Research participants wanted: German-English bilingual adults

Researchers are looking for native German speakers with a high command of English to take part in an ultrasound study.

Study background

I am a MSc student at the University of Edinburgh. For my thesis, I am conducting an ultrasound study with German-native speakers, which looks at tongue movements in English production. The aim of the study is to find out whether the speaker’s native language is also activated even when producing speech in their second-language (a process known as co-activation).

Co-activation has often been shown in second-language comprehension – in other words, hearing or reading English is thought to activate the native German. However, due to problems with the methods used to investigate language production, this field of research has been rather limited.

In this study, I am trying to find out if and how the native knowledge German affects tongue movements when speaking English. This will give insight into how language production in bilingualism works.

Participant requirements

I am looking for adult German native speakers whose strongest second language is English. It is okay if you speak other languages as well, as long as English is the strongest language after German.

It doesn’t matter when English learning started, but the level should be high enough to comfortably hold a conversation and have a fairly large vocabulary. Early bilinguals are also welcome!

What’s involved?

    • One session at the University of Edinburgh at the Ultrasound Lab (7 George Square)
    • You’ll be given a brief questionnaire on language profile (acquisition, proficiency, usage, etc.)
    • You’ll be asked to name some pictures in German and English
    • During the picture naming, your voice and tongue movements are recorded
    • All results will be kept anonymous and treated confidentially. The recordings will only be accessible to my supervisor, Martin Corley, and me unless you explicitly agree to share them with other research groups within the University of Edinburgh
    • The study has received ethical approval from the University of Edinburgh ethics committee

How to participate?

For any questions or to sign up, please email me Sara Knight or sign up at this link. The time slots are flexible and can be adjusted to your availability.