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How do Emotion Word Type and Valence Influence Language Processing? The Case of Arabic–English Bilinguals

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Abstract

The current study examines the influence of word type (i.e., emotion-label vs. emotion-laden) and valence (i.e., positive vs. negative vs. neutral) on the processing of emotion words among bilinguals. To this end, three groups of Arabic–English bilinguals (n = 120 per group) completed the tasks of free recall, ratings for concreteness, imageability and context availability, and discrete word association. Two groups, representing different levels of second language (L2) exposure completed the tasks in English while the third group completed the tasks in Arabic. The results of the free recall and rating tasks generally supported the influence of word type, valence and L2 exposure on the processing of emotional content; namely, emotion-label vs. emotion-laden vs. neutral words and negative vs. positive emotion words generally behaved significantly differently, and the participants with increased L2 exposure usually outperformed the ones with less exposure. In contrast, the word association task often failed to present statistically significant findings. The results are interpreted in line with the specific nature of the Arabic mental lexicon, the existing literature, and relevant theoretical models of emotion and the bilingual mental lexicon. Directions for future research are proposed.

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Acknowledgements

The researchers thank Prince Sultan University for funding this research project through the Research Project [IBRP-CH-2018-9-1] and the research group [Language Learning and Teaching Research Group RG-CH-2016/11/11].

Funding

This study was funded by Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Grant Number IBRP-CH-2018-9-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Humanities, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Dina Abdel Salam El-Dakhs

  2. University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, USA

    Jeanette Altarriba

Authors
  1. Dina Abdel Salam El-Dakhs
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  2. Jeanette Altarriba
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Correspondence to Dina Abdel Salam El-Dakhs.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Standards

The current study complies with ethical standards. Clearance from the Research Ethics Committee of Prince Sultan University was obtained. Informed consent of participants was collected orally as uninterested participants had the option to leave the classroom during the experiments.

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Appendix 1: Sets of Experimental Stimuli

Appendix 1: Sets of Experimental Stimuli

Experiment 1—Free Recall

E-laden (N)

E-laden (P)

E-label (N)

E-label (P)

Concrete

Abstract

Beast

Ambition

Despair

Pleasure

Street

Idea

Death

Family

Shame

Respect

Window

Basis

Destruction

Favor

Suspicion

Loyalty

Umbrella

Chance

Fever

Leader

Cruelty

Love

Machine

Knowledge

Killer

Party

Loneliness

Strength

Table

Spirit

Experiment 2—Rating

E-laden (N)

E-laden (P)

E-label (N)

E-label (P)

Concrete

Abstract

Accident

Flower

Anxiety

Delight

Bus

Aim

Damage

Gift

Depression

Excitement

Clock

Habit

Devil

Improvement

Guilt

Satisfaction

Pencil

Custom

Divorce

Joke

Hunger

Enjoyment

Crown

Travel

Fault

Warmth

Sadness

Pride

Fish

Behavior

Experiment 3—Word Association

E-laden (N)

E-laden (P)

E-label (N)

E-label (P)

Concrete

Abstract

Gun

Advantage

Anger

Hope

Bed

Memory

Trouble

Friend

Hate

Happiness

Bottle

Ability

Dirt

Honesty

Madness

Safety

Basket

News

Failure

Heaven

Fear

Surprise

Body

Quality

Prison

Health

Confusion

Trust

Coin

Spring

  1. Concrete and abstract words are neutral words
  2. N Negative, P positive

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El-Dakhs, D.A.S., Altarriba, J. How do Emotion Word Type and Valence Influence Language Processing? The Case of Arabic–English Bilinguals. J Psycholinguist Res 48, 1063–1085 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09647-w

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