Cross-Language Semantic Activation of Phonological Homophones Among Native Polish Speakers in L2 English

This study investigates the cross-language semantic activation of phonological homophones in native Polish speakers with English as a second language (L2). While interlingual homophones have been extensively studied in other language pairs (Friesen et al., 2020; Van Assche, 2020; Friesen and Jared, 2012), research on phonological homophones between Polish and English is comparatively limited, particularly among adults. This reveals a gap in our understanding of how native Polish speakers process phonological similarities in L2 English. To address this gap, the current study explores how native Polish speakers process interlingual homophones—such as szop (Polish) and shop (English)—during reading tasks. This study use an experimental design adapted from Friesen and Jared (2012) to examine the effects of a supposed shared phonology among interlingual homophones. Participants are presented with a time-pressured categorization task of Polish and English interlingual homophones and control words. It is hypothesized that accuracy and response times reflect the degree to which interlingual homophones foster semantic activation across languages on the basis of a shared phonology (Friesen and Jared, 2012). The current study sheds new light on the interaction of interlingual homophones on cross-language semantic activation among native Polish speakers with L2 English.