A Qualitative Inquiry into Cognitive and Perceptual Processes among Speakers of Three or More Languages

Abstract

Multilingual individuals often report that the language they use can influence how they think, remember, and create. Drawing on three complementary theoretical strands, Vygotsky’s account of inner speech as an internalized cognitive tool, linguistic relativity (the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis), and research on the bilingual and multilingual cognitive advantage, this study investigates these subjective experiences through a qualitative survey of adults who speak three or more languages. The survey examined internal dialogue, problem-solving, memory recall, creativity, and emotional associations across languages, and this theoretical framework guides our interpretation of participants’ responses. Most participants reported using their dominant or context-relevant language for reasoning and reflection, with switches to other languages when facing difficulties or seeking nuance. Abstract concepts (e.g., “freedom,” emotional nuance) were often easier to express in the language with a richer vocabulary for that concept. Many felt “more creative” or emotionally expressive in one language versus another, consistent with findings that multilingualism can enhance creativity through cognitive flexibility. Memory recall tended to align with the language of encoding (e.g. childhood memories recalled in one’s first language). Notably, participants generally saw their core moral judgments as stable across languages, although prior research suggests subtle “foreign-language” effects can occur. Together, these findings suggest that multilingual experience contributes to adaptive cognitive flexibility: switching languages can aid problem-solving, creativity is modulated by linguistic context, and inner speech serves as a flexible cognitive tool that shifts with the language of thought.