L1 Language Experience and English Phonological Awareness of Chinese College Students

Abstract

This study investigates the roles of two kinds of L1 language experience—early spoken language acquired before literacy and used as home language as well as Pinyin alphabetic knowledge—in Chinese college students’ phonological awareness (PA) in English. PA is critical to the improvement of language skills in either L1 or L2. Research on contributing factors for PA performance can provide language teachers with guidance on enhancing their students’ PA. A questionnaire was conducted to examine 408 adult participants’ home language. A Mandarin PA test, which included syllable differentiation, onset oddity, rhyme oddity and tone identification, was used to assess their Pinyin alphabetic knowledge. An English PA test was carried out to assess three levels of PA (syllable, onset-rhyme and phoneme) across four tasks (oddity, segmentation, blending and substitution). Results show that 1) these two kinds of L1 language experience exerted significant effects on adult learners’ PA in English; 2) the effects were modified by both level of PA and difficulty of task; and 3) the effects appeared weak due possibly to adult learners’ higher English proficiency. These results underscore the necessity to consider the impact of L1 language experience in both researching and training Chinese learners’ PA in English.