First language primacy in multilingualism and emotion research: a view from Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. Order of Acquisition by Language Groups.

	Language Group
L	Afrikaans	English	isiXhosa	Other African	Other European	Other	Total
1	51	64	22	17	12	4	170
	30.00	37.65	12.94	10.00	7.06	2.35	100.00
2	50	90	4	11	13	2	170
	29.41	52.94	2.35	6.47	7.65	1.18	100.00
3	12	13	7	20	31	7	90
	13.33	14.44	7.78	22.22	34.44	7.78	100.00
4	12	1	2	13	19	2	49
	24.49	2.04	4.08	26.53	38.78	4.08	100.00
5	1	2	2	5	7	0	17
	5.88	11.76	11.76	29.41	41.18	0.00	100.00
Total	126	170	37	66	82	15	496
	25.40	34.27	7.46	13.31	16.53	3.02	100.00

Note: Columns are languages. Column totals reflect the number of participants (out of the total of 170) who report knowledge of a particular language. Rows (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5) indicate the number of participants reporting that language as L1, L2, etc. Percentages are provided under the raw frequency numbers.

Figure 1. Language Use Patterns for Feelings. Language point labels are in green and follow the format of L:LanguageName_OrderofAcquistion, such that ‘L:isiXhosa_1’ is the point for L1 isiXhosa. In the language point labels, ‘OE’ and ‘OA’ denote ‘Other European’ and ‘Other African’, respectively. Each language use situation appears on the plot as two points: one reflecting use (e.g. ‘letters_emails:1’) and one reflecting non-use (e.g. ‘letters_emails_0’).

Points representing languages and language use patterns for expressing feelings distributed across four quadrants. Points representing non-use of languages for expressing feelings are in the left horizontal dimension. Points representing use of languages for expressing feelings are in the right horizontal dimension. All L1s fall in the right horizontal dimension, as well as L2 English and L3 English, and are thus associated with use for expressing feelings. All other languages fall in the left horizontal dimension and are thus associated with non-use for expressing feelings.

Figure 2. Language Use Patterns for Anger.

Points representing languages and language use patterns for expressing anger distributed across four quadrants. Points representing non-use of languages for expressing anger are in the left horizontal dimension. Points representing use of languages for expressing anger are in the right horizontal dimension. All L1s fall in the right horizontal dimension, as well as L2 English, L3 English, and L4 English, as well as L2 isiXhosa, and are thus associated with use for expressing anger. All other languages fall in the left horizontal dimension and are thus associated with non-use for expressing anger.

Figure 3. Language Use Patterns for Mental Use.

Points representing languages and use for mental activities (inner speech, memory recall, and mental mathematics) distributed across four quadrants. Points representing non-use of languages for mental activities are in the left horizontal dimension. Points representing use of languages for mental activities are in the right horizontal dimension. All L1s fall in the right horizontal dimension, as well as L2 English and L3 English, and are thus associated with use for mental activities. All other languages fall in the left horizontal dimension and are thus associated with non-use for mental activities.

Figure 4. Perceptions of Language Characteristics.

Points representing languages and language characteristics (‘useful’, ‘colourful’, ‘rich’, ‘poetic’, ‘emotional’, and ‘cold’) distributed across four quadrants. Points representing absence of positive language characteristics (i.e., all characteristics except ‘cold’) are in the left horizontal dimension. Points representing presence of positive language characteristics are in the right horizontal dimension. All L1s except isiXhosa fall on the right horizontal dimension and are thus associated with the presence of positive characteristics. All non-L1s, as well as L1 isiXhosa, fall in the left horizontal dimension, and are thus associated with the absence of positive characteristics.