Abstract

In an ERP study of Spanish-English 6–8-year-old children, we investigated processing of L2-English phonology in the form of rhyming pseudowords and found a typical posterior rhyming effect (RE) that was stronger with proficiency. Prior studies suggest phonological processing predicts subsequent vocabulary size which in turn predicts syntactic proficiency. Therefore, in this presentation, I will in a within subject design explore the relationships between 6-8-year-old bilingual children’s ERP effects to L2 phonology with that of their ERP effects to L2 semantics (N400) and syntax (P600). These preliminary analyses suggest strong relationships between processing of an L2 across levels of language as indicated by correlations between the amplitude of the three ERP effects (RE, N400, and P600). Based on these results, I will discuss if these relationships could possibly be of predictive nature.