Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:19:53.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How are words felt in a second language: Norms for 2,628 English words for valence and arousal by L2 speakers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2020

Constance Imbault ,
Debra Titone ,
Amy Beth Warriner  and
Victor Kuperman Open the ORCID record for Victor Kuperman [Opens in a new window]
Constance Imbault*
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Debra Titone
Affiliation:
McGill University
Amy Beth Warriner
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Victor Kuperman
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo
*
Address for correspondence: Constance Imbault, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The topic of non-native language processing has been of steady interest in past decades. Yet, conclusions about the emotional responses in L2 have been highly variable. We conducted a large-scale rating study to explicitly measure how non-native readers of English respond to the valence and arousal of 2,628 English words. We investigated how the effect of a rater's L2 proficiency, length of time in Canada, and the semantic category of the word affects how L2 readers experience and rate that word. L2 speakers who had lived a longer time in Canada, and reported higher English proficiency, showed emotional responses that were more similar to those of L1 speakers of English. Additionally, valence differences between L1 and L2 raters were greater in words that L2 raters do not typically use in English. These findings highlight the importance of behavioural ecology in language learning, particularly as it applies to emotional word processing.

Keywords

bilingualismemotionvalencearousal
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 281 - 292
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altarriba, J and Bauer, LM (2004) The Distinctiveness of Emotion Concepts: A Comparison between Emotion, Abstract, and Concrete Words. The American Journal of Psychology, 117, 389–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anooshian, LJ and Hertel, PT (1994) Emotionality in free recall: Language specificity in bilingual memory. Cognition and Emotion, 8, 503–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699939408408956CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayçiçeǧi-Dinn, A and Caldwell-Harris, CL (2009) Emotion-memory effects in bilingual speakers: A levels-of-processing approach*. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12, 291. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990125CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barsalou, LW (1999) Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 577–660. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X99002149CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayer, M, Sommer, W and Schacht, A (2011) Emotional words impact the mind but not the body: Evidence from pupillary responses. Psychophysiology, 48, 1554–1562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01219.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonin, P, Aubert, L, Malardier, N and Niedenthal, PM (2016) Subjective Et De Valence Émotionnelle Pour 866 Mots, 103, 655–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, MM and Lang, PJ (1999) Affective norms for English words (ANEW): Instruction manual and affective ratings (Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 25–36). Technical report C-1, the center for research in psychophysiology, University of Florida.Google Scholar
Brase, J and Mani, N (2017) Effects of learning context on the acquisition and processing of emotional words in bilinguals. Emotion, 17, 628–639. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000263CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Briesemeister, BB, Kuchinke, L and Jacobs, AM (2011) Discrete emotion effects on lexical decision response times. PLoS ONE, 6(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023743CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brysbaert, M and New, B (2009) Moving beyond Kucera and Francis: a critical evaluation of current word frequency norms and the introduction of a new and improved word frequency measure for American English. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 977–990. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.977CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caldwell-Harris, CL (2015) Emotionality Differences Between a Native and Foreign Language. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24, 214–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414566268CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell-Harris, CL, Tong, J, Lung, W and Poo, S (2011) Physiological reactivity to emotional phrases in Mandarin-English bilinguals. International Journal of Bilingualism, 15, 329–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006910379262CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Citron, FMM, Weekes, BS and Ferstl, EC (2013) Effects of valence and arousal on written word recognition: Time course and ERP correlates. Neuroscience Letters, 533, 90–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, J and Paivio, A (1991) Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 3, 149–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01320076CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Grauwe, S, Willems, RM, Rueschemeyer, SA, Lemhöfer, K and Schriefers, H (2014) Embodied language in first- and second-language speakers: Neural correlates of processing motor verbs. Neuropsychologia, 56, 334–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.02.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Degner, J, Doycheva, C and Wentura, D (2012) It matters how much you talk: On the automaticity of affective connotations of first and second language words. Bilingualism, 15, 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728911000095CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, J.