刊讯｜SSCI 期刊 “汉语二语/外语阅读习得”专刊

Frontiers in psychology

2022年专刊

FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY（SSCI一区，2021 IF：4.232）“汉语二语/外语阅读习得”专刊共发文18篇。内容涉及汉字识别、语素意识、个体差异、认知控制、汉字书写、习语加工、词汇习得、句法意识、正字法意识、语言迁移、简单阅读观、元分析等议题。欢迎转发扩散！

目录

ARTICLES

■ The Effect of Visual Mnemonics and the Presentation of Character Pairs on Learning Visually Similar Characters for Chinese-As-Second-Language Learners.

■Morphological Awareness in L2 Chinese Reading Comprehension: Testing of Mediating Routes.

■ A Comparative Study of Three Measurement Methods of Chinese Character Recognition for L2 Chinese Learners.

■ The Predictive Role of Grapho-Morphological Knowledge in Reading Comprehension for Beginning-Level L2 Chinese Learners.

■Contributions of Demographics, Language Learning Experience, and Cognitive Control to Chinese Reading Comprehension.

■ Exploring Relationships Between L2 Chinese Character Writing and Reading Acquisition From Embodied Cognitive Perspectives: Evidence From HSK Big Data.

■ Neuro-Cognitive Differences in Semantic Processing Between Native Speakers and Proficient Learners of Mandarin Chinese.

■Investigating Heritage Language Processing: Meaning Composition in Chinese Classifier-Noun Phrasal Contexts.

■Exploring Orthographic Representation in Chinese Handwriting: A Mega-Study Based on a Pedagogical Corpus of CFL Learners.

■ The Effect of Chinese Proficiency on Determining Temporal Adverb Position by Native Japanese Speakers Learning Chinese.

■ Positive Valence Bias in L2 Vocabulary Acquisition: Evidence From Chinese Emotion Idioms.

■ Interference effects of radical markings and stroke order animations on Chinese character learning among L2 learners.

■ The Effects of Syntactic Awareness to L2 Chinese Passage-Level Reading Comprehension.

■ Spanish L2 Chinese Learners’ Awareness of Morpho-Syntactic Structures in the Reading Comprehension of Splittable Compounds.

■ Reading-Related Skills Associated With Acquisition of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language: A Meta-Analysis.

■ Measuring Orthographic Knowledge of L2 Chinese Learners in Vietnam Using a Handwriting Task – A Preliminary Report.

■ The Extended Simple View of Reading in Adult Learners of Chinese as a Second Language.

■ Effects of L1 Transfer Are Profound, Yet Native-Like Processing Strategy Is Attainable: Evidence From Advanced Learners’ Production of Complex L2 Chinese Structures.

摘要

The Effect of Visual Mnemonics and the Presentation of Character Pairs on Learning Visually Similar Characters for Chinese-As-Second-Language Learners

Jean-Marc Dewaele, Doctorate, Associate Professor of National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, China  

Yuan-Yuan Tang, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, College of Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, China

Abstract This study investigates the effects of visual mnemonics and the methods of presenting learning materials on learning visually similar characters for Chinese-as-second-language (CSL) learners. In supporting CSL learners to build robust orthographic representations in Chinese, addressing the challenges of visual similarity of characters (e.g., 理 and 埋) is an important issue. Based on prior research on perceptual learning, we tested three strategies that differ in the extent to which they promote interrelated attention to the form and meaning of characters: (1) Stroke Sequence, a form-emphasis strategy, (2) Key-images, a form + meaning strategy utilizing visual code, (3) Pithy Formulas with Key-images, a form + meaning strategy combining visual and verbal codes. A pretest–posttest equivalent-group design was adopted. The independent variables were the learning strategy, the method of presenting character pairs (visually similar vs. dissimilar), and testing time. The dependent variables were learners’ proportions of accurate responses to reading and writing Chinese characters through a posttest (immediately performed after learning) and a delayed posttest (1 week after learning); a learner experience survey was also administered to investigate learners’ opinions on each strategy. Sixty-six non-beginning learners of Chinese participated; they were randomly assigned to one of the two groups in which participants learned ten characters via the three strategies, respectively, differing between whether the characters were presented in similar pairs or dissimilar pairs. Data were analyzed via three-way ANCOVAs. The Pithy Formulas with Key-images and the Key-images generally yielded higher writing accuracy than Stroke Sequence immediately after learning. Notably, the advantage of the Pithy Formulas with Key-images (verbal and visual) over the Key-images (visual) on writing was specific to the participants that learned with visually similar pairs rather than those that learned with dissimilar pairs. All strategies were effective for reading, yet learners’ experience ratings favored the two form + meaning strategies over the strategy that focused primarily on form. Suggestions for future research and pedagogical implications on learning visually similar characters were offered.

