Bilingualism and emotion

The completion of the study in the postgraduate programs of the University of Mataram requires a certain level of English proficiency measured with TOEFL test. The majority of the students find it difficult to achieve the minimum standard of the TOEFL score. Of the three sections of the Prediction TOEFL, Listening Comprehension section is most difficult one since it primarily measures pragmatic understanding. The present study examined pragmatic understanding of the bilinguals and multi-linguals of Indonesian and English master's degree programs and its causes of difficulty. It contributes to the provision of a theory dealing with the relationship between bilingualism and pragmatic competence and English proficiency. This ex post facto research employed mixed-methods. Data were collected with a test and questionnaire from 19 students and then analyzed with descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis. Pragmatic understanding of the English master's degree students is higher than that of Indonesian language master's degree students, and bilinguals' pragmatic understanding is higher than that of multi-linguals'. English master's degree students' pragmatic understanding of test Types A and B is higher than that of Indonesian language masters degrees' students, and bilingual Indonesian masters degrees' students pragmatic understanding is also higher than that of the Indonesian masters degrees' students. The causes of difficulty of pragmatic understanding of the English students involve similarity of the choices and lack of prior knowledge, low inferential skill, and not understand implied meaning, proverbs, presuppositions, context, and idioms. The Indonesian master's degrees students' difficulties include limited vocabulary and lack of understanding of implied meaning, context, proverbs and presuppositions.

L'últim patriarca by Najat El Hachmi (2008) has been critically acclaimed for its portrayal of the difficulties faced by a young Moroccan girl struggling to reconcile her past and present identities under the authoritarian yet unpredictable control of her father. This article focuses on the triangular relationship between language, literature and emotion that underpins the protagonist's quest for independence, self-esteem and emotional maturity. Drawing on research on bilingualism and emotion, literature and emotion, and emotions and moral judgement, the article examines how these interconnecting themes are explored in the novel and their importance for our understanding of the protagonist's journey towards personal autonomy. Two classic Catalan novels, Solitud by Victor Català and La plaça del Diamant by Mercè Rodoreda, provide the protagonist both with an insight into her own situation and a way to become the narrator of her own life story, thus (it appears) taking control of her own destiny. The article argues that this is only possible thanks to her ability to express her story in a new language, to rediscover the connection between bodily sensation and emotion, and to forge a new moral identity that is no longer conditioned by that of her hypocritical father. KEYWORDS: NAJAT EL HACHMI; BILINGUALISM AND EMOTION; LITERATURE AND EMOTION; CATALAN LITERATURE. RESUMEN L'últim patriarca de Najat El Hachmi (2008) ha sido aclamado por la crítica por su interpretación de las dificultades a las que se enfrenta una joven marroquí que lucha por reconciliar sus identidades pasadas y presentes bajo el control autoritario y caprichoso de su padre. Este artículo se centra en la relación triangular entre lenguaje, literatura y emoción que sustenta la búsqueda de la protagonista por la independencia, la autoestima y la madurez emocional. Basándose en la investigación sobre el bilingüismo y la emoción, la literatura y la emoción, las emociones y el juicio moral, el artículo examina cómo se exploran estos temas interconectados en la novela y su importancia para nuestra comprensión del viaje del protagonista hacia la autonomía personal. Dos novelas catalanas clásicas, Solitud de Víctor Català y La plaça del Diamant de Mercè Rodoreda, proporcionan a la protagonista tanto una visión de su propia situación como una forma de convertirse en la narradora de su propia historia de vida, tomando así (según parece) el control de su propio destino. El artículo argumenta que esto sólo es posible gracias a su capacidad para expresar su historia en una lengua nueva, redescubrir la conexión entre la sensación corporal y la emoción, y forjar una nueva identidad moral que ya no está condicionada por la de su hipócrita padre.

