Cover not available

Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 19:1 (2018) ► pp.117–155

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Linguistic relativity in L2 acquisition

Chinese-English bilinguals’ reading of Chinese counterfactual statements

 | National Taiwan Normal University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 5 January 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00005.liu
Abstract
Proponents of the Linguistic Relativity Principle has maintained that the language we use modulates our thinking and that our thinking also shapes or determines how the language is parsed and understood. Existing research has provided compelling evidence for the above relativistic view in monolingual speakers. Recently, a growing number of studies have also started to investigate the relativistic view on language and thought in L2 learners. These L2 studies have yielded evidence regarding the cognitive constraint of an early-learned language (e.g. L1) on the later-learned language (e.g. L2). Despite this vigorous research effort, much remains unknown about whether the cognitive development in the later-learned language would modulate how the early-learned language is parsed (lower-level processing) and understood (higher-level processing). To fill the gap, this study drew on the self-paced reading experimental paradigm to study linguistic relativity effects on advanced L2 learners’ reading of L1 (Chinese) counterfactual statements – a concept encoded differently in these learners’ L1 and L2. The participants’ online response time and offline accuracy data were both the foci of the analyses; while the analyses of the response time data were suggestive of the participants’ initial lower-level parsing of the L1 counterfactual statements, the analyses of the accuracy data shed light on how the concept of counterfactuality is represented and understood in the L1. Throughout these analyses, this study intends to address the following questions: Does L2 acquisition impose any cognitive constraint on bilinguals’ lower-level L1 parsing and/or on their higher-level L1 processing? If so, in what way and to what extent? Furthermore, the study also intends to empirically establish whether the cognitive constraint as stipulated by the Linguistic Relativity Principle would be modulated by different onset age of learning the L2 (early vs. late). Findings of this study are discussed vis-à-vis the Linguistic Relativity Principle, L2 processing mechanism, and L2 literacy instruction.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: The linguistic relativity principle
  • 2.Literature review: Issues in existing linguistic relativity literature
    • 2.1Research linguistic relativity using advanced L2 learners
    • 2.2Examine the influence of a late-learned language (L2) on an early-learned language (L1)
    • 2.3Validate linguistic relativity using nonverbal evidence
    • 2.4Pinpoint the source of constraint postulated by the linguistic relativity principle
  • 3.Target structure: Counterfactual construction
    • 3.1Reading of Chinese counterfactual sentences by Chinese learners of English
  • 4.Research questions
  • 5.The study
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Design and materials
    • 5.3Apparatus
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Processing times
    • 6.2Accuracy rate
  • 7.Discussion and conclusion
    • Are early and late proficient Chinese learners of English able to use the native (Chinese) parsing mode when processing L1 counterfactual statements?
    • Are early and late proficient Chinese learners of English able to draw on the native (Chinese) representations in understanding L1 counterfactual statements?
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (42)
References
Athanasopoulos, Panos & Dering, Benjamin & Wiggett, Alison & Kuipers, Jan-Rouke & Thierry, Guillaume. 2010. Perceptual shift in bilingualism: Brain potentials reveal plasticity in pre-attentive colour perception. Cognition 116(3). 437–443. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Athanasopoulos, Panos & Damjanovic, Ljubica & Krajciova, Andrea & Sasaki, Miho. 2011. Representation of colour concepts in bilingual cognition: The case of Japanese blues. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 14(1). 9–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Athanasopoulos, Panos & Bylund, Emanuel. 2013. The ‘thinking’ in thinking-for-speaking: Where is it? Language , Interaction, and Acquisition 4(1). 91–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bloom, Alfred H. 1981. The linguistic shaping of thought: A study in the impact of language on thinking in China and the West. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourgoin, Renée. 2014. The predictive effects of L1 and L2 early literacy indicators on reading in French immersion. Canadian Modern Language Review 70(3). 355–380. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boutonnet, Bastien & Athanasopoulos, Panos & Thierry, Guillaume. 2012. Unconscious effects of grammatical gender during object categorisation. Brain Research 14791. 72–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bylund, Emanuel & Athanasopoulos, Panos. 2014. Linguistic relativity in SLA: Toward a new research program. Language Learning 64(4). 952–985. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bylund, Emanuel & Athanasopoulos, Panos & Oostendorp, Marcelyn. 2013. Motion event cognition and grammatical aspect: Evidence from Afrikaans. Linguistics 51(5). 929–955. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cadierno, Teresa. 2010. Motion in Danish as a second language: Does the learner’s L1 make a difference? In Han, ZhaoHong & Cadierno, Teresa (eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (Second Language Acquisition), 1–33. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Casasanto, Daniel & Boroditsky, Lera & Phillips, Webb & Greene, Jesse & Goswami, Shima & Bocanegra-Thiel, Simon & Santiago-Diaz, Ilia & Fotokopoulu, Olga & Pita, Ria & Gil, David. 2004. How deep are effects of language on thought? Time estimation in speakers of English, Indonesian, Greek, and Spanish. In Forbus, Kenneth & Gentner, Dedre & Regier, Terry, Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 575–580. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chamorro, Gloria & Sorace, Antonella & Sturt, Patrick. 2015. What is the source of L1 attrition?: The effect of recent L1 re-exposure on Spanish speakers under L1 attrition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 19(3). 520–532. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chou, Chen-Ling. 2000. Chinese speakers’ acquisition of English conditionals: Acquisition order and L1 transfer effects. Second Language Studies 19(1). 57–98.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cook, Vivian. 1999. Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly 33(2). 185–209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cook, Vivian & Bassetti, Benedetta & Kasai, Chise & Sasaki, Miho & Takahashi, Jun Arata. 