Exploring Emotional and Physiological Reactions to Linguistic Racism: A Case Study in Higher Education

Linghan Zhang, Jung Yeon Park, Elizabeth T. Kwari

Abstract: Linguistic racism can cause complex negative emotions and mental health issues in individuals. This study investigates how linguistic racism affects Non-Native English Speakers (NNES) and Native English Speakers (NES) in higher education (students and faculties) with physiological signal-based methods and survey responses. Participants (N = 13) watched a video showing a new immigrant experiencing linguistic racism while their physiological signals were measured. Moreover, the participants self-reported their emotions before and after they watched the video. Results indicate that the video especially makes NNES participants scared and nervous, which is not observed in NES. The study also found acute physiological reactions in NNES during experiments. The findings encourage further research on the relationship between linguistic racism and NNES’s mental health, especially providing insights into how to support NNES in higher education.