This study systematically investigates embodied cognition effects in written language production, specifically exploring whether effects previously documented in native languages (L1) can also be observed in non-native languages (L2). Especially regarding their different manners of acquisition, the question whether languages acquired later in life can exhibit similar sensorimotor grounding like native languages is of particular interest. The focus of the present study was on the phenomenon of manual action verbs. Prior research has demonstrated that verbs denoting manual actions (such as ‘press’, ‘hold’ or ‘clap’) can elicit both interference or facilitation in concurrently performed manual actions (such as writing or typing a word).
Administering a typing task, our objective was to assess performance differences in motor planning, motor execution and accuracy, influenced by semantic word and sentence features. While Experiment 1 involved native speakers, Experiment 2 engaged speakers for whom the experimental target language was foreign. In essence, we observed interference effects for manual action verbs (and to a certain extent also for non-manual action verbs) relative to non-action verbs in both speaker groups (native and non-native speakers). Results of an additional sentence negation task were less clear, but still raised important questions and methodological concerns for future research.
Most notably, similar patterns emerged in both samples, suggesting similar processing mechanisms for native and foreign language speakers and sensorimotor grounding also in L2. Hence, embodied language effects may also arise in foreign languages. Related findings and theories, implications for future research as well as open questions will be discussed.