, R., & Khateb, A. (2013). How does Arabic orthographic connectivity modulate brain activity during visual word recognition:...
  • Tarr, M. J., & Bülthoff, H. H. (1995). Is human object recognition better described by geon structural descriptions or by multiple views?...
  • Tibi, S., Edwards, A. A., Kim, Y. S. G., Schatschneider, C., & Boudelaa, S. (2022). The contributions of letter features to Arabic letter...
  • Tibi, S., Edwards, A. A., Schatschneider, C., & Kirby, J. R. (2020). Predicting Arabic word reading: A cross-classified generalized random-effects...
  • Tibi, S., Edwards, A. A., Schatschneider, C., Lombardino, L. J., Kirby, J. R., & Salha, S. H. (2021). IRT analyses of Arabic letter knowledge...
  • Treffers-Daller, J., & Tidball, F. (2015). Can L2 learners learn new ways to conceptualise events? Evidence from motion event construal...
  • Velan, H., & Frost, R. (2007). Cambridge University versus Hebrew University: The impact of letter transposition on reading English and...
  • Velan, H., & Frost, R. (2009). Letter-transposition effects are not universal: The impact of transposing letters in Hebrew. Journal of...
  • Velan, H., & Frost, R. (2011). Words with and without internal structure: What determines the nature of orthographic and morphological...
  • Wiley, R. W., & Rapp, B. (2019). From complexity to distinctiveness: The effect of expertise on letter perception. Psychonomic Bulletin...
  • Yakup, M., Abliz, W., Sereno, J., & Perea, M. (2015). Extending models of visual-word recognition to semicursive scripts: Evidence from...
  • Yang, H., Chen, J., Spinelli, G., & Lupker, S. J. (2019). The impact of text orientation on form priming effects in four-character Chinese...
  • Yang, H., Jared, D., Perea, M., & Lupker, S. J. (2021). Is letter position coding when reading in L2 affected by the nature of position...