Morphological Awareness in L2 Chinese Reading Comprehension: Testing of Mediating Routes

Haomin Zhang, The Psycholinguistics Lab, School of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

Xing Zhang, School of English Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China

Mengjie Li, The Psycholinguistics Lab, School of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

Yiming Zhang, The Psycholinguistics Lab, School of Foreign Languages, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

Abstract This study aims to examine the contribution of morphological awareness to second language (L2) Chinese reading comprehension through potential mediating factors. Adult L2 Chinese learners (n = 447) participated in the study and completed two morphological awareness tasks (segmentation and discrimination), two vocabulary knowledge tasks (character knowledge and word-meaning knowledge), one lexical inference task, and one reading comprehension task. By testing alternative path models, this study identified the preferred model assuming the covariates of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge jointly contributed to L2 Chinese reading comprehension through lexical inference. The written modality of morphological awareness induced the activation of both morphological and orthographic information in print. The result suggests that morphological awareness (in the form of grapho-morphological knowledge) and vocabulary knowledge seem to be two parallel components under the same construct predicting Chinese reading comprehension. More importantly, this study underscores the intermediary effect of lexical inference in associating morphological awareness and reading comprehension in L2 Chinese learners.

A Comparative Study of Three Measurement Methods of Chinese Character Recognition for L2 Chinese Learners

Haiwei Zhang, School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, Beijing, China

Sun-A. Kim, College of International Education, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China

Xueyan Zhang, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China

Abstract Measuring Chinese character recognition ability is essential in research on character learning among learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL). Three methods are typically used to evaluate character recognition competence by investigating the following properties of a given character: (a) pronunciation (phonological method), (b) meaning (semantic method), and (c) pronunciation and meaning (phonological and semantic or PS method). However, no study has explored the similar or dissimilar outcomes that these three measurements might yield. The current study examined this issue by testing 162 CSL learners with various L1 backgrounds and Chinese proficiency levels. Participants' performance in character recognition measured using a phonological method, a semantic method, and a PS method was compared, which led to two major findings. In terms of similarity, participants' performance in character recognition and the influence of L1 background and Chinese proficiency level on character recognition was similar across the three methods. As for differences, the semantic method could yield a character recognition test with better quality than the other two methods, and the three methods yielded different best fitting models and showed different predictions for Chinese proficiency across different L1 groups. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are proposed.

The Predictive Role of Grapho-Morphological Knowledge in Reading Comprehension for Beginning-Level L2 Chinese Learners

Tianxu Chen, College of International Education, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China

Sihui Ke, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States

Keiko Koda, Department of Modern Languages, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Abstract Reading comprehension entails a set of distinct, yet interdependent cognitive, linguistic, and nonlinguistic processes. Previous second language (L2) Chinese studies have identified significant and positive impacts of grapho-morphological knowledge at the character and subcharacter (radical) levels on passage reading comprehension; however, little is known regarding how early L2 grapho-morphological knowledge at the character and radical levels jointly predict later L2 reading comprehension. This study aimed to fill this gap. One hundred and five beginning-level L2 Chinese collegiate learners were recruited, and completed two character-related and two radical-related tasks in Week 8, as well as one reading comprehension tasks in Week 18. The main findings, based on correlational and path analyses, suggested that L2 Chinese learners’ early character-level and radical-level grapho-morphological knowledge significantly predicted later reading comprehension, yet the interrelations among grapho-morphological knowledge at the character and radical levels were complex. Path analyses identified direct and indirect paths from early character-level grapho-morphological knowledge to later reading comprehension, as well as indirect paths from early radical-level grapho-morphological knowledge to later reading comprehension. Methodological and pedagogical implications for L2 Chinese reading research and practices are discussed.

