Communication, Behavior, and Emotion in Multilingual Societies

About this Research Topic

Background

Within language sciences, there is increasing interest in communication and behavior across diverse multilingual contexts, taking into account the interactions among native and non-native speakers, and among mono- and multilingual speakers. Previous research has shown, for example, that operating in a native or non-native language may have differential effects on behavior, including decision making, emotional resonance, or speaker credibility.
Despite the growing interest in these topics, the underlying mechanisms that may be driving these observed effects are still unclear. So far, several explanations have been given, such as weaker links between emotion and a language variety (i.e., a second language, a foreign accent, a regional accent), differences in cognitive load that may depend on familiarity, vocabulary size, speech rate, perceptual distance, etc., or reduced socio-pragmatic knowledge in a language variety that has been learned in a formal context and/or during adulthood.

This Research Topic intends to bring together work from researchers who explore the relation between language (in particular multilingualism), behavior, and emotion. These relationships will inform theories of language, cognition, and emotion. In addition, cognitive neuroscience may inform us about these processes as well as the neurological bases of emotion and cognition. Using different methods, the aim is to tease apart the possible moderating variables that explain when and under what conditions effects of multilingualism seem to take place, and when they do not. We hope to include research that builds upon and expands previous work.

We welcome submissions from linguistics, psychology, speech and hearing science, and cognitive neuroscience that explore the extent to which multilingualism impacts communication, behavior, and emotion across diverse societies. We invite contributions from experiments using methods such as electrophysiology, eye-tracking, fMRI, pupillometry, electrodermal conductivity, accuracy or reaction time modelling across various populations. Preference will be given to papers using one or a combination of these experimental paradigms.
This Research Topic encourages empirical submissions dealing with the following questions:
• To what extent and in what way does multilingualism influence communication, behavior, or emotion?
• To what extent and in what way does accent and/or regional variation affect communication, behavior, or emotion?
• What types of cognitive and emotional processes underlie decision making in multilingual societies and cultures?

Keywords: multilingualism, cognition, emotion, decision making, foreign accents, regional accents

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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