Embodied bilingual language
An example of embodied bilingual language would be situation in which a L1 English speaker learning Spanish as a second language hears the word rápido ("fast") in Spanish while taking notes and then proceeds to take notes more quickly.
Embodied bilingual language refers to the role second language learning plays in embodied cognition, which proposes that the way the body interacts with its environment influences the way a person thinks or creates mental images.
[3] Embodied theories of language posit that word meaning is grounded in mental representations of action, perception, and emotion.
[8] Similar to the RHM, the BIA+ model says that while there are slight differences in time when accessing word meanings in both first and second languages, the semantic representations are maintained.
In first language processing, for example, leg-related words like "kick" and "run" stimulate the part of the motor cortex that controls leg motions.
[12] Grounded or embodied cognition is a theoretical view that assumes knowledge is represented in the mind as modal representations, which are memories of perceptual, motor, and affective experiences.
[5] Second language users automatically stimulate word meanings in a detailed perceptual fashion.
Rather than consciously using strategies for language comprehension, bilinguals automatically perceive and construct meaning.
Research provides evidence that emotion words are embedded in a rich semantic network.
The idea of disembodied cognition comes from research, which shows that less emotion is shown by a bilingual person when using a second language.
However, others have found that such and similar results may be due not so much to an emotions-based explanation, as the fact that speaking in a second/foreign language seems to release the speaker from the social norms, limitations and political correctness imposed by their mother tongue.
This lack of comprehension of emotion provides evidence for the sense model, which hypothesizes that embodied cognition fails to be present in second language processing.
