| Emotion vocabulary has been singled out as different from other abstract words in recent linguistic research. The study of emotion vocabulary in the field of bilingualism is even more fascinating to the researchers. Some of them have researched on the use of these words among different target groups of bilinguals from different countries by means of sampling and experimenting. However, few researches have been done on the target group of Chinese-English bilinguals. Moreover, the writer has found that although the number of Chinese-English bilinguals is on the rise, few of them express their emotions in English. The goal of this paper is to examine the use of this distinct group of words in the languages of both Chinese and English on the target group of Chinese-English bilinguals. For instance, what factors might influence the use of emotion vocabulary? Is expressing emotions in the L1 different from that in the L2? By means of a questionnaire and an experiment, the study examines the influence of four factors on the use of emotion vocabulary in 32 Chinese-English bilinguals, namely, language proficiency, gender, age, and power/ distance.The results of the study demonstrate that the use of emotion words in the speakers' L1 as well as L2 is linked to power/distance, the level of proficiency (in the case of the L2) and gender. More interestingly, the effect of power/distance in the case of the L1 is substantially more salient than that in the L2. Age is found to have little effect on the use of emotion words in both the L1 and the L2.Based on the major findings, some implications and suggestions are offered: Firstly, Chinese-English bilinguals should improve their language proficiency in the L2, particularly that of listening and speaking. Secondly, Chinese-English bilinguals should enhance their culture awareness and accordingly their social-cultural competence of the L2 by means of exposing themselves to as much authentic language as possible. |
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