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Cognitive restructuring in the multilingual mind: language-specific effects on processing efficiency of caused motion events in Cantonese–English–Japanese speakers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2021

Yi Wang  and
Li Wei
Yi Wang*
Affiliation:
UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics, University College London, London, UK
Li Wei
Affiliation:
UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics, University College London, London, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Yi Wang, E-mail: dtnvywa@ucl.ac.uk
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Abstract

The current study explores how multilingual speakers with three typologically different languages (satellite-framed, verb-framed and equipollent-framed) encode and gauge event similarity in the domain of caused motion. Specifically, it addresses whether, and to what extent, the acquisition of an L2-English and an L3-Japanese reconstructs the lexicalization and conceptualization patterns established in the L1-Cantonese when the target language is actively involved in the decision-making process. Results show that multilingual speakers demonstrated an ongoing process of cognitive restructuring towards the target language (L3) in both linguistic encoding (event structures and semantic representations) and non-linguistic conceptualization (reaction time). And the degree of the restructuring is modulated by the amount of language contact with the L2 and L3. The study suggests that learning a language means internalizing a new way of thinking and provides positive evidence for L3-biased cognitive restructuring within the framework of thinking-for-speaking.

Keywords

thinking-for-speakingcaused motionCantonese–English–Japanese multilingualscognitive restructuringlanguage contact
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , August 2021 , pp. 730 - 745
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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