Fluent Speakers of a Second Language Process Graspable Nouns Expressed in L2 Like in Their Native Language

Abstract

According to embodied cognition, language processing relies on the same neural structures involved when individuals experience the content of language material. If so, processing nouns expressing a motor content presented in a second language should modulate the motor system as if presented in the mother tongue. We tested this hypothesis using a go-no go paradigm. Stimuli included English nouns and pictures depicting either graspable or non-graspable objects. Pseudo-words and scrambled images served as controls. Italian participants, fluent speakers of English as a second language, had to respond when the stimulus was sensitive and refrain from responding when it was not. As foreseen by embodiment, motor responses were selectively modulated by graspable items (images or nouns) as in a previous experiment where nouns in the same category were presented in the native language.

Is Embodied Cognition Bilingual? Current Evidence and Perspectives of the Embodied Cognition Approach to Bilingual Language Processing

“…Buccino et al (2017) recently replicated in L2 the typical motor system modulation induced in L1 by nouns referring to graspable objects as compared to non-graspable ones (Marino et al, 2014). In a go-no go paradigm, motor responses of Italian participants with very good English proficiency showed a significant modulation similar to previous results in L1.…”

Motor-system dynamics during naturalistic reading of action narratives in first and second language

“…Finally, above and beyond these reservations, the importance of detecting embodiment effects in an unconstrained text reading task cannot be overemphasized. So far, all neurophysiological embodied research on bilinguals has relied on isolated, randomly sequenced words or sentences ( Bergen et al, 2010 ; Buccino et al, 2017 ; De Grauwe et al, 2014 ; Ibáñez et al, 2010 ; Vukovic, 2013 ; Vukovic and Shtyrov, 2014 ; Xue et al, 2015 ). Though variously informative, such findings cannot be a priori assumed to hold during comprehension of context-rich, coherent and cohesive texts, given that contextual information modulates action-word processing ( García and Ibáñez, 2016b ; Van Dam et al, 2010 ) and variously affects linguistic performance by favoring maintenance of relevant information ( Ledoux et al, 2006 ).…”

“…Abundant research shows that, in L1, action-related words increase motor-network activity ( Aziz-Zadeh et al, 2006 ; García et al, 2019 ; Hauk et al, 2004 ), modulate neurophysiological markers of action-language coupling ( Aravena et al, 2010 ; Ibáñez et al, 2013 ), and affect ongoing physical movements ( Bergen et al, 2010 ; García and Ibáñez, 2016a ; Marino et al, 2014 ). Though scanter, evidence from action-language experiments in L2 has revealed similar behavioral ( Buccino et al, 2017 ) and neurofunctional ( Bergen et al, 2010 ; De Grauwe et al, 2014 ; Ibáñez et al, 2010 ; Vukovic, 2013 ; Vukovic and Shtyrov, 2014 ; Xue et al, 2015 ) effects, although these are weaker ( Vukovic and Shtyrov, 2014 ) or less widespread ( De Grauwe et al, 2014 ) than in L1. In fact, reduced embodied reactivations for L2 than L1 have also been reported during processing of emotion-related language ( Foroni, 2015 ; Hsu et al, 2015 ).…”

Embodied Semantics in a Second Language: Critical Review and Clinical Implications

“…In a similar vein, in Buccino et al (2017b), Italian students performed a go–no go task in which English nouns and pictures of graspable and non-graspable objects were shown. The stimuli either referred to real objects (i.e., go condition) or to meaningless ones (i.e., pseudo-words and scrambled images; no-go condition).…”