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The Influence of Emotions and Word Frequency in First and Second Language Processing: Evidence From the Emotional Stroop Task
La influencia de las emociones y la frecuencia de las palabras en el procesamiento de la primera y la segunda lengua: evidencia de la tarea Stroop emocional
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v25n1.95379Keywords:
emotional response, emotional Stroop task, second language learning, word frequency, word recognition (en)aprendizaje de segundas lenguas, frecuencia de palabras, reconocimiento de palabras, respuesta emocional, tarea de Stroop emocional (es)
First (L1) and second (L2) language speakers process information differently. The current study explores whether L1 and L2 English language speakers process the emotional connotations of high and low-frequency words using the emotional Stroop task. With this task, we measure the reaction time required to name the color of words with positive, neutral, and negative valence. The sample was 100 participants, 50 L1 English speakers and 50 L2 English speakers. Our results show that L2 English speakers process words slower than L1 English speakers do. L1 English speakers processed positive words faster than negative words, but L2 English speakers displayed a reversed pattern, which indicates L2 emotional attenuation for negative words.
El presente estudio explora si hablantes nativos y extranjeros de inglés procesan de forma diferente las connotaciones emocionales de las palabras de alta y baja frecuencia, utilizando una tarea de Stroop emocional. Analizamos los tiempos de reacción ante palabras con valencia positiva, neutra y negativa. La muestra total fue de 100 participantes, 50 angloparlantes nativos y 50 angloparlantes extranjeros. Nuestros resultados muestran que los angloparlantes extranjeros procesan las palabras más lentamente que los angloparlantes nativos. Además, tanto los hablantes nativos como los extranjeros procesaron más rápido las palabras de alta frecuencia que las de baja frecuencia. Los hablantes nativos de inglés procesan las palabras positivas más rápido que las negativas, pero los hablantes extranjeros de inglés muestran un patrón inverso.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Diana Marcela Lizarazo Pereira, Felicia Roberts, Ricardo M. Tamayo
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