EFFECT OF WORD ORDER ON COGNITION IN HAITIAN CREOLE AND FRENCH SPEAKERS

Abstract

To what extent does the language we speak affect the way we perceive the world? Some researchers suggest that language has no effect on thought, whereas others suggest that there are important effects of language on thought. The following paper reviews the literature on effects of language on thought, with special attention to effects of vocabulary and metaphor on thought, as well as effects of grammar and word order on thought. Finally, the paper proposes new avenues of research in relation to cross-linguistic differences in noun-determiner patterns. More specifically what are the effects of syntactic differences in noun-determiner placement between Haitian French and Haitian Creole. Do monolingual speakers of Haitian Creole distribute more attention to objects in the world because nouns have a more prominent placement in the noun phrase in Creole than they do in French? Does attention to objects in the world shift when bilingual French-Creole speakers switch between languages?