Does the processing advantage afforded by cross-language congruency extend to units beyond the word level, such as binomials (knife and fork)?
Lingli Du

By looking at the processing of binomials in two groups of bilinguals, L1 Chinese-L2 English and L1 English-L2 Chinese, this study explored cross-language influences in the processing of binomials in both directions, from a first language (L1) to a second language (L2) and from L2 to L1. These findings suggest that L1 influences the processing of L2 binomials, and that there may be some cross-linguistic influence in the opposite direction, i.e., from L2 on L1, although to a lesser extent.

How does modification affect the processing of formulaic language?
Shang Jiang

Formulaic language, such as collocations (e.g., provide information; red rose), is frequently used by us. For some formulaic sequences, they can be modified and the modified form is also frequently used (e.g., provide some of the information). It has been well documented that more formulaic sequences enjoy a processing advantage over less formulaic ones. However, when it comes to formulaic sequences in their modified form, we are not sure: (1) whether this processing advantage still exists and (2) whether modification degree could affect the processing of formulaic sequences. In this presentation, Shang will report an eye-tracking study and try to answer these two questions from the perspective of Chinese formulaic language reading.

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