Different early and late processing of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words in a second language: An ERP study. (July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Juan; Wu, Chenggang; Yuan, Zhen; Meng, Yaxuan
• Other Names: Godfroid Aline guest-editor.; Winke Paula guest-editor.; Conklin Kathy guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Second language research. Volume 36:Number 3(2020)
• Page Start: 399
• Page End: 412
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Subjects: emotion-label words -- emotion-laden words -- ERP -- second language; Second language acquisition -- Periodicals; Language and languages -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 401.93
• DOI: 10.1177/0267658318804850
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-6583

Abstract

Although increasing literature has suggested that emotion-label words (e.g., anger, delight) and emotion-laden words (e.g., thief, bride) were processed differently in native language (L1), there was a lack of neuroimaging evidence showing such differences in second language (L2). The current study compared the cortical responses to emotion-label words and emotion-laden words in L2 using event-related potentials (ERPs) technique. Sixteen Chinese–English bilingual college students were asked to finish a lexical decision task with their brain activations recorded. Overall, emotion-label words and emotion-laden words showed diverse processing characteristics. Specifically, such differences were evidenced by the results that (1) larger N170 was elicited by negative emotion-label words than by negative emotion-laden words while positive emotion-laden words evoked larger N170 than positive emotion-label words at occipito-temporal sites, and (2) emotion-laden words evoked larger Late Positive Complex (LPC) than emotion-label words at parietal sites over the right hemisphere. The implication of the current findings was also discussed.