The study analyzed language switching in bilingual psychotherapy and its impact on therapeutic alliance. 134 psychotherapy clients in the Netherlands participated in an online survey which included...Show moreThe study analyzed language switching in bilingual psychotherapy and its impact on therapeutic alliance. 134 psychotherapy clients in the Netherlands participated in an online survey which included the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scales - Patient Version and language-related questions. Analyses of Variances and Multiple Regression Analyses were conducted to investigate the effects. The findings indicate no significant correlation between language switching by the client and therapeutic alliance, but language switching by the therapist was associated with lower scores on the Patient Working Capacity (PWC) subscale. Discussing language switching was also negatively associated with the PWC and the Therapists' Understanding and Involvement (TUI) subscales. Language switching due to language barriers (dominant to non-dominant) and to distance oneself (non-dominant to dominant) were associated with lower alliance scores. Excluding Dutch-dominant psychotherapy clients, only the associated negative contribution of language switching to distance oneself remained significant. The findings highlight the complexity and universality of language switching and the importance of linguistic awareness among practitioners, particularly regarding the challenges of language barriers and their adverse effect on therapeutic alliance. Aiming to contribute to the evolving field of bilingual and multicultural psychotherapy, this study’s findings and limitations inspire future research on a linguistic technique yet not fully understood.Show less
The aim of this thesis was to determine whether Polish-Dutch bilinguals benefit from knowing a second language when learning to assign stress to English words. Specifically, the research targeted...Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to determine whether Polish-Dutch bilinguals benefit from knowing a second language when learning to assign stress to English words. Specifically, the research targeted children who were learning English in Dutch primary education, aged 10 to 12 years old. Earlier research on second language acquisition shows that because of language transfer, knowing an extra language is beneficial for learning a new language (Bartolotti & Marian 2016, Ellis 2015, Schwartz 2015). To find out if the bilingual children did better or worse in assigning stress to English words than monolingual Dutch children, a survey was carried out as a small pilot study on three participants. Here, the participants had to pronounce fifteen words from a word list. Next, the number of words where the participants had assigned stress correctly or incorrectly were counted and presented in different tables. This showed that although the overall performance of the Polish-Dutch bilingual participant was not better than that of the monolingual Dutch participants, the bilingual participant did significantly better in assigning stress to the English words that receive penultimate stress.Show less
Speaking, reading, writing and understanding two languages – better known as bilingualism – has been a common trait among people that live in countries with two national languages (e.g., Dutch and...Show moreSpeaking, reading, writing and understanding two languages – better known as bilingualism – has been a common trait among people that live in countries with two national languages (e.g., Dutch and French in Belgium). Today, bilingualism is an increasingly common phenomenon due to globalization, growing transnational migration and open borders (Abutalebi & Weekes, 2014). From an academic perspective, bilingualism has become an emerging topic in the field of (psycho)linguistics. Over the past decades, researchers have been focused on examining language processing mechanisms in bilinguals as opposed to monolinguals (e.g., Blumenfeld & Marian, 2011; Bialystok et al., 2008). A rationale for this, is that the presence of two languages provide us more detailed language and cognitive models, which in turn inform our understanding of how languages work and vice versa (Kroll et al., 2012). An important insight in bilingual language processing, for example, is that both languages are simultaneously active, independently of the language of the task (e.g., Colomé & Miozzo, 2010; Hermans et al., 2011). This parallel activation results in competition between the two languages (linguistic interference), which suggests that bilinguals can supress (inhibitory control) the irrelevant language (e.g., Hermans et al., 2011; Marian & Spivey, 2003). A growing body of research found evidence that early bilinguals (i.e., earlyage bilingual acquisition) have stronger inhibitory control skills compared to monolinguals (e.g., Blumenfeld & Marian, 2011; Bialystok et al., 2008). However, much less research has been done on task performance in late language learners (i.e., learning a new language after native language acquisition and at an older age). Early bilinguals, who constantly have to control interference from two competing languages and have done so their whole life, differ a great deal from late language learners, who have done so less than early bilinguals as they are still in the middle of the process of learning a new language (Festman and Münte, 2012). 3 In the present study, I aimed to shed light on linguistic interference and inhibitory control processes in late language learners. In the following sections, I will first discuss early versus late bilingualism and how both groups are reflected in different models of bilingual processing. Then, I will explain bilingualism in light of parallel activity, linguistic interference, inhibitory control and Stroop performance. Next, I will outline the current study and research questions, after which the methodology is presented. Lastly, I will reveal the results, elaborate on implications for the present study, discuss suggestions for future research and give a small conclusion.Show less
