Emotion-Related Language Choice theory in the cross-fire: Evidence from Mexican-American bilinguals

Abstract The present study aims to determine the overall language choices that shape emotion-related language preference among bilingual communities. The author also seeks to answer the question of whether those choices are affected by norms or emotional spontaneity. Since the study yields only a slight preference for the second language, it may not necessarily lead to concluding any linguistic system to be more dominant than the other. Yet, the research proves not only that greater emotional weight of the situation results in a greater impact on the emotion-related language choice, but it also suggests that the main determiner of the language choice within bilinguals is not necessarily the different emotive power of both linguistic systems, but sociocultural norms.