Cover not available
Part of
Emotion in Language: Theory – research – application
Edited by Ulrike M. Lüdtke
[Consciousness & Emotion Book Series 10] 2015
► pp. 191–208

Embodied language and the process of language learning and teaching

| Università Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy
| Università di Parma, Italy

This chapter consists of three main parts: in the first part we report very briefly the results of empirical studies supporting an embodied view of language processing including emotional language. In the second part we report about recent approaches to language learning and teaching with the purpose to underline how these approaches have tried to include or be supported by empirical data coming from neuroscience. The focus is on the relation between language learning and teaching, and emotions. Finally, in the third part we forward some general implications for language teaching based on the embodied approach to language processing. In our view experience is a prerequisite for any language competence where experience is related to our capacity to interact with the world and with other people, thus involving relational and emotional competences. In this perspective also relational and emotional competences influence language acquisition processes.

Keywords: education, embodiment, language, language teaching, sensorimotor experience
Published online: 16 December 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ceb.10.10buc
References
Ausubel, David P
1968 Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View. London: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Bailey, Donald B., Bruer, John T., Symonds, Frank J. and Lichtman, Jeff W
(eds) 2001 Critical Thinking about Critical Periods. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Balboni, Paolo E
2006 The Epistemological Nature of Language Teaching. Perugia: Guerra.Google Scholar
2012 Le Sfide di Babele. Torino: UTET.Google Scholar
2013 “Il ruolo delle emozioni di studente e insegnante nel processo di apprendimento e insegnamento linguistico.” EL.LE 1 (2): 7–30.Google Scholar
Barsalou, Lawrence W
1999 “Perceptual symbol systems”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 577–609.Google Scholar
Baumgärtner, Annette, Buccino, Giovanni, Lange, Rüdiger, McNamara, Adam and Binkofski, Ferdinand
2007 “Polymodal conceptual processing of human biological actions in the left inferior frontal lobe.” European Journal of Neuroscience 25: 881–889. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, Ellen
2001 Bilingualism in Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Binkofski, Ferdinand, Buccino, Giovanni, Posse, Stefan, Seitz, Rüdiger J., Rizzolatti, Giacomo and Freund, Hans J
1999 “A fronto-parietal circuit for object manipulation in man: Evidence from an fMRI-study.” European Journal of Neuroscience 11: 3276–3286. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boulenger, Véronique, Roy, Alice C., Paulignan, Yves, Deprez, Viviane, Jeannerod, Marc and Nazir, Tatjana A
2006 “Cross-talk between language processes and overt motor behavior in the first 200 msec of processing.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 18: 1607–1615. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boulenger, Véronique, Silber, Beata Y., Roy, Alice C., Paulignan, Yves, Jeannerod, Marc and Nazir, Tatjana A
2008 “Subliminal display of action words interferes with motor planning: A combined EEG and kinematic study.” Journal of Physiology 102: 130–136.Google Scholar
Bub, Daniel N., Masson, Michael E.J. and Cree, George S
2008 “Evocation of functional and volumetric gestural knowledge by objects and words.” Cognition 106: 27–58. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Buccino, Giovanni, Binkofski, Ferdinand, Fink, Gereon R., Fadiga, Luciano, Fogassi, Leonardo, Gallese, Vittorio, Seitz, Rüdiger J., Zilles, Karl, Rizzolatti, Giacomo and Freund, Hans J
2001 “Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: An fMRI study.” European Journal of Neuroscience 13: 400–404.Google Scholar
Buccino, Giovanni, Riggio, Lucia, Melli, Giorgia, Binkofski, Ferdinand, Gallese, Vittorio and Rizzolatti, Giacomo
2005 “Listening to action-related sentences modulates the activity of the motor system: A combined TMS and behavioral study.” Cognitive Brain Research 24: 355–363. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Buccino, Giovanni, Sato, Marc, Cattaneo, Luigi, Rodà, Francesca and Riggio, Lucia
2009 “Broken affordances, broken objects: A TMS study.” Neuropsychologia 47: 3074–3078. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cardona, Mario
2010a Il Ruolo della Memoria nell’Apprendimento delle Lingue. Torino: UTET.Google Scholar
2010b “L’approccio cognitivo-emozionale e il visconte dimezzato.” In Facilitare l’Apprendimento dell’Italiano L2 e delle Lingue Straniere, Fabio Caon (ed.), 26–38. Torino: UTET.Google Scholar
Carr, Laurie, Iacoboni, Marco, Dubeau, Marie-Charlotte, Mazziotta, John C. and Lenzi, Gian L
2003 “Neural mechanisms of empathy in humans: A relay from neural systems for imitation to limbic areas.” Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences USA 100: 5497–5502. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cattaneo, Zaira, Devlin, Joseph T., Salvini, Francesca, Vecchi, Tomaso and Silvanto, Juha
