Does Language Shape Thought? English and Mandarin Speakers’ Usage of Emoticons as Non-Verbal Cues in Communication

有關表情符號的跨文化分析，現有之研究皆以亞洲國家（例如日本或韓國）和美國做比較。然而此間差異不僅包含文化上的，也包含語言使用上的不同。如此一來，在了解影響人們使用表情符號的因素時，文化背景與語言的因素混雜一體，難以區辨各別影響狀況。本研究試著控制文化的因素，將文化背景具有一定相似性，但官方語言不同的新加坡和台灣做比較。結果顯示新加坡與台灣使用者確實表現出不同的表情符號使用偏好。前者傾向使用橫式表情符號，後者則以使用直式表情符號居多。形式的不同也導致使用者在組合表情符號的眼型與口型時呈現明顯差異。此外，語言背景也會影響一個人對表情符號的認識與解讀能力。本研究發現，此現象在新加坡的受試者身上較為顯著，他們在認識與解讀台灣使用者的常用表情符號時較容易出現障礙。最後，本論文也討論了研究結果的意義以及研究者對於未來研究的建議。Existing literature on the cross-cultural use of emoticons often discuss how styles of emoticons vary by comparing countries such as Japan or Korea with the United States. However, these countries differ both in terms of their culture as well as the language used in the country. Thus, there remains a dilemma in distinguishing whether the effects of cultural background or language plays a greater role in determining the style of emoticons a person uses. This research explores this issue by comparing the use of emoticons between users from Singapore and Taiwan. Both countries have similar cultural background but differ in terms of their first language. By focusing on the difference of language and holding cultural background as a constant, results indicated that users from both countries do have a difference in preference for emoticons style. While the former predominantly use horizontal emoticons, the latter prefer vertical emoticons instead. Such difference has also resulted in different representation of the eyes and mouths of emoticons used by Singaporean and Taiwanese users. In addition, it has also been found that language background has an effect on a person’s ability to recognize and interpret emoticons used by natives from the other culture. This situation was more prominent among Singaporean participants as they were found to be less capable in recognizing and interpreting emoticons commonly used by their Taiwanese counterparts. The implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed