Switching to L2 for emotion expression: A sociocultural strategy beyond reduced emotionality

Aims and objectives: This study explores switching from a native language (L1) to a second language (L2) when there are different sociocultural norms tied to emotion. It considers constructionist theories, whereby emotion expression and interpretation are influenced by speakers’ sociocultural background, and cross-cultural differences between Asian and Western societies, to illustrate how sociocultural norms play a role in L1→L2 emotional switching. Methodology and data analysis: Corpus data were first collected from a social networking platform where the authors switched from L1 Chinese to L2 English to express conflict, pride , and intimacy , three types of emotion that are culturally proper to verbalize in L2. Then, 47 Chinese-English bilinguals (20–30 y.o.) participated in an online rating task and assessed the naturalness and emotionality of those code-switched utterances and of their translations in L1. Findings and conclusions: Linear mixed effects analyses showed that the produced code-switched discourse was perceived no less natural or emotional than L1. We argue that this is not surprising when the emotional topic of discussion is encouraged to be displayed in an L2 cultural-linguistic context. Originality: We push forward a perspective of language use for emotion expression where switching from L1 to L2 can be viewed as a sociocultural strategy and not as indication of reduced emotionality, as suggested by studies in which emotional reactivity is measured in a single language, either in L1 or in L2. Under this interpretation, we provide new theoretical grounds for experimental research. Moreover, our study makes use of written naturalistic data from Chinese, a language and culture less researched in this modality regarding this topic. Significance: Understanding what drives emotional code-switching considering cross-cultural differences is crucial for understanding bilingual interaction. Such knowledge can be applied in educational, political, judicial, and clinical settings in which code-switching may be purposefully used for emotional topic discussion.