2010 “The causal role of category-specific neuronal representations in the left ventral premotor cortex (PMv) in semantic processing.” Neuroimage 49: 2728–2734. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chatterjee, Anjan
2010 “Disembodying cognition.” Language and Cognition 2: 79–116. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Citron, Francesca M.M
2012 “Neural correlates of written emotion word processing: A review of recent electrophysiological and hemodynamic neuroimaging studies.” Brain and Language 122: 211–226. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Della Volta, Riccardo, Gianelli, Claudia, Campione, Giovanna C. and Gentilucci, Maurizio
2009 “Action word understanding and overt motor behavior.” Experimental Brain Research 196: 403–412. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Damasio, Antonio
1994 Descartes’ Error. Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.Google Scholar
Danesi, Marcel
1988 “Neurological bimodality and theories of language teaching.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 10: 13–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1998 Il Cervello in Aula. Perugia: Guerra.Google Scholar
Fabbri-Destro, Maddalena and Rizzolatti, Giacomo
2008 “Mirror neurons and mirror systems in monkeys and humans.” Physiology 23: 171–179. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fabbro, Franco
1999 The Neurolinguistics of Bilingualism. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Fischer, Martin H. and Zwaan, Rolf A
2008 “Embodied language: A review of the role of the motor system in language comprehension.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61: 825–850. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fodor, Jerry A
1975 The Language of Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Gallese, Vittorio
2003 “A neuroscientific grasp of concepts: From control to representation.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Science 358i: 1231–1240. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gallese, Vittorio and Lakoff, George
2005 “The brain’s concepts: The role of the sensory-motor system in reason and language.” Cognitive Neuropsychology 22: 455–479. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, Howard
1983 Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Gibson, James J
1977 “The theory of affordances.” In Perceiving, Acting and Knowing, Robert Shaw and John Bransford (eds). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
1979 The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
Glenberg, Arthur M
1997 “What memory is for.” Behavioral and Brain Science 20: 1–19.Google Scholar
Glenberg, Arthur M. and Kaschak, Michael P
2002 “Grounding language in action.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9: 558–565. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goleman, Daniel
1996 Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Goodman, Kenneth
1967 “Reading: A psycholinguistic guessing game.” In Journal of the Reading Specialist 6: 126–135. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goswami, Usha
2004 “Neuroscience and education.” In British Journal of Educational Psychology 74: 1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gough, Patricia M., Riggio, Lucia, Chersi, Fabian, Sato, Marc, Fogassi, Leonardo and Buccino, Giovanni
2012 “Nouns referring to tools and natural objects differentially modulate the motor system.” Neuropsychologia 50: 19–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grèzes, Julie, Armony, Jorge L., Rowe, James and Passingham, Richard E
2003 “Activations related to ‘mirror’ and ‘canonical’ neurones in the human brain: An fMRI study.” Neuroimage 18: 928–937. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grèzes, Julie, Tucker, Mike, Armony, Jorge, Ellis, Rob and Passingham, Richard E
2003 “Objects automatically potentiate action: An fMRI study of implicit processing.” European Journal of Neuroscience 17: 2735–2740. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hari, Riitta and Kujala, Miiamaaria V
2009 “Brain basis of human social interaction: From concepts to brain imaging.” Physiology Review 89: 453–479. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hauk, Olaf, Johnsrude, Ingrid and Pulvermüller, Friedemann
2004 “Somatotopic representation of action words in human motor and premotor cortex.” Neuron 41: 301–307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Havas, David A. and Matheson, James
2013 “The functional role of the periphery in emotional language comprehension.” Frontiers in Psychology 4: 294. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoenig, Klaus, Sim, Eun-Jin, Bochev, Viktor, Herrnberger, Bärbel and Kiefer, Markus
2008 “Conceptual flexibility in the human brain: Dynamic recruitment of semantic maps from visual, motor, and motion-related areas.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 20: 1799–1814. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hutchison, William D., Davis, Karen D., Lozano, Andres M., Tasker, Ronald R. and Dostrovsky, Jonathan O
1999 “Pain related neurons in the human cingulated cortex.” Nature Neuroscience 2: 403–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, Bob and Schumann, John H
