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Updated: Jun 21, 2025

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning
Published on: January 29, 2020
Syntactic and emotional interplay in second language: emotional resonance but not proficiency modulates affective
Beatriz Bermúdez-Margaretto1,2, David Beltrán3, Marta de Vega1
1Departamento de Psicología Básica, Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
Abstract:
Previous research has demonstrated the influence of emotions during linguistic processing, indicating the interactivity of both processes in the brain. However, little is known regarding such interplay in a second language (L2). This study addressed this question by examining the reading effects of syntactic violations while processing L2 emotional and neutral statements. Forty-six Spanish-English bilinguals with various levels of L2 proficiency and emotional resonance (i.e. capability for emotional experience in L2) were presented with a self-paced sentence reading task. Sentences contained positive (16), neutral (16) and negative (16) verbs, half of them presented in agreement and half in disagreement with the preceding pronoun. Analysis of verb reading times using linear mixed effects modelling revealed a significant interaction between syntactic violation, verb valence and emotional resonance, suggesting that stronger emotional L2 experience results in a higher saliency of negative verbs, reducing the impact of syntactic violations.
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