Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect in EFL Motor Processing

Embodied Language Comprehension Theory claims that language is grounded in bodily activity and meaning is grounded in sensory motor system in modality.This study aims to examine whether EFL(English as a Foreign Language)learners triggered Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect(ACE)during sentence comprehension.The English sentences including concrete and abstract verbs are taken as stimuli.Reaction time and accuracy rate of the participants were collected as the experimental data.Two groups of students with different English proficiencies participated in the study.The results indicate that(1)While processing concrete-verb sentences,both groups triggered ACE.(2)There is no significant ACE in processing abstract-verb sentences.(3)High proficiency group responded faster with a higher accuracy.(4)It is difficult for EFL learners to process abstract actions.To conclude,the present study shows that mental simulation is activated while EFL learners with certain language proficiency are processing sentences.In foreign language comprehension,mental simulation would be facilitated with higher language proficiency.