Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: language-specific effects on processing efficiency of caused motion events in Cantonese-English-Japanese speakers

Wang, Yi ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4175-7467 and Wei, Li 2021. Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: language-specific effects on processing efficiency of caused motion events in Cantonese-English-Japanese speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24 (4) , pp. 730-745. 10.1017/S1366728921000018

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Abstract

The current study explores how multilingual speakers with three typologically different languages (satellite-framed, verb-framed and equipollent-framed) encode and gauge event similarity in the domain of caused motion. Specifically, it addresses whether, and to what extent, the acquisition of an L2-English and an L3-Japanese reconstructs the lexicalization and conceptualization patterns established in the L1-Cantonese when the target language is actively involved in the decision-making process. Results show that multilingual speakers demonstrated an ongoing process of cognitive restructuring towards the target language (L3) in both linguistic encoding (event structures and semantic representations) and non-linguistic conceptualization (reaction time). And the degree of the restructuring is modulated by the amount of language contact with the L2 and L3. The study suggests that learning a language means internalizing a new way of thinking and provides positive evidence for L3-biased cognitive restructuring within the framework of thinking-for-speaking.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	1366-7289
Date of Acceptance:	16 January 2021
Last Modified:	25 May 2023 12:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/159900

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