Contributions of Demographics, Language Learning Experience, and Cognitive Control to Chinese Reading Comprehension

Zhilong Xie, Wei Wang, Xiaying Chu, Fangfang Yuan, Jinwen Huang and Meijing Chen, Foreign Languages College, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China

Qing Qiu, School of Intercultural Studies, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China

AbstractThe study investigates whether learners’ demographics (e.g., age, education, and intelligence-IQ), language learning experience, and cognitive control predict Chinese (L2) reading comprehension in young adults. Thirty-four international students who studied Chinese in China (10 females, 24 males) from Bangladesh, Burundi, Congo, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were tested on a series of measures including demographic questionnaires, IQ test, two cognitive control tasks [Flanker Task measuring inhibition and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) measuring mental set shifting], and a Chinese reading comprehension test (HSK level 4). The results of correlation analyses showed that education, L2 learning history, L2 proficiency, and previous category errors of the WCST were significantly correlated with Chinese reading comprehension. Further multiple regression analyses indicated that Chinese learning history, IQ, and previous category errors of the WCST significantly predicted Chinese reading comprehension. These findings reveal that aside from IQ and the time spent on L2 learning, the component mental set shifting of cognitive control also predicts reading outcomes, which suggests that cognitive control has a place in reading comprehension models over and above traditional predictors of language learning experience.

Exploring Relationships Between L2 Chinese Character Writing and Reading Acquisition From Embodied Cognitive Perspectives: Evidence From HSK Big Data

Xingsan Chai and Mingzhu Ma, Institute on Educational Policy and Evaluation of International Students, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China

Abstract Chinese characters are central to understanding how learners learn to read a logographic script. However, researchers know little about the role of character writing in reading Chinese as a second language (CSL). Unlike an alphabetic script, a Chinese character symbol transmits semantic information and is a cultural icon bridging embodied experience and text meaning. As a unique embodied practice, writing by hand contributes to cognitive processing in Chinese reading. Therefore, it is essential to clarify how Chinese character writing (bodily activity), language distance (past language usage), and cultural background (bodily coupling with the environment) influence CSL reading proficiency. Based on extant research on L2 reading acquisition and strength of key theoretical perspectives of embodied cognition theory (ECT), this study tested a regression model for CSL reading involving individual-level factors (Chinese character writing proficiency [CCWP]) and group-level predictors (language distance and cultural background). This study collected big data in a sample of 74,362 CSL learners with 67 diverse L1s. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed a significant effect of CCWP and significant language distance × CCWP interaction effect on reading proficiency; however, cultural background × CCWP interaction effect was not significant. These results conform to the ECT and indicate that bodily activity, past language usage, and cultural background aided reading. CCWP may benefit from withstanding the negative transfer from L1s. Furthermore, CCWP and cultural background are not synergistic predictors of reading. This study may open novel avenues for explorations of CSL reading development.

Neuro-Cognitive Differences in Semantic Processing Between Native Speakers and Proficient Learners of Mandarin Chinese

Chia-Ho Lai, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Shu-Kai Hsieh, Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Chia-Lin Lee, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Lily I-Wen Su, Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Te-Hsin Liu, Graduate Program of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Chia-Rung Lu, Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

I-Ni Tsai, Graduate Program of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Tai-Li Chou, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, China

