Chinese Acquisition Research Articles

Review of Wu, Huang & Polley (2024): Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition of Chinese: Theories and applications

Review of Wu, Huang & Polley (2024): Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition of Chinese: Theories and applications

The Role Played by Trust in Reverse Knowledge Transfer: The Case of a Chinese Acquisition in the UK

The Role Played by Trust in Reverse Knowledge Transfer: The Case of a Chinese Acquisition in the UK

Enhancing tonal‐language learning through music: A review of experimental methods and melodic intonation therapy influences

AbstractThis literature review explores the impact of music on tonal language learning, with a focus on Mandarin Chinese. Utilising searches across major databases such as ERIC (EBSCO), ProQuest Central, Google Scholar, and Web of Science from 2005 to 2024, we selected relevant peer‐reviewed English‐language articles examining music's role in aiding tone acquisition and related cognitive processes. From 30 publications, findings are categorised into theoretical relationships, cognitive effects, melodic intonation therapy (MIT) applications and digital music applications. Theoretical frameworks emphasise the correlation between musicality and language proficiency, highlighting musicians' enhanced tonal perception and production skills. Cognitive effects include music's influence on pronunciation, memory and cultural understanding. MIT's effectiveness in tonal language learning is then discussed, emphasising its potential to improve cortical representations of tone categories. Finally, digital music applications are examined, focusing on language learning apps incorporating music for personalised and engaging learning experiences. The review finds significant literature reporting that music‐based methodologies, aligned with experiential learning paradigms, hold significant potential in Mandarin Chinese acquisition. They enhance listening comprehension, spoken language production, and understanding of grammar and syntax. Similar to MIT principles, music‐assisted tonal language learning utilises exaggerated melody and rhythm to improve language production, especially with complex words. This review is motivated by the recognition of music's potential benefits in language education, especially for tonal languages. It aims to provide educators and researchers with insights into effective methods and applications, guiding instructional practices and stimulating further empirical investigations in this interdisciplinary field. Ultimately, it contributes to the ongoing discourse on optimising tonal language learning methodologies.

Language transfers in third language acquisition of Chinese by intermediate level German and English native speakers: evidence from a behavioral experiment online.

The paper investigates language transfers in third language acquisition of Chinese by native German and English speakers at intermediate level. Subjects are divided into two groups and complete a Grammaticality Judgment and Correction Task through a behavioral experiment online. The results from multiple sources show that: (1) both L1 and L2 are sources of language transfers and the perceived crosslinguistic similarity of abstract structural properties serves as the main reason; (2) language transfers can be non-facilitative on L3 learning; (3) as L3 proficiency level improves, the less likely learners are to be affected by non-facilitative language transfers in L3 learning, but it may not disappear completely; (4) the background language with higher proficiency level is more likely to impose language transfers in L3 learning. The research suggests that language transfers in TLA are simultaneously regulated by a number of factors, such as similarities of abstract structural properties between background languages and L3, as well as language proficiency levels. At the end, we discuss the application of the results to Chinese language teaching.

Uyghur–Chinese early successive bilingual children's acquisition of voluntary motion expressions

Abstract This study explores the implications of Talmy's (2000) motion event typology and its subsequent articulations in relation to Slobin's (1996, 2006) thinking-for-speaking hypothesis for the early successive bilingual acquisition of Uyghur (verb-framed) and Mandarin Chinese (equipollently-framed). Specifically, it examines how 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-year-old bilingual children acquire motion expressions in their L1 and L2 respectively, and how cross-linguistic influence shapes their L2 acquisition process. Results show that, in their L1 Uyghur, bilinguals follow general developmental trajectories observed for children acquiring verb-framed languages. While sensitive to the equipollent Chinese system from early on, due to L1 and other factors, bilinguals fully converge on the Chinese pattern only at age 10, a feat in place in monolinguals from age 3. Our findings highlight that bilingual children do eventually come to develop language-specific thinking-for-speaking patterns in their L2, but they traverse a distinct developmental path.

越南学生汉语习得中的韵母偏误分析

本文对汉语和越南语韵母系统进行了较详细的描写，同时对标准越南语与越南三大方言的韵母系统进行对比，以便找出越南学生在汉语习得过程中所存在的区域性韵母偏误。通过汉越韵母系统的对比本文指出二者在构成情况、韵母数量、拼写方式、语音等方面的异同。越南学生区域性语音偏误规律的分析结果表明不同区域的越南学生有不同的韵母偏误。本文运用理论对这些偏误进行解释，从而探讨偏误的成因,以求找出克服的方案以及提出教学建议。希望本研究结果能给从事汉语语音教学的工作者提供参考，使教学工作更加有针对性，从而能够提高教学效率，同时也希望对汉语学习者有所帮助。 This article describes the vowel of Chinese and Vietnamese, and compares the vowel of standard Vietnamese and the three major Vietnamese dialects in order to find out the regional vowel errors that Vietnamese students have in the process of Chinese acquisition. Through the comparison of Chinese and Vietnamese vowel systems, the article points out similarities and differences in phonetic aspects, writing methods, number of patterns, and composition of Vietnamese and Chinese. According to the analysis results of the regional wrong phonetic rule of Vietnamese students, Vietnamese students in different regions will have different vowel errors. The article has applied theory to explain these errors, thereby finding the causes of errors, finding solutions to overcome and making recommendations on teaching. It is hoped that the results of this research can be a reference for those who do the teaching of Chinese phonetics, making the teaching on target, thereby improving the teaching efficiency, improving the teaching efficiency, and at the same time also hope it helps the learners.

