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1 results

  • 7 - Embodied Cognition and Mental Simulation

  • Shu-Ling Wu, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Lihong Huang, Georgetown University, Washington DC, Carl Polley, University of Hawaii
  • Book:
    Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition of Chinese
    Published online:
    01 February 2024
    Print publication:
    08 February 2024, pp 148-177

  • Summary

    Chapter 7 discusses the theory of simulation semantics, which claims that people spontaneously create mental simulations of the objects and actions expressed in language as part of the cognitive processes involved in language comprehension and production. When hearing a sentence like, “He kicked the ball, and it bounced off a tree into the pond,” our brain subconsciously uses the same neural assemblies that are involved in physically moving a leg to kick and watching an object move, while it also accesses experientially based memories that function as schematic representations of balls, trees, and ponds. CL studies further demonstrate how mental simulation is involved in comprehension of abstract and metaphorical language and how mental simulation can be shaped by syntactic structures, and preliminary research has been done to tease apart how mental simulation differs for L1 versus L2 comprehension. The chapter suggests ways in which new understandings of embodied cognition can inform the teaching and learning of Chinese in the classroom.