Effects of Semantic and Cross-Language Contextual Variation on Online Processing During Bilingual Novel Word Learning

Abstract

This study examined how semantic and language-context variability influence online processing during bilingual novel word learning in sentences. Brazilian Portuguese–English bilinguals read novel English–Portuguese cognates embedded in repeated or varied sentences. Each target item was presented a total of four times in participants’ first language (L1), second language (L2), or both languages. We examined early (first fixation duration) and late (total reading time) eye-movement measures and assessed semantic knowledge in a post-test relatedness judgment task. The results showed that reading times decreased with repeated exposure across all conditions, reflected in shorter fixation durations and total reading times. Words presented in repeated sentence contexts were read faster than those presented in varied sentence contexts. The language context also modulated online reading behavior. Reading was faster in the L1 condition and longer in the mixed-language condition, particularly during initial exposures. Notably, individual differences in L2 vocabulary proficiency moderated these effects, with more proficient bilinguals showing faster adaptation to linguistic variability. Despite clear differences in online processing, semantic retrieval accuracy in the post-test did not vary across learning conditions, suggesting that differences in online processing did not translate into measurable differences in offline semantic knowledge under the present learning conditions.