The Bilingual Mind: The Choice of Language for Emotional Expression in Bilingual Speakers

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the impact bilingual’s languages have on expressing emotions. Studies over the past two decades have provided important information on the factors that could influence the decision making process of bilinguals regarding their choice of language in different emotionally charged situations. Despite the growing body of literature, there have been no attempts to investigate the topic with regard to Hungarian-Serbian speakers. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between the two languages and emotional expression of speakers belonging to this group. A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used in the data analysis, setting out to cover as many aspects of the phenomenon as possible. The present study employed the adaptation of the Bilingualism and Emotions Questionnaire (BEQ) alongside statistical analysis and personal interviews to gain insights into the bilingual speakers’ thought process. The results suggest that individuals show a preference for a given language when discussing or displaying emotions, owing to a plethora of subjective factors such as the age of acquisition, context of acquisition, self-rated proficiency and language socialization. Even though the results lend support to the established hypotheses, these findings are not universally applicable and solely offer a framework for further investigation in the given field.