This study extends the line of linguistic relativity research by assessing the effect of the French grammatical gender system on French speakers' and learners' perception of objects. Four groups of 140 adults (English monolinguals, French monolinguals, English–French bilinguals and French–English bilinguals; N = 35 each) rated 32 selected objects' gender by assigning them a masculine/feminine voice on a slider. We also assessed the participants' second-language (L2) proficiency. Multilevel modelling results revealed that French monolinguals and English–French bilinguals rated objects' gender in line with the French grammatical gender system. The effect of French on perception was not reduced by acquiring English, as French–English bilinguals performed on par with French monolinguals. Moreover, the effect was independent of L2 proficiency. These findings suggest that learning a gendered L2 affects the perception of objects – thus supporting the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

中文翻译：

---

法语语法性别系统对双语成人物体感知的影响


这项研究通过评估法语语法性别系统对法语使用者和学习者对物体的感知的影响，扩展了语言相对论的研究范围。四组 140 名成年人（英语单语者、法语单语者、英语-法语双语者和法语-英语双语者；每组 N = 35）通过在滑块上分配男性/女性声音来对 32 个选定对象的性别进行评级。我们还评估了参与者的第二语言 (L2) 熟练程度。多级建模结果显示，法语单语者和英法双语者对物体性别的评价符合法语语法性别系统。法语对感知的影响并没有因为学习英语而减弱，因为法英双语者的表现与法语单语者相当。此外，该效果与 L2 熟练程度无关。这些发现表明，学习性别二语会影响对物体的感知——从而支持语言相对论假说。