Lozano, I. & Bosch, L.
University of Barcelona
In word learning contexts disambiguation has been defined as a heuristic useful in linking novel labels to likely referents. Evidence of disambiguation has been shown in monolinguals at around 18 months of age by increased tendency to associate novel labels to novel objects rather than to familiar ones. Disambiguation is less often used by toddlers growing up bilingual or trilingual, suggesting that its emergence depends on variables such as linguistic experience (Byers-Heinlein & Werker, 2009). The present research aims at further exploring the effects of linguistic experience on the emergence of this heuristic by analyzing the effects of 1) the phonological proximity between the bilingual?s two languages (high amount of cognates), and 2) age of onset of exposure to the second language. Three groups of 18-month-old toddlers (N= 60 in total) were tested in a looking-while-listening paradigm: A Spanish monolingual group and two Spanish-Catalan bilingual groups differing in age of onset of bilingual exposure (simultaneous exposure in home environments, versus a later onset of L2 exposure through attendance to day-care centers). Bilinguals were expected to differ from monolinguals in the use of disambiguation. However, phonological similarity in bilingual?s word forms can affect the use of this heuristic, with higher presence of disambiguation in these groups, differing from previous results obtained in bilinguals exposed to languages with reduced number of cognates. If age of onset of bilingual exposure also modulates the use of this heuristic, differences might be found between the bilingual groups, with the late onset group approaching monolinguals in their use of disambiguation. Preliminary analyses have revealed a significant difference between bilinguals? and monolinguals? disambiguation patterns and no differences between both bilingual groups. Age of onset of L2 exposure and cognate status of words do not seem to modify the expected pattern of results in bilinguals.