1992 “Language acquisition and the neurosciences: Towards a more integrative perspective.” Applied Linguistics 13: 282–301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jeannerod, Marc, Arbib, Michael A., Rizzolatti, Giacomo and Sakata, Hideo
1995 “Grasping objects: The cortical mechanisms of visuomotor transformation.” Trends in Neuroscience 18: 314–320. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jirak, Daniel, Menz, Mareike M., Buccino, Giovanni, Borghi, Anna M. and Binkofski, Ferdinand
2010 “Grasping language: A short story on embodiment.” Consciousness and Cognition 19: 711–720. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kaschak, Michael P. and Borreggine, Kristin L
2008 “Temporal dynamics of the action-sentence compatibility effect.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61: 883–895. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krashen, Stephen D
1981 Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Lakoff, George
1987 Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
LeDoux, Joseph
1996 The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Lenneberg, Eric H
1967 Biological Foundations of Language. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Lindemann, Oliver, Stenneken, Prisca, van Schie, Hein T. and Bekkering, Harold
2006 “Semantic activation in action planning.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 32: 633–643. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mahon, Bradford Z. and Caramazza, Alfonso
2005 “The orchestration of the sensory-motor systems: Clues from neuropsychology.” Cognitive Neuropsychology 22: 480–494. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2008 “A critical look at the embodied cognition hypothesis and a new proposal for grounding conceptual content.” Journal of Physiology 102: 59–70.Google Scholar
Marino, Barbara F., Gough, Patricia M., Gallese, Vittorio, Riggio, Lucia and Buccino, Giovanni
2013 “How the motor system handles nouns: A behavioral study.” Psychological Research 77: 64–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Minsky, Marvin
1977 “Frame System Theory.” In Thinking: Readings in Cognitive Science, P.N. Johnson-Laird and P.C. Wason (eds). London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Moles, Abraham A
1990 Les Sciences de l’Imprécis. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Murata, Akira, Fadiga, Luciano, Fogassi, Leonardo, Gallese, Vittorio, Raos, Vassilis and Rizzolatti, Giacomo
1997 “Object representation in the ventral premotor cortex (area F5) of the monkey.” Journal of Neurophysiology 78: 2226–2230.Google Scholar
Myung, Jong-Yoon, Blumstein, Sheila E. and Sedivy, Julie C
2006 “Playing on the typewriter, typing on the piano: Manipulation of knowledge of objects.” Cognition 98: 223–243. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Neisser, Ulric
1967 Cognitive Psychology. Des Moines, IA: Meredith.Google Scholar
Niedenthal, Paula M
2007 “Embodying emotion.” Science 316: 1002–1005. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
2002 Understanding the Brain: Towards a New Learning Science Ch. 4.6: 69–77. [URL].Google Scholar
Oller, John W
1979 Language Tests at School. Harlow: Thomas Longman.Google Scholar
Peeters, Ronald, Simone, Luciano, Nelissen, Koen, Fabbri-Destro, Maddalena, Vanduffel, Wim, Rizzolatti, Giacomo and Orban, Guy A
2009 “The representation of tool use in humans and monkeys: Common and uniquely human features.” The Journal of Neuroscience 29 (37): 11523–11539. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pulvermüller, Friedemann
2002 The Neuroscience of Language. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pulvermüller, Friedemann, Härle, Markus and Hummel, Friedhelm
2001 “Walking or talking? Behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of action verb processing.” Brain and Language 78: 143–168. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pulvermüller, Friedemann, Hauk, Olaf, Nikulin, Vadim V. and Ilmoniemi, Risto J
2005 “Functional links between motor and language systems.” European Journal of Neuroscience 21: 793–797. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pulvermüller, Friedemann and Schumann, John H
1994 “Neurobiological mechanisms of language acquisition.” Language Learning 44: 681–734. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pulvermüller, Friedemann, Shtyrov, Yuri and Hauk, Olaf
2009 “Understanding in an instant: Neurophysiological evidence for mechanistic circuits in the brain.” Brain and Language 110: 81–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Puren, Christian
1997 “Concepts et conceptualisation en didactique des langues: Pour une épistémologie disciplinaire.” Études de Linguistique Appliquée 105: 1–3.Google Scholar
2000 “Méthodes et constructions méthodologiques dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage des langue.” Les Langues Modernes 1: 68–70.Google Scholar
Pylyshyn, Zenon W
1984 Computation and Cognition. Toward a Foundation for Cognitive Science. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Raos, Vassilis, Umiltà, Maria-Alesandra, Fogassi, Leonardo and Gallese, Vittorio
2006 “Functional properties of grasping-related neurons in the ventral premotor area F5 of the macaque monkey.” Journal of Neurophysiology 95: 709–729. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rizzolatti, Giacomo, Camarda, Rosalino, Fogassi, Leonardo, Gentilucci, Maurizio, Luppino, Giuseppe and Matelli, Massimo
