The design of this study attempts to observe the effects of the existence and use of spatio-temporal metaphors in Mandarin Chinese on L2 learners of the language. The study participants include advanced L2 learners of Mandarin as the focus experimental group and native English speakers as the control group.
Introduction
This study will focus on the effects of learning a second language, testing advanced language learners and how that language affects their way of perceiving or thinking about time and space, with the aim of adding to the existing literature on the topic of linguistic relativity and cross-linguistic influence - specifically, learning second language and its effects on conceptual perceptions, i.e. mental representations of time. This thesis begins in the following chapter by discussing the prior literature on linguistic relativity as a field of study, then narrows its scope to more specific domain-focused studies of language and conceptualization, and finally discusses the most recent literature on the issue. and the need for further study.
Literature Review
- Linguistic Relativity Theory Origins and Background
- Opponents of the Theory
- New Concepts and Methodologies
- Structure-Centered Approach
- Domain-Centered Approach: Language and Conceptualization of Fundamental Domains
- Second Language Acquisition, Crosslinguistic Influence & Cognitive Restructuring
- Language and Mental Representations of Time: Mandarin & English
- Need for Further Study
The study investigated whether the strength of L2 influence on L1 is determined by the speaker's "linguistic trajectory", that is, the age of arrival in the L2 environment. Results showed that English speakers were more likely to take an ego-moving perspective, meaning they would be more likely to visualize, "We're getting close to the deadline," rather than, "The deadline is getting close" (Lai & Boroditsky, 2013) ).
Methodology
- Research Questions
- Participants
- Instrument
- Hypotheses
- Procedure
- Ethical Considerations
- Data Analysis
All the L2 Mandarin students were at the advanced level (400 or 500 course level) at the time of the test and were tested with Mandarin Chinese. Sixty percent of the L2 Mandarin learners have lived in a Chinese-speaking country in the past; the average number of months lived in the country was 7.61. Eighty percent of the L2 Mandarin participants achieved an Advanced level on their OPI; twenty percent received an Intermediate level.
LPTs measure how well a person understands spoken discourse, as described in the ACTFL or ILR rating scales. RPTs measure how well a person understands spoken discourse, as described in the ACTFL or ILR rating scales. When testing with the L2 Mandarin group, Mandarin Chinese was used to conduct all parts of the experiment.
Results
Front-back Metaphor Priming
Front-back metaphor priming: Mean score for axis preference; F11, p12 and η2p13 values from a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. 11 The F-statistic or F-ratio compares the amount of systematic vs unsystematic variance in the tested data, i.e. the relationship between the model and its error (Field, 2009). Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests indicate that the English NS group once again significantly preferred the transverse axis in all cases (p = 0.000) with no significant preference difference between the vertical and sagittal axes (p = 0.713).
Bonferroni corrected post hoc tests show that there is a significant difference in preferences between the transverse and vertical axis (p = 0.002) and the vertical and sagittal axis (p = 0.002), with the L2 Mandarin group preferring the transverse axis in the first case and the sagittal axis in another. However, there was no significant difference in preferences between the transverse and sagittal axes (p = 1,000), indicating that L2. The Mandarin speaker also probably preferred to think of time on the transverse axis as.
Up-down Metaphor Priming
Bonferroni post hoc tests confirmed that, in all cases like the previous tests, English NS speakers preferred the transverse axis over both the vertical and sagittal axes (p = .000), with no preference difference between the latter two axes themselves. The Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests revealed that the L2 Mandarin group significantly preferred the transverse to the vertical axis (p = .013), but had no preference difference when the transverse and sagittal axes (p = 1.00 ) whether the sagittal and vertical axes are compared. (p = .100), meaning that when primed with up-down metaphors, to a certain extent, L2 Mandarin speakers still preferred to think about time. Rather, the L2 Mandarin group continued to show greater preference for the sagittal axis (along with the transverse axis), receiving a mean score of 1.47 while the vertical axis had a mean score of .40.
Non-spatial Priming
Bonferroni post hoc tests show that there was a significant preference for the transverse axis over the vertical and sagittal axes (p = 0.000) and no difference in preference between the vertical and sagittal axes (p = 1.00). The effect size for both tests was greater than the "large" threshold for partial eta squared.
