scholarly journals Emotionality ratings and electrodermal responses to university-related expressions in a native and a non-native language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Vanek ◽  
Artem Tovalovich

To what extent does emotional reactivity differ when bilinguals process input in their native (L1) or non-native language (L2)? Does the L1 elicit a significantly stronger emotional arousal or can salient second language experience generate comparably strong associations between emotions and the L2? These questions were addressed through two measures of emotional arousal, (online) skin conductance responses (SCR) and (offline) emotionality ratings. Russian-English late bilinguals, UK university students, were presented different types of university-related expressions in English and Russian. The vocabulary types were university-related emotionally-laden expressions (“Плагиат”/“Plagiarism”) and neutral words (“Круг”/“Circle”). Two main results emerged. First, in L1, SCRs showed a significantly increased electro-dermal activity when participants reacted to university-related words. Emotionality ratings showed contrasts based on stimulus type in both languages. These results indicate that university-related words qualify as a category of emotionally charged expressions. Second, between-language tests showed that electrodermal reactivity was not more reduced in L2 than in L1, which was also mirrored in emotionality ratings. These findings are located within the existing empirical context, and alternative interpretations are provided to further our understanding of how an emotionally salient L2 context contributes to shifts from mother tongue dominance to an increased emotional power of the second language.

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (05) ◽  
pp. 1313-1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Kreyßig ◽  
Agnieszka Ewa Krautz

AbstractMultiple studies on bilingualism and emotions have demonstrated that a native language carries greater emotional valence than the second language. This distinction appears to have consequences for other types of behavior, including lying. As bilingual lying has not been explored extensively, the current study investigated the psychophysiological differences between German (native language) and English (second language) in the lying process as well as in the perception of lies. The skin conductance responses of 26 bilinguals were measured during reading aloud true and false statements and listening to recorded correct and wrong assertions. The analysis revealed a lie effect, that is, statistically significant differences between valid and fictitious sentences. In addition, the values in German were higher compared to those in English, in accordance with the blunted emotional response account (Caldwell-Harris & Aycicegi-Dinn, 2009). Finally, the skin conductance responses were lower in the listening condition in comparison to the reading aloud. The results, however, are treated with caution given the fact that skin conductance monitoring does not allow assigning heightened reactivity of the skin to one exclusive cause. The responses may have been equally induced by the content of the statements, which prompted positive or negative associations in the participants’ minds or by the specific task requirements.


1990 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geert Driessen ◽  
Kees de Bot

Evaluation of the effect of mother tongue teaching to migrant children in the Netherlands. Data are presented on first- and second-language proficiency of the Turkish sample (n=368). The aim of the investigation was to find out to what extent learner characteristics influence proficiency scores. It is concluded that the correlation between first and second-language proficiency is particularly low, which does not support Cummins' interdependency hypothesis. Interestingly parents' interest in school is an important global factor. Age on arrival appears to be of little importance for scores on the first-language tests. This suggests that children who have lived in the Netherlands for most of their lives, still show a continued development of their mother tongue.


Author(s):  
Mahanbet Dzhusupov

The article considers the problem of the interaction of languages in the process of forming a bilingual personality and society. A comparative study of the material, the mother tongue and the studied language, reveals the causes of interference in bilingual speech in a foreign language. Traditionally, the causes of speech interference are determined by the characteristics of a native language, which are not found in the language studied, therefore they negatively affect the process of mastering the second language, which generates speech errors. This is a one-sided approach to understand interference in general and its origins (causes) in particular. The article considers the problem of a two-way approach to understanding the phenomenon of speech interference. Speech interference is a result of the negative influence of both the characteristics of the native language and the characteristics of the language being studied, i.e. it is a simultaneous two-way process in dual unity. Both processes of negative influence on an individuals mastery of a second language are defined as one action in bilinguality, giving the same result - interference in bilingual speech, which is expressed in phonetic-phonological, semantic and other types and types of speech errors. The simultaneous and inconsistent negative influence of the features of the native language and the non-native language considered on the material of consonant combinations in the initial words of the Russian and Kazakh languages, when the absence of combinations of consonants in this position of the Kazakh word and their presence in this position of the Russian word to the same extent and at the same time negatively influence on the correct - the literary pronunciation of Kazakh words and Russian words. Thus, in contrast to the traditional explanation of the phenomenon of speech interference as a result of a one-sided negative process, it is proposed and proved that this phenomenon is the result of (simultaneous) two-way influence of features, native and studied languages. Errors of an individual in speech in a foreign language are considered according to the provisions of the syntagmatic typology of interference (plus segmentation, or minus segmentation).