-M. (2004) The Emotional Force of Swearwords and Taboo Words in the Speech of Multilinguals. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25, 204–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630408666529CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, JM and Nakano, S (2013) Multilinguals’ perceptions of feeling different when switching languages. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34, 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2012.712133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eilola, TM, Havelka, J and Sharma, D (2007) Emotional activation in the first and second language. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 1064–1076. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930601054109CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferré, P, García, T, Fraga, I, Sánchez-Casas, R and Molero, M (2010) Memory for emotional words in bilinguals: Do words have the same emotional intensity in the first and in the second language? Cognition and Emotion, 24, 760–785. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930902985779CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foroni, F (2015) Do we embody second language? Evidence for ‘partial’ simulation during processing of a second language. Brain and Cognition, 99, 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2015.06.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, CL (2004) Bilingual speakers in the lab: Psychophysiological measures of emotional reactivity. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25(2–3), 223–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630408666530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, CL, Ayçiçeǧi, A and Gleason, JB (2003) Taboo words and reprimands elicit greater autonomic reactivity in a first language than in a second language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 561–579. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716403000286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, CL, Gleason, JB and Ayçiçeǧi, A(2006) When is a First Language More Emotional? Psychophysiological Evidence from Bilingual Speakers. In Bilingual minds: Emotional experience, expression and representation, pp. 257–283. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.69.5830%0Ahttp://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2014-08/russland-import-sanktionen%0Ahttp://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.69.5830%0Ahttp://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2014-08/russland-import-saGoogle Scholar
Hellman, AB (2011) Vocabulary size and depth of word knowledge in adult-onset second language acquisition. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 21, 162–182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2010.00265.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Itzhak, I, Vingron, N, Baum, SR and Titone, D (2017) Bilingualism in the real world: How proficiency, emotion, and personality in a second language impact communication in clinical and legal settings. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 3, 48–65. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000103CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazanas, SA and Altarriba, J (2016) Emotion Word Processing: Effects of Word Type and Valence in Spanish–English Bilinguals. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 45, 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-015-9357-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kousta, ST, Vigliocco, G, Vinson, DP, Andrews, M and Del Campo, E (2011) The Representation of Abstract Words: Why Emotion Matters. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140, 14–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021446CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kousta, ST, Vinson, DP and Vigliocco, G (2009) Emotion words, regardless of polarity, have a processing advantage over neutral words. Cognition, 112, 473–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.06.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kroll, JF and Tokowicz, N (2005) Models of bilingual representation and processing: Looking back and to the future. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches (pp. 531–553. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kuchinke, L, Võ, MLH, Hofmann, M and Jacobs, AM (2007) Pupillary responses during lexical decisions vary with word frequency but not emotional valence. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 65, 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2007.04.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuperman, V, Estes, Z, Brysbaert, M and Warriner, AB (2014) Emotion and language: Valence and arousal affect word recognition. Journal of Experimental …, (4). Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/psycarticles/2014-03909-001Google Scholar
Kuznetsova, A, Brockhoff, P and Christensen, R (2016) lmerTest: Tests in Linear Mixed Effects Models. R Package Version, 3.0.0, https://cran.r-project.org/package=lmerTest. Retrieved from https://cran.r-project.org/package=lmerTestGoogle Scholar
Long, LS and Titone, DA (2007) Psychopathy and verbal emotion processing in non-incarcerated males. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 119–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930600551766CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackay, DG, Shafto, M, Taylor, JK, Marian, DE, Abrams, L and Dyer, JR (2004) Relations between emotion, memory, and attention: Evidence from taboo Stroop, lexical decision, and immediate memory tasks. Memory & Cognition, 32, 474–488. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195840CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacWhinney, B (2008) How mental models encode embodied linguistic perspectives. In R. Klatzky, B. MacWhinney & M. Behrmann (Eds.), Embodiment, Ego-Space, and Action (pp. 369–410. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Marian, V, Blumenfeld, HK and Kaushanskaya, M (2007) The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR, 50, 940–967. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Méndez-Bértolo, C, Pozo, MA and Hinojosa, JA (2011) Word frequency modulates the processing of emotional words: Convergent behavioral and electrophysiological data. Neuroscience Letters, 494, 250–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2011.03.026CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pennebaker, J, Booth, R and Francis, M (2007) Linguistic inquiry and word count: LIWC. Austin, TX: liwc net.Google Scholar
