Linguistic Relativity Revisited: The Interaction between L1 and L2 in Thinking, Learning, and Production

Hye K Pae

doi:10.4236/psych.2012.31008

Abstract

The linguistic relativity hypothesis (LRH; a.k.a., Whorfian hypothesis) is reconsidered with respect to second language (L2) acquisition. With ebbs and flows over time, the notion of LRH went through dis- missal and resurgence in linguistics, psychology, and anthropology. Empirical evidence gleaned from the pseudo-linguistic domains, such as color categorization, time perception, spatial cognition, and number recognition, supports the weak form of LRH. This article briefly reviews the conflicting views, discusses empirical evidence, and expands the premise of LRH to L2 learning. Of interest is the interface of syntax and semantics in English language learners’ (ELLs) ergative verb usage in which ELLs tend to overpassivize English ergative verbs (e.g., appear, happen, break). The source of prevalent overpassivization errors is discussed using the LRH framework.

Highlights

The relationship between cognition and language as well as their reciprocal influence have been a long debated topic in psychology and applied linguistics
Boroditsky (2001) concluded that language serves as an influential vehicle in shaping thought about abstract entities and that L1 plays a part in shaping habitual thoughts to some degree. These results suggest that temporal spatial-time cognition is cross-linguistically sensitive, which is evidenced using spatial metaphors (e.g., “Pushing a meeting forward/back,” “Traditions are handed down through generations,” “Her birthday is coming up”; Casasanto, 2008)
This study suggests that language can serve as a cognitive cueing system that prompts to define self-perception according to the language used at the moment in the face of specific situational demands

Summary

Introduction

The relationship between cognition and language as well as their reciprocal influence have been a long debated topic in psychology and applied linguistics. The linguistic relativity principle (a.k.a., the Whorfian Hypothesis, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) posits that language shapes the speaker’s thought and cognition (Gumperz & Levinson, 1996; Lucy, 1996; Slobin, 2003). According to this hypothesis, different languages demonstrate a wide range of variabilities in the speaker’s semantic categories and linguistic representations. Speakers of different languages perceive the world differently and the conceptual system of the world is constrained by the given natural language (Gentner & GoldinMeadow, 2003) It postulates a relationship between language and cognition, linguistic relativity does not support unidirectionality or causality from cognition to language. The implications of LRH in cross-cultural language learning will be discussed

Competing Views

Empirical Evidence of the Linguistic Relativity Principle

Findings

Conclusion