On Modality Effects in Bilingual Emotional Language Processing: Evidence from Galvanic Skin Response

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Bilingualism Research

Background:

• Previous studies indicate reduced sensitivity to emotional stimuli in a non-native language (L2) versus a native language (L1).
• However, the influence of different sensory modalities on bilingual emotional language processing remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how late proficient Polish (L1)-English (L2) bilinguals process emotionally-laden narratives.
• To examine the effects of both language (L1 vs. L2) and modality (visual vs. auditory) on emotional responses.

Main Methods:

• Utilized galvanic skin response (GSR) to measure physiological arousal.
• Employed a self-report measure (Polish adaptation of the PANAS questionnaire) for subjective emotional experience.
• Presented emotionally-laden narratives in both Polish (L1) and English (L2) via visual and auditory modalities.

Main Results:

• Galvanic skin response (GSR) was significantly reduced for L2 emotional stimuli compared to L1, indicating decreased physiological reactivity.
• A more pronounced skin conductance level was observed for visual stimuli than auditory stimuli, but only in the native language (L1).

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest diminished emotional reactivity to non-native language stimuli in bilinguals.
• The modality effect, with heightened responses to visual stimuli in L1, may be linked to a self-reference effect modulated by language and sensory input.