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Yuhang Yuan

English writing is one of the important ways to show the comprehensive ability of second language. The native language transfer has long been concerned by language learners since it was proposed. This study adopts qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the influence of mother tongue transfer on senior high school students' English writing and puts forward corresponding teaching strategies. Through the research, it can be found that native language transfer errors account for a large proportion of errors in English writing error types. In addition, native language transfer has a significant influence on students’ English writing level. It is helpful for students to improve their second language writing ability by adopting comprehensible input and other teaching methods related to mother tongue transfer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Toyin Falola ◽  
Michael Oladejo Afolayan

The Larger Context and Arguments on Mother Tongue and Education Many non-English speaking parents think that if their children only learn English, they will fare better in school. In the last half a century or so, researchers have noticed the problem faced especially by developing nations in their language-related educational policies.1 Some countries, like Burundi, for example, have adopted this mentality and made English the official national language, in hopes that encouraging English will stimulate the economy and improve the job prospects of youth.2 However, research consistently shows that focusing entirely on English or any “majority language” at the detriment of one’s native language actually does more harm than good. There are many 1 See works of Joshua Fishman, Language Problems of Developing Nations. New York: Wiley, 1968 and Joshua Fishman. Readings in the Sociology of Language. The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1968. 2 Angelina Kioko, “Why Schools Should Teach Young Learners in Home Language,” British Council, January 16, 2015, https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/ why-schools-should-teach-young-learners-home-language. 238 Toyin Falola and Michael Oladejo Afolayan benefts of children’s maintaining their native language, which I summarize below and will expand upon throughout the essay: 3 1. One’s language is tied with one’s identity. Consequently, then, maintaining one’s native language means maintaining one’s identity. With this maintained identity, one feels a connection to one’s native culture and therefore has a positive self-concept. 2. Maintaining one’s language allows one to strengthen relationships with family and community members who perhaps do not speak English (or the majority language) or who prefer to speak in their native language. Tis allows for one to keep a reliable social network bound by a common tongue. 3. If a young child is forced to speak in English (or the majority language) when they prefer to speak in their mother tongue, they are also forced to operate at a lower intellectual age than they actually are. Tis can damage the child’s academic future. Therefore, it is best for the child to be encouraged to speak both languages and experience the benefits of bilingualism and a fully developing brain. 4. Similar to #3, children who are able to speak in their native language and English (or the majority language) experience higher academic achievement throughout their life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-318
Author(s):  
Kinsey Bice ◽  
Brianna L. Yamasaki ◽  
Chantel S. Prat

An increasing body of research has investigated how bilingual language experience changes brain structure and function, including changes to task-free, or “resting-state” brain connectivity. Such findings provide important evidence about how the brain continues to be shaped by different language experiences throughout the lifespan. The neural effects of bilingual language experience can provide evidence about the additional processing demands placed on the linguistic and/or executive systems by dual-language use. While considerable research has used MRI to examine where these changes occur, such methods cannot reveal the temporal dynamics of functioning brain networks at rest. The current study used data from task-free EEGS to disentangle how the linguistic and cognitive demands of bilingual language use impact brain functioning. Data analyzed from 106 bilinguals and 91 monolinguals revealed that bilinguals had greater alpha power, and significantly greater and broader coherence in the alpha and beta frequency ranges than monolinguals. Follow-up analyses showed that higher alpha was related to language control: more second-language use, higher native-language proficiency, and earlier age of second-language acquisition. Bilateral beta power was related to native-language proficiency, whereas theta was related to native-language proficiency only in left-hemisphere electrodes. The results contribute to our understanding of how the linguistic and cognitive requirements of dual-language use shape intrinsic brain activity, and what the broader implications for information processing may be.


Author(s):  
Gülsen Yılmaz

This chapter provides an overview of the research on the attrition of native language (L1) in late bilinguals in relation to their second language (L2) development and integration into the L2 society. Despite lack of empirical evidence, it is often implicitly assumed that maintaining L1 knowledge impedes L2 learning. Furthermore, individuals whose L1 skills decline as a result of immersion in an L2 environment and become highly competent in the L2 are expected to achieve better cultural integration as opposed to those who prefer to preserve their mother tongue. We point to the fact that bilingualism and biculturalism have often been investigated independently and hence the lack of evidence for a straightforward association between the development of languages and cultural affiliation; and we call for in-depth studies that integrate language and culture in order to reveal their consequences for L1 development.


NeuroImage ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 1367-1375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan Zou ◽  
Jubin Abutalebi ◽  
Benjamin Zinszer ◽  
Xin Yan ◽  
Hua Shu ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Rudha Widagsa ◽  
Sri Wiyanah ◽  
Primasari Wahyuni

Generally, word stress tends to be ignored and is not considered a serious problem in Indonesian EFL; most teachers only focus on lexical and grammatical aspects of English. In fact, the prosodic features existing in English greatly affect meaning. This research, therefore, is intended to find out how Indonesian Learners of English (ILE) produce the English word stress. The stressed syllables were identified by using the highest pitch in each word. This research involved 20 respondents whose mother tongue is Indonesian. PRAAT software was applied to analyze the recordings, including measuring the pitch of each word. Word stress is indicated by the highest pitch of each word. The lowest pitch indicates weak stress. The result illustrated that ILE produces inappropriate word stress in second language learning. Most of them are not able to distinguish between strong and weak stressed syllables. This is because in their native language, prosodic features, such as word stress, do not prevail. Thus, English word stress production was heavily influenced by Indonesian features of stress. From the 36 words that become the instrument of this research, less than 50% were pronounced correctly, in most cases, and the highest pitch fell on last syllables. The absence of prosodic features in Indonesian language and limited knowledge on English phonetics drive the ILE to pronunciation error.�


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