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the neural mechanism underlying semantic processing in Mandarin Chinese adult learners, focusing on the learners who were Indo-European language speakers with advanced levels of proficiency in Mandarin Chinese. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging technique and a semantic judgment task to test 24 Mandarin Chinese adult learners (L2 group) and 26 Mandarin Chinese adult native speakers (L1 group) as a control group. In the task, participants were asked to indicate whether two-character pairs were related in meaning. Compared to the L1 group, the L2 group had greater activation in the bilateral occipital regions, including the fusiform gyrus and middle occipital gyrus, as well as the right superior parietal lobule. On the other hand, less activation in the bilateral temporal regions was found in the L2 group relative to the L1 group. Correlation analysis further revealed that, within the L2 group, increased activation in the left middle temporal gyrus/superior temporal gyrus (M/STG, BA 21) was correlated with higher accuracy in the semantic judgment task as well as better scores in the two vocabulary tests, the Assessment of Chinese character list for grade 3 to grade 9 (A39) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. In addition, functional connectivity analysis showed that connectivity strength between the left fusiform gyrus and left ventral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, BA 47) was modulated by the accuracy in the semantic judgment task in the L1 group. By contrast, this modulation effect was weaker in the L2 group. Taken together, our study suggests that Mandarin Chinese adult learners rely on greater recruitment of the bilateral occipital regions to process orthographic information to access the meaning of Chinese characters. Also, our correlation results provide convergent evidence that the left M/STG (BA 21) plays a crucial role in the storage of semantic knowledge for readers to access to conceptual information. Moreover, the connectivity results indicate that the left ventral pathway (left fusiform gyrus-left ventral IFG) is associated with orthographic-semantic processing in Mandarin Chinese. However, this semantic-related ventral pathway might require more time and language experience to be developed, especially for the late adult learners of Mandarin Chinese.

Investigating Heritage Language Processing: Meaning Composition in Chinese Classifier-Noun Phrasal Contexts

Fei Li, Zhaoying He, Sixuan Wu and Chenyi Zhang, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

Xiangfei Hong, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

Abstract The aim of the present study was to investigate how Chinese-Malay bilingual speakers with Chinese as heritage language process semantic congruency effects in Chinese and how their brain activities compare to those of monolingual Chinese speakers using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. To this end, semantic congruencies were manipulated in Chinese classifier-noun phrases, resulting in four conditions: (i) a strongly constraining/high-cloze, plausible (SP) condition, (ii) a weakly constraining/low-cloze, plausible (WP) condition, (iii) a strongly constraining/implausible (SI) condition, and (iv) a weakly constraining/implausible (WI) condition. The analysis of EEG data focused on two event-related potential components, i.e., the N400, which is known for its sensitivity to semantic fit of a target word to its context, and a post-N400 late positive complex (LPC), which is linked to semantic integration after prediction violations and retrospective, evaluative processes. We found similar N400/LPC effects in response to the manipulations of semantic congruency in the mono- and bilingual groups, with a gradient N400 pattern (WI/SI > WP > SP), a larger frontal LPC in response to WP compared to SP, SI, and WI, as well as larger centro-parietal LPCs in response to WP compared to SI and WI, and a larger centro-parietal LPC for SP compared to SI. These results suggest that, in terms of event-related potential (ERP) data, Chinese-Malay early bilingual speakers predict and integrate upcoming semantic information in Chinese classifier-noun phrase to the same extent as monolingual Chinese speakers. However, the global field power (GFP) data showed significant differences between SP and WP in the N400 and LPC time windows in bilinguals, whereas no such effects were observed in monolinguals. This finding was interpreted as showing that bilinguals differ from their monolingual peers in terms of global field power intensity of the brain by processing plausible classifier-noun pairs with different congruency effects.

Exploring Orthographic Representation in Chinese Handwriting: A Mega-Study Based on a Pedagogical Corpus of CFL Learners

Jean-Marc Dewaele and Mingzhu Ma,  Jun Zhang, College of Advanced Chinese Training, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China

Abstract Writing and reading are closely related and are thus likely to have a common orthographic representation. A fundamental question in the literature on the production of written Chinese characters concerns the structure of orthographic representations. We report on a Chinese character handwriting pedagogical corpus involving a class of 22 persons, 232 composite character types, 1,913 tokens, and 13,057 stroke records, together with the inter-stroke interval (ISI), which reflects the parallel processing of multilevel orthographic representation during the writing execution, and 50 orthographic variables from the whole character, logographeme, and stroke. The results of regression analyses show that orthographic representation has a hierarchy and that different representational levels are active simultaneously. In the multilevel structure of orthographic representation, the representation of the logographeme is absolutely dominant. Writing and reading have both commonalities and individual differences in their orthographic representations. The online processing of the logographeme unit probably occurs at the ISI before the initial stroke of the current logographeme, which may also cascade to the first subsequent logographeme. In addition, we propose a new effective character structure unit for describing orthographic complexity.