2006. Do bilinguals have different concepts? The case of shape and material in Japanese L2 users of English. International Journal of Bilingualism 10(2). 137–152. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dolscheid, Sarah & Shayan, Shakila & Majid, Asifa & Casasanto, Daniel. 2013. The thickness of musical pitch: Psychophysical evidence for linguistic relativity. Psychological Science 24(5). 613–621. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekiert, Monika. 2010. Linguistic effects on thinking for writing: The case of articles in L2 English. In Han, ZhaoHong & Cadierno, Teresa (eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (Second Language Acquisition), 125–153. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Franceschina, Florencia. 2005. Fossilized second language grammars: The acquisition of grammatical gender (Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 38). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, ZhaoHong. 2010. Grammatical morpheme inadequacy as a function of linguistic relativity: A longitudinal case study. In Han, ZhaoHong & Cadierno, Teresa (eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (Second Language Acquisition), 154–182. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, ZhaoHong & Cadierno, Teresa (eds.). 2010. Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (Second Language Acquisition). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hussien, Abdelaziz M. 2014. The effect of learning English (L2) on learning of Arabic literacy (L1) in the primary school. International Education Studies 7(3). 88–98. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kellerman, Eric & van Hoof, Anne-Marie. 2003. Manual accents. International Review of Applied Linguistics 41(3). 251–269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, Hua & Bates, Elizabeth & Li, Ping. 1992. Sentence interpretation in bilingual speakers of English and Chinese. Applied Psycholinguistics 13(4). 451–484. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, Lisa Garbern. 1985. Reasoning counterfactually in Chinese: Are there any obstacles? Cognition 21(3). 239–270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, Yeu-Ting. 2009. Attainability of a native-like lexical processing system in adult second language acquisition: A study of advanced L2 Chinese learners. Language and Linguistics 10(3). 489–520.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lucy, John A. 2016. Recent advances in the study of linguistic relativity in historical context: A critical assessment. Language Learning 66(3). 487–515. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montero-Melis, Guillermo & Jaeger, T. Florian & Bylund, Emanuel. 2016. Thinking is modulated by recent linguistic experience: Second language priming affects perceived event similarity. Language Learning 66(3). 636–665. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murphy, Victoria A. & Macaro, Ernesto & Alba, Sonia & Cipolla, Claudia. 2015. The influence of learning a second language in primary school on developing first language literacy skills. Applied Psycholinguistics 36(5). 1133–1153. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Núñez, Rafael E. & Sweetser, Eve. 2006. With the future behind them: Convergent evidence from Aymara language and gesture in the crosslinguistic comparison of spatial construals of time. Cognitive Science 30(3). 401–450. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Papafragou, Anna & Hulbert, Justin & Trueswell, John. 2008. Does language guide event perception? Evidence from eye movements. Cognition 108(1). 155–184. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pinker, Steven. 2007. The stuff of thought: Language as a window into human nature. New York: Viking.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schotter, Elizabeth R. & Tran, Randy & Rayner, Keith. 2014. Don’t believe what you read (only once): Comprehension is supported by regressions during reading. Psychological Science 25(6). 1218–1226. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shum, Kathy Kar-man & Ho, Connie Suk-Han & Siegel, Linda S. & Au, Terry Kit-fong. 2016. First-language longitudinal predictors of second-language literacy in young L2 learners. Reading Research Quarterly 51(3). 323–344. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silverberg, Stu & Samuel, Arthur G. 2004. The effect of age of second language acquisition on the representation and processing of second language words. Journal of Memory and Language 51(3). 381–398. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Socarrás, Gilda M. 2011. First language acquisition in Spanish: A minimalist approach to nominal agreement (Continuum Studies in Theoretical Linguistics). New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorace, Antonella. 2005. Selective optionality in language development. In Cornips, Leonie M. E. A. & Corrigan, Karen P. (eds.), Syntax and variation: Reconciling the biological and the social (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 265), 55–80. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stam, Gale A. 2010. Can an L2 speaker’s patterns of thinking for speaking change? In Han, ZhaoHong & Cadierno, Teresa (eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (Second Language Acquisition), 59–83. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stringer, David. 2010. The gloss trap. In Han, ZhaoHong & Cadierno, Teresa (eds.), Linguistic relativity in SLA: Thinking for speaking (Second Language Acquisition), 102–124. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thierry, Guillaume & Athanasopoulos, Panos & Wiggett, Alison & Dering, Benjamin & Kuipers, Jan-Rouke. 2009. Unconscious effects of language-specific terminology on preattentive color perception. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106(11). 4567–4570. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Assche, Eva & Duyck, Wouter & Hartsuiker, Robert J. 2012. Bilingual word recognition in a sentence context. Frontiers in Psychology 31. 174–181.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, Bill (ed.). 2004. Processing instruction: Theory, research, and commentary. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Processing matters in input enhancement. In Piske, Thorsten & Young-Scholten, Martha (eds.), Input matters in SLA, 47–61. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whorf, Benjamin Lee. 1956. In Carroll, John B. (ed.), Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Liu, Yeu-Ting & Wen-Ta Tseng
2024. The early the better? Or, the more the merrier? The relative effects of onset age and exposure hours on EFL learners’ implicit and explicit grammatical attainment. Applied Linguistics Review 15:3 ► pp. 849 ff. DOI logo
Bassetti, Bene
2022. Language and counterfactual reasoning in Chinese, English and ChineseL1-EnglishL2 reasoners. International Journal of Bilingualism 26:1 ► pp. 82 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue