Second language embodiment of action verbs: the impact of bilingual experience as a multidimensional spectrum

Embodiment theories postulate that language processing inherently engages the sensorimotor system. This study explores the embodiment of action verbs in the second language (L2) and the effects of various L2 experiences (L2 age of acquisition, exposure, dominance, and proficiency) on L2 embodiment. Sixty-one Chinese–English bilinguals participated in two experiments judging semantic relatedness: Experiment 1 involved verb–picture pairs, while Experiment 2 focused on verb–verb pairs. Both experiments were conducted in the participants’ first language (Chinese) and second language (English), with the stimuli depicting actions performed by specific effectors (e.g., mouth, hand, and foot). Results showed that participants took longer to reject mismatched verb–picture pairs and semantic-unrelated verb–verb pairs when the actions shared the same effector (e.g., walk–run) than those involving different effectors (e.g., eat–touch). Moreover, L2 age of acquisition, exposure, and dominance correlated with the L2 embodiment effect, with L2 age of acquisition and exposure modulating this effect. This study enhances our understanding of L2 embodied semantics and illuminates the impact of multidimensional L2 experiences on embodiment.