The effect of language on recognition memory in first language and second language speakers: The case of placement events

Abstract

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research questions: German and Spanish differ in lexicalization of object position in placement events (e.g. They stand/lay-put the binoculars on the shelf). Do native (L1) speakers of these languages show different recognition memory for object position in placement scenes (“Thinking for Speaking” (TFS))? And if so, can learning German as a second language (L2) improve memory accuracy? Originality: There is very little research on the effect of language on memory in L2 speakers and no such studies have focused on placement events. By adopting a short time course (750 ms) between the prime and recognition phase this study makes a methodological advancement. Design/Methodology/Approach: We employed a design with L1 speakers (N = 54) of German and Spanish, and a group of Spanish L2 learners (N = 123) of German. Participants were presented with a two-phased memory task with minimum delay, with language and pictures showing placement events. Following the direction indicated by German placement verbs we changed position of objects in the picture recognition phase. L2 German speakers received a form-focused instruction on German placement verbs (stand/lay) before the memory task. Data and Analysis: We analysed recognition accuracy for object position changes. Findings/Conclusions: Results showed that L1 German speakers had more accurate recognition memory for object position changes than L1 Spanish speakers. When Spanish learners of L2 German performed the experiment in German, their accuracy exceeded L1 German speakers’ scores. Significance/Implications: The findings provide support for TFS effects on memory for object position in placement events for L1 speakers and show accuracy advantages for L2 speakers. Future studies should consider employing tasks with short time courses as the one used in this paper, in order to establish a base of controlled and reliable findings to unravel the linguistic relativity literature.