Aug 2026· Bilingualism: Language and Cognition· 0 citations· 90 references
Abstract
Processing emotionally negative words in a second language (L2) feels less vivid and more cognitively demanding than in the first language (L1), yet the neural mechanisms underlying this difference remain poorly understood. Using single-trial modelling of event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs), we examined attention allocation to negative versus neutral words in highly proficient late Polish–English bilinguals performing a semantic categorisation task in a modified oddball paradigm. Valence and language modulated early posterior negativity (EPN) and P300, but not the N400. Mass-univariate analysis detected valence modulations in the N400 range, highlighting limitations of classic ERP approaches. Time–frequency analysis further revealed Language × Valence interactions: negative L2 words selectively elicited a cascade of delta, theta and alpha synchronisation from posterior to frontal regions across 59–641 ms, consistent with successive perceptual, lexical-semantic and regulatory processing stages. Emotional processing in L2 is thus qualitatively distinct, more effortful and regulated rather than simply being less efficient.
This study explored how valence and modality affect emotional word recognition in unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals.
Two lexical decision tasks were used: a visual task (Study 1) and an auditory task (Study 2), conducted in either L1 or L2.
Data from 80 (Study 1) and 40 (Study 2) unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals living in an L1-majority country were analyzed using repeated-measure ANOVAs with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests. In both studies, performance was assessed through discrimination (d’), bias (C), and reaction times.
Results revealed positive words were recognized more accurately and quickly, reflecting a positivity advantage. L1 groups showed better discrimination and fewer false alarms than L2, suggesting more efficient processing. Modality effects varied: L1 participants responded faster to positive pseudowords visually, while L2 participants were more sensitive to emotional pseudowords auditorily.
This study is the first to directly compare valence effects across visual and auditory modalities in unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals using parallel lexical decision paradigms, providing novel evidence on how emotional processing differs between L1 and L2.
These findings support the density hypothesis, suggesting that positive words benefit from higher semantic cohesion. A stronger liberal bias for emotional words in L2 may reflect compensatory strategies under lexical uncertainty.
findings underscore the interplay of language proficiency, modality, and emotion in bilingual lexical access, with implications for bilingual education, cognitive assessments, and emotional processing research.
Leticia Sarli, P. Barttfeld, N. Justel· International Journal of Bil...· 0 citations
Integrating new words into an existing semantic network is a core challenge of second language (L2) acquisition. We investigated how evidence-based learning strategies and individual performance relate to the neurocognitive dynamics of vocabulary learning. Eighty-three adults proficient in German or French learned 48 Finnish (L2) nouns over 14 days using a mobile app that systematically varied retrieval practice, corrective feedback, multisensory learning, and distributed learning. Before and after training, EEG was recorded during a translation recognition task designed to elicit the N400, an index of semantic integration. Vocabulary accuracy increased from 0.41% pre-learning to 75.5% post-learning (dz = 3.96), and the N400 incongruity effect increased significantly, F(1, 75) = 99.52, p < .001, η²g = .32, reflecting successful integration of new L2 words into the mental lexicon. High performers showed larger N400 responses, consistent with more differentiated semantic processing. In addition, performance group differences emerged in ERP template-map preponderance (i.e., the proportion of epoch time points assigned to a given template map), indicating differences in processing dynamics and network configurations. Despite systematic manipulation of learning strategies, no single approach yielded consistent behavioral or neural advantages, suggesting that overall exposure and cumulative practice, rather than any specific strategy, may have been primary contributors to the observed learning gains. ERP template-map analyses further revealed that learning not only increased neural responses but also shifted map preponderance within the N400 window as a function of Session and Congruency, indicating a qualitative reorganization of semantic processing. These findings suggest that vocabulary learning success is more closely related to the degree of semantic integration than to any single instructional strategy.