Discussion
Front-back Space-Time Metaphor Priming
Although this may cause a greater difference when looking at results from older Chinese generations (which my study did not include), since the Chinese language used to be read top-down and right-to-left, in modern Chinese-speaking societies, for to include foreign learners in the language, left-to-right reading is now the norm, which may account for this similarity between English NS, L2 Mandarin and Mandarin NS rather than the transverse axis, even when primed with front and back spaces - time metaphors . The L2 Mandarin group in my study showed a much greater preference for the sagittal axis when primed with front-back metaphors compared to the Mandarin NS group in Lai and Boroditsky (2013). This could imply a unique interaction effect in English NS cognition after advanced study of the second language.
It is also a possibility that if I continued to test a larger number of individuals, my results could start to look more like those of Lai and Boroditsky (2013), showing greater variation in response and preference, i.e. that is, distributing preferences between axes, showing a greater tendency to choose the sagittal and vertical axis instead of the transverse axis.
Up-down Space-Time Metaphor Priming
The L2 Mandarin group significantly preferred the transverse axis (53.25%) over the vertical axis (10%), but there was no significant difference between the transverse axis and the sagittal axis (36.75%). This finding could indicate two things: 1) that a significant number of participants in the L2 Mandarin group in my experiment may have had a pre-existing affinity for the sagittal axis, regardless of priming effects or the language used (there was at least at least one participant in the English NS group who showed this and answered every question on the sagittal axis), or 2) that there is some kind of interaction between the L2 Mandarin group's second language and their cognition. My first instinct upon looking at the results of the data analysis, which yielded significant results with large effect sizes, and upon observing the significant difference between the English NS group and the L2 Mandarin group, is that the latter is more likely . Since only one in fifteen English NS showed a preference for the sagittal axis across all questions, it is unlikely that a large number of participants in the L2 Mandarin group also have this 'pre-existing affinity' for the sagittal axis, although further experiments are being conducted with a For greater certainty, a larger group size would be necessary.
It could simply be that using a non-native language when thinking about and answering these questions forces them to focus more on the language and make sure it is. English speakers would see that time (on a left-to-right transverse axis) might be thrown off, causing the participants to take a more egocentric view of time and see time as the same. sagittal) than where they themselves are where moving forward would be in the future, while physically going back would indicate the past. Again, further experimentation with a larger number and variety of participants will need to be done to gain more certainty.
Non-spatial Language Priming
53), but there is no significant difference between the transverse axis and the sagittal axis (M = 2.00), indicating that L2 Mandarin speakers were as likely to prefer the sagittal axis as the transverse axis. To summarize these results in percentages, the L2 Mandarin group preferred the transverse axis 57.83% of the time, the sagittal axis 33.33%. of the time, and the vertical axis 8.83% of the time when primed with nonspatial language questions. This means that, ceteris paribus, learning Mandarin Chinese played a significant role in influencing the L2 Mandarin group's mental representation of time.
Returning to Chapter 2 and Fuhrman, et al. 2011), the L2 Mandarin group in my experiment showed some similarities to the Mandarin speaking groups in their experiment. My results showed that Mandarin L2 speakers tested between the English NS and Mandarin NS groups, which was expected. The difference, however, is that the L2 Mandarin group in my experiment for some reason had a much greater preference for the sagittal axis than for the vertical axis.
Conclusion
Conclusions
Limitations
Furthermore, these results contrasted with the English NS group, which served as the control group in this study, and statistically rigorously. Finally, because I was the only one conducting the experiment, I had to change the way the three-dimensional pointing paradigm was used compared to previous studies14 where someone other than the person asking the questions placed their hand a foot in front of the participant . as a reference point. I had the participants raise their fists themselves, which seemed to lead to some confusion among some of the participants.
Furthermore, where I sat in relation to the participant seemed to influence some of the participants' answers, since I was also the one asking them the questions.
Suggestions for Future Studies and Significance
回答为 您的母语是什么？/您的母语是什么？选择普通话／中文。你正在学习英语作为第二语言吗？／英语是你的第二语言吗？回答如果你正在学习英语作为第二语言吗？／英语是你的第二语言吗？选择是/是。
回答如果你的母语是什么？／你的母语是什么？选择英语/英语。你学习普通话作为外语吗？／汉语是你的第二语言吗？回答如果你学习普通话作为外语？／汉语是你的第二语言吗？ 。
请回答您是否正在学习普通话作为外语？／汉语是您的第二语言吗？然后我会问你一系列问题，并要求你用你的拳头作为参考点。例如，我会说，“假设‘这个’是一杯牛奶。巧克力在哪里？饼干在哪儿？”我刚才说的“这个”是你的拳头。