Perfetti, C (2007) Reading Ability: Lexical Quality to Comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11, 357–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430701530730CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ponari, M, Rodriguez-Cuadrado, S, Vinson, D, Fox, N, Costa, A and Vigliocco, G (2014) Processing advantage for emotional words in bilingual speakers. Emotion, 15(January), 644–652. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000061CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puntoni, S, de Langhe, B and van Osselaer, SMJ (2009) Bilingualism and the Emotional Intensity of Advertising Language. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 1012–1025. https://doi.org/10.1086/595022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R Core Team (2018) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. http://www.R-project.org/.Google Scholar
Recio, G, Conrad, M, Hansen, LB and Jacobs, AM (2014) On pleasure and thrill: The interplay between arousal and valence during visual word recognition. Brain and Language, 134, 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.03.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santiago-Rivera, AL and Altarriba, J (2002) The Role of Language in Therapy With the Spanish-English Bilingual Client. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33, 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.33.1.30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, G, O'Donnell, P, Leuthold, H and Sereno, S (2009) Early emotion word processing: evidence from event-related potentials. Biological Psychology, 80, 95–104. https://doi.org/S0301-0511(08)00073-2 [pii]\r10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.03.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, G, O'Donnell, P and Sereno, S (2012) Emotion words affect eye fixations during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 38, 783–792. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027209Google ScholarPubMed
Segalowitz, N, Trofimovich, P, Gatbonton, E and Sokolovskaya, A (2008) Feeling affect in a second language: The role of word recognition automaticity. The Mental Lexicon, 3, 47–71. https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.3.1.05segCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheikh, NA and Titone, DA (2013) Sensorimotor and linguistic information attenuate emotional word processing benefits: An eye-movement study. Emotion, 13, 1107–1121. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheikh, N and Titone, D (2015) The embodiment of emotional words in a second language: An eye-movement study. Cognition & Emotion, (April), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1018144Google Scholar
Soares, AP, Comesaña, M, Pinheiro, AP, Simões, A and Frade, S (2012) Behavior and Research Methods Corresponding author. Behavior Research Methods, 44, 256–269. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0131-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H, Imbault, C, Pérez Sánchez, MA and Brysbaert, M (2017) Norms of valence and arousal for 14,031 Spanish words. Behavior Research Methods, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0700-2Google ScholarPubMed
Sutton, TM, Altarriba, J, Gianico, JL and Basnight-Brown, DM (2007) The automatic access of emotion: Emotional Stroop effects in Spanish-English bilingual speakers. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 1077–1090. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930601054133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velez-Uribe, I and Rosselli, M (2019) The auditory and visual appraisal of emotion-related words in Spanish–English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22, 30–46. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728917000517CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vinson, D, Ponari, M and Vigliocco, G (2014) How does emotional content affect lexical processing? Cognition & Emotion, 28, 737–746. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.851068CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warriner, AB, Kuperman, V and Brysbaert, M (2013) Norms of valence, arousal, and dominance for 13,915 English lemmas. Behavior Research Methods, 45, 1191–1207. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-012-0314-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warriner, AB, Shore, DI, Schmidt, LA, Imbault, CL and Kuperman, V (2017) Sliding into happiness: A new tool for measuring affective responses to words. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale, 71, 71–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Winskel, H (2013) The emotional Stroop task and emotionality rating of negative and neutral words in late Thai-English bilinguals. International Journal of Psychology. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2013.793800CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolter, B (2001) COMPARING THE L1 AND L2 MENTAL LEXICON A Depth of Individual Word Knowledge Model. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23, S0272263101001024. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263101001024CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Imbault et al. supplementary material

Imbault et al. supplementary material

Download Imbault et al. supplementary material(File)
File 227.1 KB
Supplementary material: PDF

Imbault et al. supplementary material

Figures S1-S3

Download Imbault et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 143.3 KB