Nicole H. Skieresz, Sandy C. Marca, Micah M. Murray et al.· Imaging Neuroscience· 0 citations
This study investigates affective responses to words in bilinguals’ native (L1) and second (L2) languages. Specifically, we examine how the extent to which concepts are related to one’s own native or second culture influences these emotional responses. While previous research has shown that emotional responses are often attenuated in the L2 compared to the L1, the role of culture in this phenomenon remains underexplored. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we recorded neural responses from 34 Mandarin-English bilinguals during valence judgment tasks involving emotionally positive or neutral words. The words were either related to Chinese culture, e.g., rice, British culture, e.g., scones, or unrelated to either culture, e.g., sake, and were either positive or neutral in valence, e.g., lotus flower vs. chopsticks. Each participant completed experiments in both their L1 (Mandarin) and L2 (British English). Behavioral results revealed faster reaction times for positive words and significant interactions between emotional valence and culture relatedness, in both L1 and L2. ERP analyses focused on two key components: the early posterior negativity (EPN), associated with early emotional attention, and the late positive potential (LPC), reflecting sustained affective engagement. In the L2, a significant main effect of valence was observed on the EPN. In contrast, no main effect of valence was found in the L1; instead, significant main effects of culture relatedness were observed on both the EPN and LPC components. Our results suggest that culture relatedness can influence the affective processing of words and modulate neural responses and provide new evidence that culture relatedness shapes bilinguals’ emotional experiences at both behavioral and neural levels, above and beyond the well-established overall “emotional distance” from L2.
Yanxi Lu, Bo Yao, K. Cain et al.· Frontiers in Human Neuroscie...· 0 citations
Research has demonstrated reduced emotional reactivity in a second- (L2) compared to a first language (L1). One explanation for this states that L2 use is more cognitively demanding and thus leaves fewer resources available for emotion processing. Here, we specifically investigated this notion of differences in cognitive load during L1 and L2 use. EEG was used to investigate mismatch negativity during an auditory oddball paradigm. Native Swedish speakers with L2 English were asked to read text excerpts in their L1 and L2, whilst simultaneously listening to standard and deviant auditory tones to be ignored. The results showed significant oddball effects (i.e., mismatch negativity) in L1 but not in L2. Together with a lower accuracy in the L2 condition, these results imply a higher cognitive load during L2 reading. These findings are explained within a resource allocation framework and are suggested as a possible explanation of the underlying mechanisms of the foreign language effect.
Alexandra S. Dylman, A. Bjärtå, J. Bernhardsson· Journal of Cultural Cognitiv...· 0 citations
Second language (L2) processing engages both language-specific and domain-general control systems, yet how these systems vary with L2 proficiency remains unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural activity during L2 English processing in Korean–English (K-E) bilinguals across three proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). Participants performed rhyme and spelling judgement tasks manipulating orthographic–phonological conflict. Behaviourally, conflict conditions reduced accuracy, with proficiency effects observed selectively in the rhyme task. fMRI results showed that conflict processing recruited frontoparietal control regions, including inferior frontal and parietal cortices, accompanied by deactivation in default mode network regions. Critically, proficiency-related effects differed by task. During rhyme judgement, advanced bilinguals showed greater activation in the left supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and cerebellum, whereas intermediate bilinguals exhibited greater recruitment of the left middle orbital gyrus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. During spelling judgement, advanced bilinguals showed greater thalamic activation alongside greater deactivation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Activity in the left SMG and cerebellum was positively associated with L2 reading score, and cerebellar activity was also associated with rhyme-task performance, whereas right DLPFC activity was negatively associated with the scores. These findings suggest that increasing L2 proficiency is associated less with altered recruitment of core reading regions than with task-specific shifts in the balance between phonological-specialized, subcortical attentional, and domain-general control systems supporting L2 processing.
Joonwoo Kim, Jiyoun Choi, Yeonji Baik et al.· bioRxiv· 0 citations
It is widely established that processing language imposes considerable demands on cognitive resources, particularly in bilinguals who must simultaneously coordinate more than one language. While previous research has addressed top-down language control mechanisms during bilingual language processing, comparatively fewer studies have directly studied the cognitive effort involved in bottom-up lexical access during bilingual word recognition. Thus, this study focusses on factors assumed to modulate cognitive demands during bilingual word recognition, namely cognate status and lexical frequency. Besides decision accuracies and RTs, we measured changes in pupil size during visual word recognition in adolescent German learners of L2 English. Participants performed a visual lexical decision task in English, with German-English cognates and noncognates varying in lexical frequency. We found main effects of cognate status and frequency, with cognates and higher-frequent items being responded to more accurately and faster. Analyses of pupillary responses over time revealed an interaction of both factors, with a cognate advantage mainly present in lower-frequent items. Exploratory analyses of the pupillary data further suggested that cognate effects varied depending on lexical form similarity. Together, these findings indicate that cognate facilitation is particularly evident under increased processing demands and varies in strength and temporal dynamics across cognate types.
Freya Gastmann, Sarah Schimke, Gregory J. Poarch· Scientific Reports· 0 citations
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