Numero, Nummer, or Number?: Source Memory of Foreign Language

Allie Hult
Dr. Robert Tigner, Faculty Mentor

This study examined the ability of approximately 150 bilingual people to remember the source language of material presented in two languages. Participants were asked to visualize and translate a variety of common nouns presented either in English or their other language (Spanish, German, Italian, or French). After a short delay, they completed both free recall and recognition tasks that required them to specify which language each word was originally presented in. We predicted that the best recall performance would come from participants with the highest foreign language level abilities, while the best ability to distinguish between the two languages upon recall would be found in the participants with lower foreign language skills. Analyses of recall, recognition, source language and language proficiency will be discussed with an emphasis on the types of memory errors bilingual people make.

Keywords: Psychology, Memory, Foreign Language, Bilingual, Spanish, French, German, Italian

Topic(s):Psychology

Presentation Type: Oral Paper

Session: 104-2
Location: MG 1098
Time: 8:15

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