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Article In:
Translation and Interpreting at the Interface of Cognition and Emotion
Edited by Ana María Rojo López and Purificación Meseguer Cutillas
[Translation, Cognition & Behavior 7:1] 2024
► pp. 100–118

Language mediation training and the foreign-language effect in moral decision-making

ORCID logo | University of Granada

Moral cognition is an emerging field investigating the cognitive underpinnings of moral judgement and moral decision-making. Of particular interest for Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies (CTIS) is the impact of the use of a foreign language on the cognitive processes associated with moral decision making, what has been labeled “Foreign Language Effect” (FLE). Using a second language has been reported to reduce decision-making biases, doing away with framing effects in risk aversion settings. At the same time, moral dilemmas posed in a second language prompt more utilitarian responses than when presented in the subjects’ native tongues. These results beg the following question for the CTIS scholar: does language mediation training mitigate the FLE? This paper reports on an exploratory study investigating the impact of language mediation training on the FLE. Drawing from Costa et al. (2014), 1st and 4th year, bilingual students in a Translation and Interpreting degree are presented with the trolley dilemma both in their L1, L2, and L3. Initial results seem to indicate that language mediation training might have an impact on the FLE. However, the limitations of the study suggest the need for further exploration of the intersection between language mediation training and the FLE.

Keywords: moral cognition, Foreign Language Effect, ethics, moral reasoning, language mediation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Moral cognition
    • 2.1Trolley dilemmas
    • 2.2Moral judgement and Bilingualism
  • 3.FLE and language mediation training: An exploratory study
    • 3.1Method
      • 3.1.1Participants
      • 3.1.2Procedure and materials
    • 3.2Results and discussion
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Author queries
  • References
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