Boroditsky’s empirical studies on spatio-temporal association in Mandarin and English: A critical review

Abstract

This paper provides a critical review of Boroditsky and her collaborators’ cross-linguistic empirical research on spatio-temporal association in mental conceptualization, to see if it is possible to render the actual relations between language and reality in a systematic manner. It also discusses a small selection of relevant studies conducted by other scholars within this domain. The analysis conducted in this paper sheds light on the shortcomings of the current cross-linguistic research on the relationship between language and thought, and similar problems related to the research on artificial intelligence (AI). Suggestions are given for future empirical study in this area.