Are you willing to sacrifice one person to save five people? In this classical moral dilemma, bilinguals tend to make different decisions in different languages. The Foreign Language effect (FLe) refers to the phenomenon of bilinguals processing the same information differently when using their native language (NL) and foreign language (FL). This effect was repeatedly found in moral dilemma judgment and decision tasks using questions like the Asian Disease Problem or the Footbridge Dilemma. While using NL produces more deontological choices, using FL produces more utilitarian decisions. One common explanation of the FLe is that NL involves more emotional reactions. Another common explanation is that people tend to use System 1 while making decisions with NL. In addition to emotion and thinking processes, recent studies show that accessibility of information may also be important in FLe. Thirty-nine Chinese-Japanese-English trilinguals were recruited in the current study. The procedure in use is a Semantic Matching Judgment Task. There will be a word presented visually and auditorily simultaneously followed by a picture in each trial. Participants needed to decide whether or not the word and the picture matched semantically. Accessibility will be investigated by language proficiency, semantically matched or not in stimuli, and cultural congruence that goes beyond language. We found that both language proficiency and semantical matching had an impact on FLe in Experiment 1. Cultural Congruency is manipulated by choosing conflicting pictures from Taiwan and Japan. Congruency and language in use showed significant interaction in Experiment 2. This suggests that context produces an FLe effect that works beyond language itself. In sum, the FL proficiency of the trilinguals in the current study is equivalent, but they are familiar with Japanese culture than with US culture. In other words, different patterns in their performance ought to come from factors beyond language per se. Our result supports the notion of accessibility on FLe.

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The Foreign Language Effect: Beyond Language

  • Angela K. Tzeng,
  • Shih-Chieh Lai

摘要

Are you willing to sacrifice one person to save five people? In this classical moral dilemma, bilinguals tend to make different decisions in different languages. The Foreign Language effect (FLe) refers to the phenomenon of bilinguals processing the same information differently when using their native language (NL) and foreign language (FL). This effect was repeatedly found in moral dilemma judgment and decision tasks using questions like the Asian Disease Problem or the Footbridge Dilemma. While using NL produces more deontological choices, using FL produces more utilitarian decisions. One common explanation of the FLe is that NL involves more emotional reactions. Another common explanation is that people tend to use System 1 while making decisions with NL. In addition to emotion and thinking processes, recent studies show that accessibility of information may also be important in FLe. Thirty-nine Chinese-Japanese-English trilinguals were recruited in the current study. The procedure in use is a Semantic Matching Judgment Task. There will be a word presented visually and auditorily simultaneously followed by a picture in each trial. Participants needed to decide whether or not the word and the picture matched semantically. Accessibility will be investigated by language proficiency, semantically matched or not in stimuli, and cultural congruence that goes beyond language. We found that both language proficiency and semantical matching had an impact on FLe in Experiment 1. Cultural Congruency is manipulated by choosing conflicting pictures from Taiwan and Japan. Congruency and language in use showed significant interaction in Experiment 2. This suggests that context produces an FLe effect that works beyond language itself. In sum, the FL proficiency of the trilinguals in the current study is equivalent, but they are familiar with Japanese culture than with US culture. In other words, different patterns in their performance ought to come from factors beyond language per se. Our result supports the notion of accessibility on FLe.