Evidencias mostram que bilíngues geralmente se sentem mais emocionais quando expressam suas emoções na sua primeira língua em comparação com a sua segunda (PAVLENKO, 2007, 2012; DEWAELE; NAKANO, 2012; COSTA et al., 2014). Dessa forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se bilíngues que têm o português brasileiro (PB) como primeira língua (L1) e inglês como segunda língua (L2) sentem e expressam suas emoções de forma diferente na sua língua estrangeira em comparação com sua língua nativa. Para fazer isso, foi aplicado um questionário que contou com 114 participantes bilíngues adultos que possuem PB como L1 e inglês como L2. Os participantes responderam a perguntas referentes ao histórico de linguagem e também à frequência e à probabilidade de expressão de suas emoções. Investigamos a expressão de ansiedade, a expressão de raiva e de sentimentos profundos, o uso de xingamentos e o sentimento de ser eloquente, sério, emocional e falso nas diferentes línguas. Foi explorada também a ...

Evidências mostram que bilíngues geralmente se sentem mais emocionais quando expressam suas emoções na sua primeira língua em comparação com a sua segunda (PAVLENKO, 2007, 2012; DEWAELE; NAKANO, 2012; COSTA et al., 2014). Dessa forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se bilíngues que têm o português brasileiro (PB) como primeira língua (L1) e inglês como segunda língua (L2) sentem e expressam suas emoções de forma diferente na sua língua estrangeira em comparação com sua língua nativa. Para fazer isso, foi aplicado um questionário que contou com 114 participantes bilíngues adultos que possuem PB como L1 e inglês como L2. Os participantes responderam a perguntas referentes ao histórico de linguagem e também à frequência e à probabilidade de expressão de suas emoções. Investigamos a expressão de ansiedade, a expressão de raiva e de sentimentos profundos, o uso de xingamentos e o sentimento de ser eloquente, sério, emocional e falso nas diferentes línguas. Foi explorada também a preferência pela L1 ou L2 na expressão da frase “eu te amo”, no uso de termos carinhosos e na expressão de memórias difíceis. Os resultados demonstraram que os participantes preferiram o PB ao expressar emoções, apresentando uma relação emocional mais forte com a L1, demonstrando que bilíngues sentem e expressam emoções de forma diferente na L1 e na L2. O contexto de aquisição, a frequência de uso e a autoavaliação de proficiência foram fatores que exerceram grande influência na percepção e na expressão de emoções na L1 e na L2.

We investigated the effect of second language use on the experienced vividness and emotionality of negative autobiographical memories. Fifty native Swedish speakers with English as their second language were asked to recall a negative episodic memory from their past in their native language. Half the participants were then asked to reactivate the same memory in their first language while the other half were asked to reactivate it in their second language, and then rate their experienced vividness and emotionality a second time. Following this reactivation, experienced emotionality was reduced for both groups of participants, with a similar magnitude of reduction for both groups. Experienced vividness, however, was only reduced for the group who reactivated the memory in their second language. No difference in intrusion frequency was found between the groups at a one-week follow-up. The results provide increased insight into how a second language can affect the experienced emotionality and vividness of a negative autobiographical memory.

BILINGUAL MEMORY: A SECOND LOOK AT EMOTIONALITY IN FREE-RECALL MAY 2002 ARELIS M. MARTINEZ, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor James R. Averill The present study examined short-term emotional memory in coordinate bilinguals (bilinguals who learn one language first & later their second) . Anooshian and Hertel (1994) found better recall when emotional words, but not neutral words, were presented in a coordinate bilingual' s native language. An attempt was made to replicate their findings, using a broader set of emotional words (including emotion concepts, e.g., happy, as well as emotion-eliciting words, e.g., home). The possible influence of pleasant vs. unpleasant emotional connotation on recall was also explored. Following Anooshian and Hertel' s (1994) procedure, 17 Spanish-English and 17 English-Spanish coordinate bilinguals viewed a set of 48 words (24 emotional & 24 neutral) on a computer monitor. Afterwar...

