Testing the Activation of Embodied Experience During First and Second Language Comprehension: A Sentence-Picture Verification Study

Abstract

Abstract Embodied cognition theory posits that language comprehension is grounded in sensorimotor experience. However, it remains unclear to what extent embodied experience—particularly visual information—is activated during first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) processing. To address this gap, we investigated whether L1 and L2 speakers of Chinese could activate object shape information implied by sentence during real-time comprehension. Two sentence–picture verification (SPV) tasks were used: a time-constrained version (Experiment 1) and a self-paced version (Experiment 2). In both experiments, L1 speakers responded significantly faster when the pictured object matched the shape implied by the sentence, demonstrating robust embodied effects. In contrast, L2 speakers did not show a significant embodied effect under time pressure (Experiment 1) but exhibited a trend toward shape simulation in the untimed task (Experiment 2). Moreover, under the untimed condition, L2 proficiency significantly predicted reaction times (RTs) but did not interact with shape congruency. Taken together, our findings suggest that while embodied experience reliably supports L1 comprehension, such effects are less robust in L2 processing, potentially due to limited or qualitatively different sensory-motor grounding during L2 acquisition.