This study explores the influence of bilingualism on the process of educational third language acquisition (TLA) among adolescents who have previously acquired proficiency a second language. Within...Show moreThis study explores the influence of bilingualism on the process of educational third language acquisition (TLA) among adolescents who have previously acquired proficiency a second language. Within contemporary research, it is frequently suggested that bilingualism positively influences the process of TLA, since bilinguals are familiar with language processing strategies and have almost certainly developed multicompetence (Cenoz, 2003; De la Fuente & Lacroix, 2015; Ter Kuile, Veldhuis, Van Veen, & Wicherts, 2011). This study takes into consideration the concept of ‘focus on multilingualism’, which emphasizes the multilingual speaker, their whole linguistic repertoire, and the social context when analyzing TLA (Cenoz, 2013). In order to examine whether previous acquired linguistic knowledge by bilinguals benefits the process of TLA within an educational setting, a survey was conducted among 29 bilingual students who are currently acquiring Korean as an additional language at Leiden University. The results obtained from the surveys are divided into three groups, based on in which stage in life the respective students have acquired proficiency in their additional language. The conducted survey consists of 20 questions regarding the students’ perspectives towards the effect of their age-specific bilingualism on their process of acquiring Korean as a L3, in terms of learning grammar, pronunciation and words. The data obtained from this study demonstrates three unexpected findings, which have not been previously indicated within the research field of TLA and bilingualism. Firstly, students who acquired proficiency in a second language before the age of 10 are more positive about the influence of bilingualism on acquiring the appropriate pronunciation in the process of TLA, than about the impact of bilingualism on learning grammatical structures. Secondly, speakers of at least one non-Germanic language were more positive about the influence of bilingualism on learning grammar and pronunciation, as opposed to speakers of only Germanic languages. Thirdly, students who have been exposed to two or more languages between birth and the age of 4 are the most positive about the influence of bilingualism on learning words. This study argues that early bilinguals are more likely to demonstrate cross-linguistic influence between their acquired languages, causing them to be more positive about the experience of learning an additional language. Subsequently, this study suggests that the process of cross-linguistic influence between two typologically different languages is likely to positively influence student’s perspectives on learning an additional typologically different language. Finally, this study proposes that speakers of bilingual FLA are positive about the influence of their bilingualism on learning words, since they perceive their prior linguistic knowledge as the necessary experience to accomplish proficiency in an additional language.Show less
Although hip hop first set foot in South Korea 25 years ago, the genre has received exponential popularity over the last 5 years. Korean hip hop takes after its American counterpart in many ways,...Show moreAlthough hip hop first set foot in South Korea 25 years ago, the genre has received exponential popularity over the last 5 years. Korean hip hop takes after its American counterpart in many ways, including the use of the English language. Within the Korean hip hop scene there are many ethnical Koreans that were American born, or lived in America for years. These ethnical Koreans are fluent in Korean as well as English. So how does the English use of these Koreans compare to the English use of hip hop artist that are only fluent in Korean in terms of vocabulary or slang, poetic devices, grammatical preferences and frequency? This paper will analyze Korean hip hop lyrics by both artists that speak fluent Korean and English as well as artists that speak only fluent Korean. Through register analysis and literary analysis this paper will quantitatively determine the differences between English usages of the two groups. This paper provides numeric data as well as examples that show that these differences in proficiency level are also apparent in relatively short texts like song lyrics. In this way this research will assess differences in English use between Korean English bilinguals and Korean monolinguals.Show less
This thesis examined which pronunciation of the three existing variants of the English swearword fucking, which are FAKKING ([fɑkɪŋ]), FUKKING ([fʏkɪŋ]), or FOKKING ([fɔkɪŋ]), is L1 Dutch speakers’...Show moreThis thesis examined which pronunciation of the three existing variants of the English swearword fucking, which are FAKKING ([fɑkɪŋ]), FUKKING ([fʏkɪŋ]), or FOKKING ([fɔkɪŋ]), is L1 Dutch speakers’ preferred use. In addition to this, this thesis studied which variant is considered most offensive to Dutch speakers. An experiment was conducted in which 50 L1 Dutch speakers were interviewed on these issues. In addition, a smaller second experiment was conducted in which an L1 English speaker was interviewed via email on the offensiveness of the word fucking to a native speaker of English and on their opinion on Dutch speakers using it. The results of the main experiment suggested that the ‘nativeness’ or ‘Dutchness’ of the pronunciation is the main influence on offensiveness ranking, not sound iconicity, which was originally hypothesised to be the main influencing factor.Show less