Aims and objectives: How health risks are communicated can have a substantial impact on medical judgments and choice. Here, we examine whether the language used to process health-related information systematically changes bilinguals’ perceptions and preferences. Methodology: Chinese-English bilinguals were presented with 10 medical scenarios in either their native language (Mandarin Chinese; n = 76) or a second language (American English; n = 84) and made judgments regarding their familiarity with the medical conditions and the perceived severity of the possible symptoms (incurability, emotional distress, physical pain, social harm). Participants then rated their agreement with statements pertaining to beliefs about medical decision-making (trust in the good intentions of doctors, acceptability of challenging doctors, importance of involving family, preference for standard treatments, preference for experimental treatments). Data and analysis: Linear mixed-effects models were constr...

Aims and objectives: How health risks are communicated can have a substantial impact on medical judgments and choice. Here, we examine whether the language used to process health-related information systematically changes bilinguals’ perceptions and preferences. Methodology: Chinese-English bilinguals were presented with 10 medical scenarios in either their native language (Mandarin Chinese; n = 76) or a second language (American English; n = 84) and made judgments regarding their familiarity with the medical conditions and the perceived severity of the possible symptoms (incurability, emotional distress, physical pain, social harm). Participants then rated their agreement with statements pertaining to beliefs about medical decision-making (trust in the good intentions of doctors, acceptability of challenging doctors, importance of involving family, preference for standard treatments, preference for experimental treatments). Data and analysis: Linear mixed-effects models were constr...

The role of affective factors in the process of foreign language learning and teaching is undeniable. Still, despite growing interest in the role of attitudinal variables in foreign language training, the problem has not been much researched from the perspective of multidimensional cognition. Thus, the focus of the article is the architecture of foreign language learners’ cognition situated within a multimodal framework and shaped by particular socio-linguistic experience. It is postulated that the conceptual system of a foreign language learner is unique in being highly susceptible to processing in terms of affective parameters. This hypothesis is corroborated by the results of a pilot study which show that concrete words in the conceptual systems of foreign language learners are associated with affect more than in the case of native speakers.

Aims and objectives: How health risks are communicated can have a substantial impact on medical judgments and choice. Here, we examine whether the language used to process healthrelated information systematically changes bilinguals' perceptions and preferences. Methodology: Chinese-English bilinguals were presented with 10 medical scenarios in either their native language (Mandarin Chinese; n = 76) or a second language (American English; n = 84) and made judgments regarding their familiarity with the medical conditions and the perceived severity of the possible symptoms (incurability, emotional distress, physical pain, social harm). Participants then rated their agreement with statements pertaining to beliefs about medical decision-making (trust in the good intentions of doctors, acceptability of challenging doctors, importance of involving family, preference for standard treatments, preference for experimental treatments). Data and analysis: Linear mixed-effects models were constructed for judgments of medical conditions and for beliefs regarding medical decision-making. Findings and conclusions: Medical conditions were perceived to be easier to cure, less physically painful, and less emotionally distressing when processed in the second language, English. Using English also increased endorsement of beliefs (such as challenging doctors' opinions and accepting experimental treatments) that were more consistent with individualistic than with collectivistic norms. We propose that the activation of emotions and values is linked to language, with consequences for how individuals make decisions that impact their health and well-being. Originality: The present study is among the first to systematically examine the interactive psychological impact of language context and experience on judgments and beliefs in an applied medical domain. Significance: With millions of practitioners and patients worldwide making medical decisions in a combination of native and non-native languages, the present findings highlight the need to account for language, including language use, context, and experience, in order to optimize healthrelated communication and judgments.

