Retrieval of Inter-Lingual Homophones among Tamil Native Bilinguals

Abstract

Need and Aim of the Study

Inter-lingual homophones are words that have similar pronunciation but different meanings across languages. The processing of this may vary with languages. Hence, there was a need to study the retrieval of semantics of the perceived inter-lingual homophones. The present study aims at investigating the inter-lingual homophone retrieval abilities in normal bilinguals.

Methods and Material

Data were collected from a total of 60 participants (9-45 yrs) who are bilinguals (native speakers of Tamil and have acquired English as their second language). The participants were sub grouped into: Group I= 9-18 yrs; II= 19-28 yrs; and III= 29-45 yrs. Twenty paired words which consisted of inter-lingual homophones were presented. The participants were asked to listen carefully to the pairs of words which were in two different languages that they knew and were asked to write the meaning of each word.

Statistical Analysis Used

Repeated measures ANOVA, Bonferroni pairwise comparison and Paired t-tests were carried out using SPSS software, version 17.0.

Results

Irrespective of the medium of instruction taken in school, native language (L1) was more dominant for retrieval of the meanings of the words for group II and III. Hence results reveal that younger subjects of group I exhibit a shared lexicon and Subjects of group II and group III show a selective lexical-access.

Conclusions

The study has its implications for the assessment, diagnosis and planning of intervention programs. For subjects belonging to group I, either L1 or L2 can be considered as a medium of instruction during remediation, but care should be taken about the choice of language used while planning out intervention for subjects of the other two groups.