Immersion in Second Language Environment Influences Bilinguals’ Perception of Emotions
Researchers at the Cognitive Health and Intelligence Centre at the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience have discovered how bilingual individuals process emotional words in their native (first) and non-native (second) languages. It was found that the link between word meaning and bodily sensations is weaker in a second language than in a first language. However, the more a person is immersed in a language environment, the smaller this difference becomes. The article has been published in Language, Cognition and Neuroscience.
According to the theory of embodied cognition, abstract concepts, including emotions, are stored in memory together with physical experience. For example, in languages with left-to-right writing, such as Russian and English, people tend to associate positive emotions with the right side of space and negative emotions with the left. Researchers examined whether this mechanism operates in the same way for native and non-native languages.
The experiment involved 85 Russian–English bilinguals. Participants were shown emotionally charged words in both Russian and English on a screen, such as 'joy' and 'success,' or 'grief' and 'fear,' and instructed to press the right-hand key if the word had a positive meaning and the left-hand key if it was negative. The conditions were then reversed: the left key was used for positive words and the right key for negative words. Reaction times were recorded in all conditions.
In their native language, participants responded faster under the first, more intuitive condition (positive words assigned to the right hand and negative words to the left). A similar pattern was observed in the second language. However, even in the most natural condition (positive words assigned to the right-hand button), participants responded more slowly to English words than to Russian ones. This suggests that bodily and emotional experience is less strongly integrated into a second language than into a native language.
The difference in word processing between Russian and English was more pronounced among participants with lower proficiency in the foreign language and limited experience using it. In contrast, bilinguals with a high level of English proficiency processed emotionally charged English words at nearly the same speed as Russian words.
Alina Karliukova
'It is noteworthy that the age at which a second language is acquired does not play a decisive role. Even if a second language is learned later in life, active use, such as reading books, watching films, or living abroad, can lead to a close integration of bodily and linguistic experience. This, in turn, results in relatively similar patterns of word processing in both languages,' says one of the study authors, Alina Karliukova.
Additionally, the researchers measured linguistic emotional distance using a questionnaire. A high score indicates that bilinguals feel less emotionally connected to their second language and tend to rely on their native language when expressing emotions, eg sharing romantic feelings or reacting strongly to an unpleasant situation. Emotional distance is linked to limited use of the second language in natural contexts such as listening to songs or watching films.
'With a pronounced emotional distance, participants processed emotionally charged English words more slowly. Conversely, the more actively participants used a second language across a variety of contexts, the smaller the emotional distance was in that language', explained Karliukova.
According to the researchers, the results confirm that a second language gains emotional depth through diverse and intensive real-life use.
The study was conducted within the framework of the Basic Research Programme at HSE University.
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