Abstract
Aims and objectives: While the debate on the cognitive bilingual advantage is ongoing, much
less attention has been paid to the potential emotional advantage of bilinguals. The present study
compared the performance of bilinguals and monolinguals in emotion perception (EP) in Arabic
and in English and the differences in trait emotional intelligence (Trait EI). It also considered the
relationship between Trait EI and EP scores.
Methodology: 205 Arabic-English bilinguals, 71 Arabic monolinguals and 333 English monolinguals
had to recognise anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise and happiness in 12 short audio-visual video
clips (six in English and six in Arabic) embedded in an online questionnaire. The clips contained
short conversations about day-to-day situations.
Data and analysis: Nonparametric statistical analyses were used to explore the differences
between bilinguals and monolinguals in EP in English and Arabic and to explore the relationship
between Trait EI and EP.
Findings: Bilinguals outperformed English monolinguals in the EP task in English but did not
perform better than Arabic monolinguals in Arabic. Bilinguals scored higher on Trait EI than
monolinguals, and Trait EI scores were significantly and positively correlated with EP scores.
Originality: This study suggests that there is a small bilingual advantage for emotional and
psychological domains.
Significance: Bilingualism seems to have an effect on some personality dimensions and emotional
skills.

The present study expands the literature on the Foreign Language Effect by investigating differences in moral judgment for 280 English-Spanish late bilinguals when processing the button and bridge moral scenarios of the canonical trolley dilemma (Thomson, 1985) in an online questionnaire in either a native (NL), foreign (FL), or code-switched (CS) language environment. The study furthermore examines the effects of emotion on moral standards across these three language contexts, analysing self-reports of individuals’ emotions following their moral decisions. Overall, moral judgments in the CS and NL conditions patterned similarly for both dilemmas, while, in line with previous studies, the FL condition elicited an increased percentage of utilitarian decisions in the high-conflict bridge scenario. Unique emotions did not vary significantly across language contexts in either scenario, and no reduction in emotion was seen in participants’ FL. However, an interaction between language condition and emotion in the high-conflict dilemma suggests that the ratio and relative ranking of various emotions, and not just the degree of emotionality, may have an influence on moral evaluations. The present study elucidates the previously neglected variable of moral decision processing in the context of code-switching and discusses cognitive and emotional explanations for the Foreign Language Effect.

Previous research has shown that people make systematically different
decisions when faced with a moral dilemma in a native than in a foreign
language [e.g. Costa, A., A. Foucart, S. Hayakawa, M. Aparici, J. Apesteguia, J. Heafner, and B. Keysar. 2014. “Your Morals Depend on
Language.” PLoS One 9 (4): e94842]. The aim of the current study is to
test the limits of this so-called Foreign-Language Effect by examining (1)
whether it holds for highly proficient bilinguals of a closely related
language pair (i.e. Dutch-English), and (2) whether it can be replicated in
an auditory setting. In Experiment 1, 60 Dutch-English bilinguals read
moral dilemmas in Dutch or in English, whereas in Experiment 2, a
different sample of 60 Dutch-English bilinguals listened to the same
dilemmas. After reading or listening, participants’ task was to indicate
whether the proposed action was appropriate or not. The results showed
that the Foreign-Language Effect was absent in Experiment 1, but present
in Experiment 2. These findings aid in understanding the robustness of
the Foreign-Language Effect, revealing that in some contexts it may be
overcome and/or inhibited, whereas in others it may be enhanced.

Though previous research has shown a decreased sensitivity to emotionally-laden linguistic stimuli presented in the non-native (L2) compared to the native language (L1), studies conducted thus far have not examined how different modalities influence bilingual emotional language processing. The present experiment was therefore aimed at investigating how late proficient Polish (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals process emotionally-laden narratives presented in L1 and L2, in the visual and auditory modality. To this aim, we employed the galvanic skin response (GSR) method and a self-report measure (Polish adaptation of the PANAS questionnaire). The GSR findings showed a reduced galvanic skin response to L2 relative to L1, thus suggesting a decreased reactivity to emotional stimuli in L2. Additionally, we observed a more pronounced skin conductance level to visual than auditory stimuli, yet only in L1, which might be accounted for by a self-reference effect that may have been modulated by both language and modality.

A shorter version of this paper will appear as a contribution to the Frontiers Research Topic (Language Sciences), "The Janus-Face of language: Where are the emotions in words and the words in emotions?" [forthcoming later in 2014]
See: http://www.frontiersin.org/Language_Sciences/researchtopics/The_Janus-Face_of_language_Whe/2202