The Effect of Chinese Proficiency on Determining Temporal Adverb Position by Native Japanese Speakers Learning Chinese

Katsuo Tamaoka, School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha, China

Jingyi Zhang, Center for Language and Cultural Studies, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate how native Japanese speakers learning Chinese choose preferred positions for temporal adverbs depending on their level of Chinese proficiency. A naturalness judgment task conducted on native Chinese speakers showed that the most natural position for Chinese temporal adverbs was before the subject and that placement after the locative prepositional phrase was incorrect. The same task applied to native Japanese speakers found the most natural position for Japanese temporal adverbs was also before the subject. Further, when they appear at the beginning of a sentence, they provide the time for the entire sentence. Accordingly, temporal topicalization appears to influence naturalness decisions by both native Chinese and Japanese speakers. A point of difference was that in Japanese, a temporal adverb placed after a locative prepositional phrase was judged to be acceptable. When the same task was given to native Japanese speakers learning Chinese divided into three Chinese proficiency level groups, placement before the subject was the most preferred by the higher Chinese proficiency group. In addition, placement after the locative prepositional phrase was unfavored by them while the same position was frequently selected by the lower level group. As Chinese proficiency increases it appears that the preferred temporal adverb position is before the subject and the placement after the locative prepositional is judged to be unnatural. Thus, a sense of suitable temporal adverb positions in Chinese is influenced by the level of Chinese proficiency of native Japanese speakers.

Positive Valence Bias in L2 Vocabulary Acquisition: Evidence From Chinese Emotion Idioms

Mengxing Wang and Yao Chen, School of Foreign Studies, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Li Li, The Key Laboratory of Chinese Learning and International Promotion, and College of International Culture, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Jiushu Xie, School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

Yaoyao Wang, The Key Laboratory of Chinese Learning and International Promotion, and College of International Culture, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China Lijin Primary School, Shenzhen, China

Ruiming Wang, Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China

Abstract Positive valence bias refers to speakers responding faster to positive than negative information in L2 emotion words. Few researchers paid attention to the initial learning phase of L2 Chinese emotion idioms in which whether positive valence bias was acquired, based on the three-stage model of L2 vocabulary acquisition. Besides, whether the semantic information would modulate positive valence bias at the initial learning phase remained unclear. This study reports two experiments on speakers learning Chinese as a second language (CSL) to investigate positive valence bias in the initial learning phase of new Chinese emotion idioms and the modulation of semantic information on positive valence bias. Chinese as a second language speakers, who had acquired new Chinese emotion idioms and passed the test for learned Chinese idioms with a high accuracy rate before formal experiments, participated in Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiment 1, target materials were new Chinese idioms with positive and negative information. Positive valence bias at the initial learning phase of Chinese idioms was investigated with valence judgments. Experiment 2 used a semantic relatedness decision task further to explore the semantic effect on positive valence bias. The result in the first experiment showed that positive valence bias appeared in Chinese emotion idioms even at the initial learning phase of the acquisition. Meanwhile, semantic information of Chinese emotion idioms appeared to affect positive valence bias in the infant learning phase in Experiment 2. The findings revealed that semantic information would affect the performance of positive valence bias, suggesting that the semantic processing would automatically access the valence at the infant learning phase L2 Chinese emotion idioms. The research results provided evidence that positive valence bias would form in the infant learning phase of Chinese emotion idiom acquisition, based on the L2 vocabulary acquisition model.

Interference effects of radical markings and stroke order animations on Chinese character learning among L2 learners

Fengyun Hou and Xin Jiang, School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China

Abstract There is controversy around whether presenting sub-character units such as radicals and strokes are beneficial to L2 Chinese learning. The present study explored the effects of radical markings (i.e., marked radicals with different colors) and stroke order animations on learning Chinese characters. Forty Chinese L2 learners with native alphabetic languages were divided into high-and low-level groups. They were first required to learn Chinese characters under four conditions either: (a) presented radical markings with stroke animations; (b) presented no radical markings with stroke animations; (c) presented radical markings without stroke animations; or (d) presented neither radical markings nor stroke animations. After learning, the participants were given character recognition and character-meaning matching tests. Results showed that the presentation of radical markings increased the participants’ reaction times in the character recognition test and decreased their recognition accuracy. Moreover, presenting stroke order animations also decreased the participants’ accuracy in recognizing characters. Beyond that, presenting radical markings and stroke order animations had no significant influence on character-meaning matching tests. These results indicate that providing radical and stroke information might interfere with character learning instead of facilitating character learning. The results suggest that excessive visual information introduced in the learning process may increase L2 learners’ cognition load. Also, the findings contribute to theoretical arguments about the analytic and holistic processing of Chinese characters and the pedagogical implications for teaching Chinese as a second language.

