Bilinguals implicitly name objects in both their languages: An ERP study

Examined whether bilinguals implicitly generate picture labels in both of their languages when tested in their first language (L1) with a cross-modal event-related potential (ERP) priming paradigm. The results extended previous findings by showing that not only do bilinguals implicitly generate the labels for visually fixated images in both of their languages when immersed in their L1, but also that these implicitly generated labels in one language could prime recognition of subsequently presented auditory targets across languages (i.e., L2-L1). Thus, support is provided for cascaded models of lexical access during speech production as well as a new priming paradigm for the study of bilingual language processing.