Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Summary

Here, we present a protocol to measure the effect of positive induced emotion on grammar learning in foreign language learners using a semi-artificial language that integrates the grammatical rules of a foreign language with the lexicon of the learners' native language.

Abstract

Previous studies have found that emotion has significant influence on the learning of foreign language vocabulary and textual comprehension. However, little attention has been given to the effect of induced emotion on grammar learning. This research examined the influence of positive induced emotion on the learning of Japanese grammatical rules among a group of learners with Chinese as their native language, using a semi-artificial language (i.e. Chipanese), which combines the grammatical rules of Japanese and the vocabulary of Chinese. Music was used to invoke positive emotional conditions in participants. Participants were required to learn Chipanese sentences in a training session through practice and then a grammaticality judgment task was administered to measure learning outcomes. We found that participants in positive emotional states performed less accurately and efficiently than those in the control group. The findings suggest that the protocol is effective in identifying the effect of positive induced emotion on grammar learning. The implications of this experimental paradigm for investigating foreign language learning are discussed.

Introduction

Emotions play a crucial role in various cognitive activities such as perception, learning, reasoning, memorization, and problem solving. Because language learning requires attention, reasoning, and memorization, emotions may have significant influence on language learning outcomes¹. Several prior studies have explored the effect of induced emotions on word production or text comprehension^2,3, and have consistently found that emotion had a crucial influence on the two language processes. For example, Egidi and Caramazza found that positive emotion increased the sensitivity to inconsisten....

Protocol

The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Foreign Studies University and it complied with the guideline for experiments with human subjects. All subjects in this research provided written informed consent.

1. Stimuli construction

1. Design experimental stimuli based on the specific research questions. As this study is intended to examine foreign language learning using a semi-artificial language, create the experimental sentences by rearranging sentences in the participants' native language in accordance with the grammatical rules of the tested foreign language. Sample experimental sentences are provided in

Results

The aim of this study is to explore the effect of positive induced emotion on foreign language grammar learning. For this purpose, two groups of participants were recruited to participate in the experiment, including a positive-emotion group (15 female, M_age = 20.20, age range: 18–27) and a control group (16 female, M_age = 20.33, age range: 18–26). Each group consisted of 30 participants. The two groups did not differ significantly in age, t (58) = -0.215, p = 0.8.......

Discussion

The results indicate that participants rated their emotions to be significantly more positive after being exposed to the positively-valenced music. These subjects were significantly happier than the control group. This suggests that our emotion manipulation was successful. Participants in the positive-emotion group were found to be significantly less accurate and efficient than those in the control group. One possible reason is that participants employed an inductive strategy in grammar learning, resulting in a strong re.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
E-prime	PST	2.0.8.22	Stimulus presentation software
Computer	N/A	N/A	Used to present stimuli and record subjects' responses
Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM)	N/A	N/A	Used to assess subjects' affective states. From Lang (1980)29