TY - JOUR
T1 - Bilingual memory, to the extreme
T2 - Lexical processing in simultaneous interpreters
AU - Santilli, Micaela
AU - Vilas, Martina G.
AU - Mikulan, Ezequiel
AU - Martorell Caro, Miguel
AU - Muñoz, Edinson
AU - Sedeño, Lucas
AU - Ibáñez, Agustín
AU - García, Adolfo M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Cambridge University Press 2018.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - This study assessed whether bilingual memory is susceptible to the extreme processing demands of professional simultaneous interpreters (PSIs). Seventeen PSIs and 17 non-interpreter bilinguals completed word production, lexical retrieval, and verbal fluency tasks. PSIs exhibited enhanced fluency in their two languages, and they were faster to translate words in both directions. However, no significant differences emerged in picture naming or word reading. This suggests that lexical enhancements in PSIs are confined to their specifically trained abilities (vocabulary search, interlingual reformulation), with no concomitant changes in other word-processing mechanisms. Importantly, these differences seem to reflect specifically linguistic effects, as both samples were matched for relevant executive skills. Moreover, only word translation performance correlated with the PSIs' years of interpreting experience. Therefore, despite their tight cooperation, different subcomponents within bilingual memory seem characterized by independent, usage-driven flexibility.
AB - This study assessed whether bilingual memory is susceptible to the extreme processing demands of professional simultaneous interpreters (PSIs). Seventeen PSIs and 17 non-interpreter bilinguals completed word production, lexical retrieval, and verbal fluency tasks. PSIs exhibited enhanced fluency in their two languages, and they were faster to translate words in both directions. However, no significant differences emerged in picture naming or word reading. This suggests that lexical enhancements in PSIs are confined to their specifically trained abilities (vocabulary search, interlingual reformulation), with no concomitant changes in other word-processing mechanisms. Importantly, these differences seem to reflect specifically linguistic effects, as both samples were matched for relevant executive skills. Moreover, only word translation performance correlated with the PSIs' years of interpreting experience. Therefore, despite their tight cooperation, different subcomponents within bilingual memory seem characterized by independent, usage-driven flexibility.
KW - bilingual memory
KW - expertise
KW - lexical processing
KW - simultaneous interpreters
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045636552&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1366728918000378
DO - 10.1017/S1366728918000378
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85045636552
SN - 1366-7289
VL - 22
SP - 331
EP - 348
JO - Bilingualism
JF - Bilingualism
IS - 2
ER -