The Effect of Language Use on Emotional Expression and Autobiographical Memory Retrieval in Bilingual Therapy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain understanding into the mechanism of autobiographical story telling process in bilingual therapy by examining language independence, language specificity and code-switching phenomenon. Specially, the study assessed relations among language usage (Chinese & English), emotional expression and memory retrieval features. The study found language usage significantly related to emotional expression and memory recalling features; and these relations were also modulated by participants’ language proficiency level and perceived intensity of the memory. Thus, language appeared to play an important role in emotional expression and autobiographical memory recall process.