1988 “Functional organization of inferior area 6 in the macaque monkey. II. Area F5 and the control of distal movements.” Experimental Brain Research 71: 491–507. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rizzolatti, Giacomo, Fogassi, Leonardo and Gallese, Vittorio
2004 “Cortical mechanisms subserving object grasping, action understanding and imitation.” In The Cognitive Neurosciences III, Michael S. Gazzaniga (ed.), 427–440. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Sakreida, Katrin, Schubotz, Ricarda I., Wolfensteller, Uta and von Cramon, D. Yves
2005 “Motion class dependency in observers’ motor areas revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging.” Journal of Neuroscience 25: 1335–1342. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sato, Marc, Mengarelli, Marisa, Riggio, Lucia, Gallese, Vittorio and Buccino, Giovanni
2008 “Task related modulation of the motor system during language processing.” Brain and Language 105: 83–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schumann, John H
1994 “Where is cognition? Emotion and cognition in second language acquisition.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 16: 231–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1999 The Neurobiology of Affect in Language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Singer, Tania, Seymore, Ben, O’Doherty, John, Kaube, Holger, Dolan, Raymond J. and Frith, Chris D
2004 “Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain.” Science 5661: 1157–1162. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stevick, Earl
1990 Humanism in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, Lawrence J. and Zwaan, Rolf A
2008 “Motor resonance and linguistic focus.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61: 896–904. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tettamanti, Marco, Buccino, Giovanni, Saccuman, Maria C., Gallese, Vittorio, Danna, Marco, Scifo, Paola, Fazio, Ferruccio, Rizzolatti, Giacomo, Cappa, Stefano F. and Perani, Daniela
2005 “Listening to action-related sentences activates fronto-parietal motor circuits.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 17: 273–281. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tremblay, Pascale, Sato, Marc and Small, Steven L
2012 “TMS induced modulation of action sentence priming in the ventral premotor cortex.” Neuropsychologia 50: 319–326. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tucker, Mike and Ellis, Rob
2004 “Action priming by briefly presented objects.” Acta Psychologica 116: 185–203. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Valyear, Kenneth F., Cavina-Pratesi, Cristiana, Stiglick, Armanda J. and Culham, Jody C
2007 “Does tool-related fMRI activity within the intraparietal sulcus reflect the plan to grasp?” NeuroImage 36: T94-T108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vigliocco, Gabriella, Vinson, David P., Druks, Judit, Barber, Horacio and Cappa, Stefano F
2011 “Nouns and verbs in the brain: A review of behavioural, electrophysiological, neuropsychological and imaging studies.” Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews 35: 407–426. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wheaton, Kylie J., Thompson, James C., Syngeniotis, Ari, Abbott, David F. and Puce, Aina
2004 “Viewing the motion of human body parts activates different regions of premotor, temporal, and parietal cortex.” NeuroImage 22: 277–288. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wicker, Bruno, Keysers, Christian, Plailly, Jane, Royet, Jean-Pierre, Gallese, Vittorio and Rizzolatti, Giacomo
2003 “Both of us disgusted in my insula: The common neural basis of seeing and feeling disgust.” Neuron 40: 655–664. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 7 other publications

Buccino, Giovanni, Barbara F. Marino, Chiara Bulgarelli & Marco Mezzadri
2017. Fluent Speakers of a Second Language Process Graspable Nouns Expressed in L2 Like in Their Native Language. Frontiers in Psychology 8 DOI logo
Guan, Connie Qun & Wanjin Meng
2022. Facilitative Effects of Embodied English Instruction in Chinese Children. Frontiers in Psychology 13 DOI logo
Jódar-Sánchez, José Antonio
2019. FrameNet as a Resource to Teach Spanish as a Foreign Language. In Teaching Language and Teaching Literature in Virtual Environments, ► pp. 121 ff. DOI logo
Kogan, Boris, Edinson Muñoz, Agustín Ibáñez & Adolfo M. García
2020. Too late to be grounded? Motor resonance for action words acquired after middle childhood. Brain and Cognition 138 ► pp. 105509 ff. DOI logo
Lemmer, Karina & Marth Munro
2019. The L1–L2 tension in performance: towards prosodic explorations to facilitate intent. South African Theatre Journal 32:3 ► pp. 300 ff. DOI logo
Monaco, Elisa, Lea B. Jost, Pascal M. Gygax & Jean-Marie Annoni
2019. Embodied Semantics in a Second Language: Critical Review and Clinical Implications. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 13 DOI logo
Munro, Marth & Karina Lemmer
2019. Multilingual Theatre Voice Training in South Africa: Our Translingual Attempt Employing Lessac Kinesensics. Voice and Speech Review 13:2 ► pp. 173 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.