Research On Effect Of Different Motion Event Verbalization On Chinese And English Native Speakers’ Perception Of The Endpoint

The effects of linguistic expressions on cognitive processing remain elusive,especially on how strongly language patterns may shape processes of event apprehension and conceptualization.Here,we focus on encoding difference between languages regarding the expression of motion events endpoints and their impact on underlying visual scene perception related to the endpoint.Based on the variation of encoding of manner and path in distinctive languages,linguists have divided language into three categories: Satellite-framed language(S-language)typically encodes manner in the main verb and leaves path in prepositional structures;verb-framed language typically encodes path in the main verb and equipollently-framed language typically encodes both manner and path in the main verb.English is a typical S-language(satellite-framed language).Chinese,in contrast,is regarded as an E-language(equipollently-framed language)by many researchers.The typological tendency of S-language directs itself to provide more information about the GROUND of movement than E-language as well as makes its speakers more inclined to depict the motion event endpoint linguistically.In this article,we explore whether cross-linguistic differences in endpoint encoding may give rise to differences in cognition between English and Chinese speakers.The research tries to explore the following questions: Does expression of motion event affect Chinese and English native speakers’ perception of endpoint/ground? If yes,how does the linguistically expressed conceptual structure influence people’s cognitive processing? What’s the role of verbal involvement in this linguistic impact?Under the key questions,we compared native speakers of two languages that encode endpoint differently(English and Chinese)in two non-verbal tasks.In Experiment One,we engaged participants in a 2(language: English,Chinese)×2(endpoint preference: [+endpoint],[-endpoint])non-linguistic similarity judgment task using life-scene animated videos(may activate verbal encoding)featuring a volitional motion event to investigate their endpoint perception.The results showed that English participants have a significantly higher bias towards endpoint than Chinese participants.In Experiment Two,participants performed 2(language: English,Chinese)×4(match condition of trajectory and endpoint between animations and pictures : full match,mismatch,trajectory match,endpoint match)non-verbal behavioral motion matching task using schematic stimuli featuring a dot traveling along a trajectory towards an irregular shape(may activate verbal encoding at very low degree),with the purpose to compare their behavior in endpoint perception under low level of verbal encoding activation.The results revealed that the Chinese and English participants show no significant difference in their overall performance in Experiment Two.The results suggest,first of all,Chinese differs from English in motion event endpoint processing in which English native speakers are more inclined to attend to the endpoint than Chinese native speakers,but such linguistic effect exists on the cognitive level with a constrained context condition: the fact that linguistic effects were reflected in Experiment One proved that stimuli allowed for verbal encoding regardless of their non-verbal nature,however,the non-effects in Experiment Two proved that the potential activation of verbal encoding might be the influential factor for such linguistic impact.On the whole,our findings indicate that the linguistic expressions that associated with event encoding in one language influence the motion event perception of its native speakers,but such linguistic impact is highly constrained by the extent of activation of verbal encoding during the process of event conceptualization.The study supported a weak version of linguistic relativity which suggests a transient role of language rather than a durable linguistic influence in event perception,which provides some implication on language teaching combined with thinking model building.