Conceptualisation of event roles in L1 and L2 by Japanese learners of English: the effect of perspectives of event construal on recognition memory

The previous studies on the interface of language and thought showed that event role hierarchies are similar across different languages, despite the different linguistic encodings (Ünal et al. (Developmental Science, 24(6), e13116, 2021b); Isasi-Isasmendi et al. (Open Mind, 7, 240-282, 2023)). However, Qu and Miwa (Cognitive Linguistics, 35(4), 547-577, 2024) observed that Japanese speakers prioritise animacy over agency, whereas English speakers prioritise agency in the linguistic encodings of event roles, reflecting the different preferences of the two languages for the degree of egocentricity in event construal. This study conducted an image memorisation experiment to investigate how these linguistic differences affect recognition memory of event roles. We found that Japanese speakers were more accurate in remembering human entities and showed no disadvantage in memorising non-human agents compared to English speakers, demonstrating an additive effect of animacy and agency. Additionally, Japanese speakers' English proficiency influenced the degree of cognitive restructuring of event roles. This is the first study to present positive evidence for linguistic effects on the recognition memory of event roles, challenging the universality of conceptual knowledge of event roles across different languages.