The Effects of Syntactic Awareness to L2 Chinese Passage-Level Reading Comprehension

Jing Zhou, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, United States

Abstract This study investigated the association between syntactic awareness and L2 Chinese passage-level reading comprehension among 209 Chinese as a second language adult-learners. The participants were administered a character knowledge test, a vocabulary knowledge test, a morphological awareness test, a grammatical judgment and correction test, a word order test, and two reading comprehension tests (multiple-choice questions and cloze test). Partial correlation analyses showed that the participants’ performance in two syntactic awareness tasks were significantly positively correlated with their passage-level reading comprehension. Multiple regression analyses revealed that syntactic awareness made a unique contribution to L2 Chinese reading even when the effects of age, major, gender, length of learning Chinese, character knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, and morphological awareness were controlled for. In addition, the word order knowledge had a stronger predicting power to L2 Chinese reading comprehension compared to the grammatical judgment/ correction ability.

Spanish L2 Chinese Learners’ Awareness of Morpho-Syntactic Structures in the Reading Comprehension of Splittable Compounds

Abstract Reading comprehension is never considered a simple task in linguists’ views as it requires a full set of linguistic knowledge, such as word decoding, understanding syntactic and morphological structures, and deriving proper meanings from these structures in a given context. Bearing the simple view of reading, the primary goal of this study is to explore whether the split presentation of Chinese splittable compounds influences the recognition of the compounds in second language (L2) Chinese reading comprehension, and how the reading skills, i.e., word decoding and linguistic comprehension, cooperate to complete this reading comprehension task. Splittable compounds (SCs) in Chinese are typically verbs composed of two constituents with limited separability. The separable property of SCs and their vague morpho-syntactic status are supposed to cause difficulties for L2 Chinese learners in recognizing the compounds. Especially for those whose native language manifests lexical integrity, the split presentation of the compounds may invite the L2 Chinese readers to process them with a mechanism different from that for their non-split forms. To the best of our knowledge, the efforts on investigating this issue are insufficient. In this study, 27 Spanish speaking L2 Chinese learners were invited to complete tasks including reading and interpreting 6 selected SCs in the split and non-split forms, rating their familiarities with each SC and reporting the syntactic category of the SCs based on their existing linguistic knowledge. The results, showed that the split presentation of SCs did cause challenges for L2 Chinese learners in recognizing the compounds in the reading process, regardless of their Chinese proficiencies. The L2 Chinese participants performed significantly worse in recognizing split SCs in salient Verb-Object structures than recognizing those in unsalient Verb-Object structures. These findings underscore the importance of linguistic comprehension in L2 Chinese in-text word reading comprehension and suggest words as the basic processing units. 

Reading-Related Skills Associated With Acquisition of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract Previous studies have found the effect of cognitive skills (e.g., phonological awareness, morphological awareness, orthographic awareness, and rapid automatized naming) on reading ability, but the role of different reading-related skills in acquisition of Chinese as a second/foreign language (CSL/CFL) remains unexplored. Prior meta-analyses on the relationship between cognitive skills and reading have been conducted primarily in native English-speaking or Mandarin-speaking children. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to examine the relationship between Chinese reading-related skills and Chinese word reading of CSL/CFL learners. A search of English and Chinese databases yielded 42 effect sizes, comprising 1103 subjects met the criteria for meta-analysis and were included in the final meta-analysis. Results revealed a moderate relationship between phonological awareness (r = 0.41), morphological awareness (r = 0.36), orthographic awareness (r = 0.38), rapid automatized naming (r = −0.32) and Chinese word reading in CSL/CFL learners. In addition, a moderating effect of length of study on the relationship between phonological awareness and Chinese word reading (QB = 5.20, p = 0.023): phonological awareness and Chinese word reading correlated more strongly for beginning learners than for advanced learners. These results suggest importance of cognitive factors in the acquisition of Chinese word reading as a second language. Results also shed light on the impact of length of study on the influence from phonological awareness to the sensitive period of phonological learning for CSL/CFL learners. 

