TY - BOOK

T1 - Does language context modulate perception?

T2 - Evidence from a perceptual training paradigm in Turkish and English speakers

AU - Fulga, Angelica

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This thesis presents an experimental investigation combining typological and cognitive methodologies to accomplish three objectives. First, it determined whether typological differences in expressing path and manner of motion between monolingual speakers of Turkish and English result in perceptual differences, as predicted by the linguistic relativity hypothesis (LRH). The findings align with the LRH, revealing that while both groups similarly discriminated objects based on path—a concept expressed in both languages—distinctions emerged when recognizing manner as a discriminating factor. Second, it investigated the online influence of language on Turkish/English bilingual speakers' perception of manner and path of motion by manipulating the language context (English vs. Turkish). Findings revealed that a Turkish environment was superior for both manner-based and path-based classification when instruction was in Turkish first. Age of acquisition (AoA) played a modulating role: early bilinguals (AoA < 10) in an English context exhibited superior manner-based classification abilities, with performance on path being unaffected; late bilinguals (AoA ≥ 10) were negatively affected by an English context. Third, this thesis examined the modulatory effect of primes describing motion events in the English-way vs. the Turkish-way on the perception of manner and path of motion by monolingual Turkish speakers. Findings revealed that both Turkish-like and English-like training resulted in significant improvements in the path condition, aligning with the predictive processing framework. Contributions to the field include investigating LRH with Turkish and English monolingual speakers and examining cognitive changes in bilingual Turkish/English speakers, which has not been done before using a non-verbal task. The investigation into bilingual speakers also includes an approach not attempted before, with language context treated as a within-subject variable. Finally, this work explores the role of linguistic priming in modulating perception in monolingual Turkish speakers, offering insights into predictive processing.

AB - This thesis presents an experimental investigation combining typological and cognitive methodologies to accomplish three objectives. First, it determined whether typological differences in expressing path and manner of motion between monolingual speakers of Turkish and English result in perceptual differences, as predicted by the linguistic relativity hypothesis (LRH). The findings align with the LRH, revealing that while both groups similarly discriminated objects based on path—a concept expressed in both languages—distinctions emerged when recognizing manner as a discriminating factor. Second, it investigated the online influence of language on Turkish/English bilingual speakers' perception of manner and path of motion by manipulating the language context (English vs. Turkish). Findings revealed that a Turkish environment was superior for both manner-based and path-based classification when instruction was in Turkish first. Age of acquisition (AoA) played a modulating role: early bilinguals (AoA < 10) in an English context exhibited superior manner-based classification abilities, with performance on path being unaffected; late bilinguals (AoA ≥ 10) were negatively affected by an English context. Third, this thesis examined the modulatory effect of primes describing motion events in the English-way vs. the Turkish-way on the perception of manner and path of motion by monolingual Turkish speakers. Findings revealed that both Turkish-like and English-like training resulted in significant improvements in the path condition, aligning with the predictive processing framework. Contributions to the field include investigating LRH with Turkish and English monolingual speakers and examining cognitive changes in bilingual Turkish/English speakers, which has not been done before using a non-verbal task. The investigation into bilingual speakers also includes an approach not attempted before, with language context treated as a within-subject variable. Finally, this work explores the role of linguistic priming in modulating perception in monolingual Turkish speakers, offering insights into predictive processing.

KW - motion events; linguistic relativity; predictive processing; V-languages; S- languages; language and cognition; bilingualism

U2 - 10.17635/lancaster/thesis/2801

DO - 10.17635/lancaster/thesis/2801

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

PB - Lancaster University

ER -