What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion
Variation in the language experience of bilinguals has consequences for cognitive and affective processes. In the current study, we examined how bilingual experience influences the relationship between language and emotion in English among a group of Spanish–English heritage bilinguals on an emotion...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Languages |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/2/144 |
| _version_ | 1797485299268321280 |
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| author | Nicole A. Vargas Fuentes Judith F. Kroll Julio Torres |
| author_facet | Nicole A. Vargas Fuentes Judith F. Kroll Julio Torres |
| author_sort | Nicole A. Vargas Fuentes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Variation in the language experience of bilinguals has consequences for cognitive and affective processes. In the current study, we examined how bilingual experience influences the relationship between language and emotion in English among a group of Spanish–English heritage bilinguals on an emotion–memory task. Participants rated the emotionality of English taboo, negative and neutral words and then completed an unexpected recognition test. To account for language experience, data were gathered on the participants’ language dominance and proficiency. Results showed emotion–memory effects in the Spanish–English heritage bilinguals’ English (the societal language): taboo words were recognized significantly better than neutral words, while the emotionality of negative words carried over and significantly affected the recognition of preceding neutral words. Furthermore, such effects were modulated by language dominance scores with more pronounced emotion–memory effects in more English-dominant bilinguals. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence showing that emotions are not necessarily restricted to the first acquired home language. Critically, for heritage speakers, there is often a shift in language dominance from the home language to the societal language. The present study demonstrates that the effects of emotion on memory are seen in the acquired societal language. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:16:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-962cfacd8c59473ebed3839cc3bd06f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:16:48Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-962cfacd8c59473ebed3839cc3bd06f02023-11-23T17:34:41ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2022-06-017214410.3390/languages7020144What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of EmotionNicole A. Vargas Fuentes0Judith F. Kroll1Julio Torres2School of Education, University of California—Irvine, Irvine, CA 92797, USASchool of Education, University of California—Irvine, Irvine, CA 92797, USADepartment of Spanish and Portuguese, School of Humanities, University of California—Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USAVariation in the language experience of bilinguals has consequences for cognitive and affective processes. In the current study, we examined how bilingual experience influences the relationship between language and emotion in English among a group of Spanish–English heritage bilinguals on an emotion–memory task. Participants rated the emotionality of English taboo, negative and neutral words and then completed an unexpected recognition test. To account for language experience, data were gathered on the participants’ language dominance and proficiency. Results showed emotion–memory effects in the Spanish–English heritage bilinguals’ English (the societal language): taboo words were recognized significantly better than neutral words, while the emotionality of negative words carried over and significantly affected the recognition of preceding neutral words. Furthermore, such effects were modulated by language dominance scores with more pronounced emotion–memory effects in more English-dominant bilinguals. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence showing that emotions are not necessarily restricted to the first acquired home language. Critically, for heritage speakers, there is often a shift in language dominance from the home language to the societal language. The present study demonstrates that the effects of emotion on memory are seen in the acquired societal language.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/2/144language experienceheritage bilingualsemotion |
| spellingShingle | Nicole A. Vargas Fuentes Judith F. Kroll Julio Torres What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion Languages language experience heritage bilinguals emotion |
| title | What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion |
| title_full | What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion |
| title_fullStr | What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion |
| title_short | What Heritage Bilinguals Tell Us about the Language of Emotion |
| title_sort | what heritage bilinguals tell us about the language of emotion |
| topic | language experience heritage bilinguals emotion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/2/144 |
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