Measuring Orthographic Knowledge of L2 Chinese Learners in Vietnam Using a Handwriting Task – A Preliminary Report 

Dustin Kai-Yan Lau, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China

Yuan Liang, Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR, China

Hoang-Anh Nguyen, Faculty of Chinese Language and Culture, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi, Vietnam

The Extended Simple View of Reading in Adult Learners of Chinese as a Second Language

Effects of L1 Transfer Are Profound, Yet Native-Like Processing Strategy Is Attainable: Evidence From Advanced Learners’ Production of Complex L2 Chinese Structures

AbstractEnglish as a verb-medial language has a short-before-long preference, whereas Korean and Japanese as verb-final languages show a long-before-short preference. In second language (L2) research, little is known regarding how L1 processing strategies affect the ultimate attainment of target structures. Existing work has shown that native speakers of Chinese strongly prefer to utter demonstrative-classifier (DCL) phrases first in subject-extracted relatives (DCL-SR-N) and DCLs second in object-extracted relatives (OR-DCL-N). But it remains unknown whether L2 learners with typologically different language backgrounds are able to acquire native-like strategies, and how they deviate from native speakers or even among themselves. Using a phrase-assembly task, we investigated advanced L2-Chinese learners whose L1s were English, Korean, and Japanese, because English lacks individual classifiers and has postnominal relative clause (RC), whereas Korean and Japanese have individual classifiers and prenominal RCs. Results showed that the English and Korean groups deviated from the native controls’ asymmetric pattern, but the Japanese group approximated native-like performance. Furthermore, compared to the English group, the Korean and Japanese groups favored the DCL-second configuration in SRs and ORs. No differences were found between the Korean and Japanese groups. Overall, our findings suggest that L1 processing strategies play an overarching role in L2 acquisition of asymmetric positioning of DCLs in Chinese RCs. 

期刊简介

About this Research Topic

Written Chinese is unique because of its logographic orthography in nature and the correspondence between Chinese characters, morphemes, and syllables. Therefore, reading acquisition of Chinese is a major challenge for those learning Chinese as a second/foreign language (CSL/CFL). However, studies on reading acquisition in CSL/CFL learners are sparse. It remains unclear how CSL/CFL learners acquire the knowledge of Chinese characters (e.g., the structures including the intricate strokes and square configurations) and establish morphological awareness (e.g., “学” in “学校” and “才学” is the same morpheme, but “面” in “面粉” and “面孔” are two different morphemes). Furthermore, there is a lack of empirical studies on how various linguistic skills that are significantly associated with reading in native Chinese speakers (e.g., orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary) contribute to sentence/passage reading in CSL/CFL learners with various Chinese proficiency levels.
This Research Topic aims to present scientific studies on reading acquisition in CSL/CFL learners that help to reveal the developmental trajectories of reading ability and the contributions of various perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive factors to reading development in CSL/CFL learners. Welcome contributions will focus on reading acquisition in CSL/CFL learners at all levels such as character, word, sentence, and passage. Particular attention will be given to the integration of behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging techniques to reveal the mechanisms underlying Chinese character recognition and semantic integration during reading.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Development of orthographic awareness;
• Development of morphological skills;
• Sentence/passage reading and the contributing linguistic and cognitive factors;
• The relationship between listening comprehension and reading;
• Electrophysiological (e.g., the ERP components N170 and N400) and neuroimaging measures (e.g., activation of the visual word form area in the left fusiform gyrus) of various reading processes.

Keywords: Reading acquisition, Chinese as a second/foreign language learners, Chinese character, Sentence and passage reading, Electrophysiological measures, Neuroimaging measures

官网地址：https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/20927/reading-acquisition-of-chinese-as-a-secondforeign-language#articles

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