| The embodied cognition theory states that different brain areas are activated when processing abstract and concrete concepts.According to hybrid theories of semantic representation,abstract concepts can be categorized into two types from a broad view: bodily and nonbodily.And there are processing differences when people deal with them.However,there is abundant research related to processing differences between abstract and concrete concepts to differentiate the former as a unity from the latter,most of which have been investigated in their mother tongue,while a paucity of research on the difference between abstract words in other languages has been carried out.Therefore,based on previous research,this study,focuses on the processing differences of Chinese and English abstract bodily and nonbodily state verbs by Chinese EFL learners.It endeavors to investigate the processing difference between abstract bodily and nonbodily state words and whether this difference varies from languages to languages.The specific research questions are as follows:(1)Are there any differences in the processing of Chinese abstract bodily and nonbodily state verbs by Chinese EFL learners?(2)Are there any differences in the processing of English abstract bodily and nonbodily state verbs by Chinese EFL learners?(3)Are there any differences in the processing of Chinese and English abstract bodily and nonbodily state verbs by Chinese EFL learners?This study adopts a 2(types of abstract verbs: abstract bodily state verbs and abstract nonbodily state verbs)× 2(language types: Chinese and English)two-factor within-subject mixed design,including two experimental parts.The type of abstract words and the type of language are independent variables,and subjects’ reaction time and accuracy are dependent variables.Experimental materials involve 90 abstract verbs and 90 body-object interaction(BOI)nouns.All words are presented in Chinese in the first part of the experiment and in presented in English in the second one.Thirtytwo English-major graduate students from SISU(Sichuan International Studies University)participate in the experiment.Participants are instructed to judge the word class by pressing corresponding keys in the keyboard.The reaction time and accuracy rate of target verbs are recorded.And the results are presented as follows:(1)The behavioral data of the first procedure shows that there are significant processing differences of reaction time and accuracy between Chinese abstract bodily state verbs and nonbodily state verbs when participants deal with them(F = 23.255,p<.05;F = 11.277,p <.05),with the former processed more quickly and accurately.(2)The behavioral data of the second procedure shows that there are significant processing differences of reaction time and accuracy between English abstract bodily state verbs and nonbodily state verbs when participants deal with them(F = 18.372,p<.05;F = 7.717,p <.05),with the former processed more quickly and accurately,which is similar to the first procedure.(3)Through the comparison between Chinese and English experiments,it can be shown that there is a significant difference of reaction time and accuracy between Chinese and English abstract verbs(F = 9.515,p <.05;F = 45.185,p <.05).There is a congruency effect between those two languages.Although those Chinese EFL learners have learned English as a second language for over ten years,they respond more quickly and accurately to Chinese abstract verbs than English abstract ones.To sum up,participants’ processing of abstract bodily state verbs is significantly faster and more accurate than that of nonbodily state verbs both in Chinese and English.Since there are similar behavioral results in two languages,there is a congruency effect of Chinese EFL learners’ processing of bodily and nonbodily state abstract words in different languages.Those results can be explained by the fact that abstract bodily state words have more mental,introspective and affective content.Those results are consistent with embodied cognition theory and hybrid theories of semantic representation.There are processing differences between various types of abstract words based on different groundings.Abstract verbs based on introspective and affective groundings are processed faster and more accurately than those verbs irrelevant with physical body by human brain,... |
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