Cognate Effects on Bilingual Lexical–Semantic Processing in Children: Insights from ERPs

This study investigates whether and, if so, how cognates facilitate lexical-semantic processing during early bilingual development. Additionally, we examine the interaction between the cognate facilitation effect (CFE) and bilingual experience factors, such as language proficiency, exposure, and age. We investigated language backgrounds and recorded event-related potentials during a semantic priming task in Dutch-German bilingual children. Most participants were Dutch-dominant, characterized by higher exposure and proficiency in Dutch. We compared the N400 response to target words preceded by semantically related cognate versus non-cognate primes. We found a reduced N400 effect (indexing cognate facilitation) only in the non-dominant language (nDL; German). Individual difference analyses further revealed that higher proficiency of nDL and increasing age attenuated the CFE. In contrast, higher cumulative exposure was associated with an amplified CFE. These findings suggest that cross-linguistic activation in lexical-semantic processing may benefit younger children with either lower proficiency or higher exposure to their non-dominant language during language processing. Together, the study offers direct neural evidence for bilingual cognate facilitation effects and highlights the importance of investigating interactions with external factors in early bilingualism. Future longitudinal research should examine whether cognate reliance serves as a temporary scaffolding mechanism for the acquisition of the non-dominant language.