Does learning a foreign language affect object categorization in native speakers of a language with grammatical gender? The case of Lithuanian speakers learning three languages with different types of gender systems (Italian, Russian and German)

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: We examined whether categorization of inanimate objects is influenced by learning a language with a different type of gender system. Previous research has examined speakers of languages without grammatical gender (English and Hungarian) who were learning a language with grammatical gender (Spanish and French). By contrast, we examined speakers of a language with grammatical gender (Lithuanian) learning a language with a structurally different gender system (Italian, Russian or German). Design/Methodology/Approach: We compared four groups (Lithuanians speaking only English and Lithuanian, Lithuanians learning Italian, Lithuanians learning Russian, Lithuanians learning German) in the completion of a voice attribution task where subjects are asked to attribute either the voice of a man or a woman to inanimate objects. Data and Analysis: We tested 128 subjects (32 for each group). The first group included Lithuanians who spoke only Lithuanian and English, and served as baseline for Lithuanians with a single grammatical gender system (Group B). The other three groups included Lithuanians that were proficient in either Italian (Group ITA), Russian (Group RUS) or German (Group GER). Data were analysed by means of mixed effects generalized linear models created using R glmer() function. We conducted a series of logistic regressions examining the following fixed effects: sex, age, distinction ‘artefact vs. natural object’, Lithuanian gender, proficiency in the relevant foreign language and the gender of each item in the relevant foreign language (i.e. either Italian, Russian or German). Findings/Conclusions: Our results suggest that the four groups behaved somewhat differently and that belonging to one group or the other was a significant predictor of a participant’s choices. [...]Užsienio kalbų, lit. ir vert. s. katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta