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Visual Attention and Lexical Involvement in L1 and L2 Word Processing: Emotional Stroop Effect

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Abstract

Given the fact that the process of engaging and interacting with the text is not only the function of a reader but also the text itself, the current study attempts to examine the role of the type of the word in the attentional engagement. More specifically, the present investigation aims to verify the interplay of sensorimotor information, emotions, and the linguistic information in the word processing. In so doing, for the scale validation, a sample of 220 Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners from different language institutes were requested to complete the newly designed Persian and English lexical involvement scales. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) supported the factor structure and the reliability of the measures. Moreover, using Emotional Stroop task in the experimental set up, the results revealed that there is a strong positive relationship between lexical involvement and visual attentional engagement in L1(Persian). The association was conversely negative in L2 (English). Finally, the statistical analysis indicates that the lexical stimuli differ regarding their magnitude of lexical involvement in L1 and L2.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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  1. Language Education, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashad, Iran

    Seyyedeh Mina Hamedi & Reza Pishghadam

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  1. Seyyedeh Mina Hamedi
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  2. Reza Pishghadam
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Correspondence to Reza Pishghadam.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Ferdowsi University research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendices

Appendix A

See Table 5.

Table 5 A sample item from the English lexical involvement scale
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Appendix B

See Table 6.

Table 6 A sample item from the Persian lexical involvement scale
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Hamedi, S.M., Pishghadam, R. Visual Attention and Lexical Involvement in L1 and L2 Word Processing: Emotional Stroop Effect. J Psycholinguist Res 50, 585–602 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-020-09709-4

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