The Influence of Cultural Background on the Acquisition of Chinese as a Second Language

In the process of acquiring Chinese as a second language, cultural background is very important. The cultural background factors that affect the acquisition of Chinese as a second language include value orientation, national psychology and cultural distance. Under different cultural backgrounds, there is a big gap between Chinese students and China people in value orientation and national psychology, which hinders them from learning Chinese. However, students in Chinese cultural circle who are close to China culture have obvious advantages in Chinese acquisition compared with students in non-Chinese cultural circle, which is more conducive to second language acquisition. On the basis of previous studies, this paper analyzes the cultural background factors that affect the acquisition of Chinese as a second language, and on this basis, puts forward some suggestions for Chinese teaching, such as finding the commonalities of different cultures, strengthening the understanding of students' background and paying attention to the communicative function of Chinese teaching.

Study on the Influence of Chinese Learners' Learning Motivation on Chinese Acquisition and its Strategies

Learning motivation is an extremely important factor in the process of second language acquisition. At the same time, the learning motivation of Chinese learners is influenced by many factors such as learners' learning environment, their own growth background, cognitive structure and Chinese teaching methods. The learning motivation of Chinese as a second language learners will also have a certain impact on their Chinese acquisition ability. By analyzing the learning motivation of Chinese learners and its influence on Chinese acquisition, this paper discusses the teaching strategies that can effectively stimulate Chinese learners' learning motivation in Chinese teaching. Based on the understanding of Chinese learners' learning motivation, effective teaching methods are adopted to better stimulate their interest in learning, improve their Chinese level and achieve good teaching results.

The Influence of Cross-cultural Adaptation on Two Language Acquisition Strategy

Language is the carrier of culture, and the process of learning a second language is also the process of adapting to the second culture, foreign students' cognition and adaptation to Chinese society and culture will also affect their Chinese acquisition ability. This paper is based on the "cultural adaptation model" proposed by American scholar Schumann, and make a concrete analysis of "social distance" and "psychological distance". In addition, this paper discusses the factors affecting the effect and level of second language acquisition, and then puts forward some targeted strategies and methods of second language acquisition, so as to help Chinese learners reduce cross-cultural communication barriers and improve their cultural adaptability and language learning level.

Dependency resolutions of null and overt subjects in English speakers’ L2 Chinese: Evidence for the cue-based model

This study investigates whether there are different first-language–second-language (L1–L2) dependency resolutions by focusing on less-studied crosslinguistic variances in L2 acquisition of Chinese, a null-subject language, by speakers of English, a non-null-subject language. The overt subject pronoun of a Chinese main clause has free orientation and its antecedent can be the subject or object of the preceding causal subordinate clause, depending on pragmatic biases. The null subject of a Chinese main clause, however, is subject-oriented, and this subject orientation is not affected by any pragmatic bias. English does not allow null subjects and, like Chinese, overt subject pronouns in English have free orientation. An acceptability judgement task and an interpretation task were adopted, and the results suggest that only the free orientation of overt subjects, but not the subject orientation of null subjects, is acquirable for English-speaking learners; they are found to be influenced by the pragmatic bias. This provides evidence for the cue-based model (Cunnings, 2017), which states that L1–L2 differences in dependency resolution can be explained in terms of L1–L2 differences in susceptibility to interference and L2ers’ over-reliance on discourse-based/pragmatic cues. It is also observed that in L1 Chinese, competition between the target antecedent and distractors occurs during the reading of the sentence, while in L2 Chinese, this occurs after the reading of the sentence. These findings add to our growing understanding of different mechanisms in L1 vs. L2 dependency resolutions.

“Writing-to-learn”: the influence of task repetition on CSL writers’ attention to form

Abstract The “writing-to-learn” dimension of the second language (L2) writing has generated theoretical and empirical intrigue in the past decade. Task repetition is one variable of interest; however, little attention has been given to its role in individuals’ writing processes. This study explores the influence of task repetition on L2 Chinese learners’ attention to form by analyzing their writing processes. Four advanced learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL) were asked to complete one writing task twice in 10 days under think-aloud conditions. Language-related episodes (LREs), the representation of writers’ attention to form, in participant-produced think-aloud protocols were analyzed along three dimensions: language-related problems, problem-solving strategies, and depth of processing. Results indicated that task repetition in individual writing contributed to learners’ Chinese acquisition, as learners 1) attended closely to the typological characteristics and new/complex forms of Chinese; 2) strove for precise language expression; and 3) were granted time to access external resources and expand their linguistic repertoire. Implications related to task repetition in L2 writing, L2 Chinese instruction, and associated research are discussed.

Learner Corpus Research Meets Chinese as a Second Language Acquisition: Achievements and Challenges

The article sheds light on Chinese as a Second Language Learner Corpus Research, emphasising advances and lacks in this field. First, the paper describes the potential of learner corpora in the investigation of learner language. Second, it provides an overview of Chinese learner corpus-based research and reviews existing L2 Chinese learner corpora. The paper highlights the lack of L2 Chinese learner corpora collecting data from Italian learners. Therefore, it emphasises the importance of compiling corpora to conduct studies on the acquisition of L2 Chinese by learners whose L1s are other than English or Asian languages.

Avoiding Negative Transfer from Grammar and Culture When Teaching Chinese to Japanese Students

The purpose of this article is to explain the negative language transfer from Japanese grammar and culture. It can help teachers who are Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (TCSL teachers) to give more targeted coping strategies in teaching. In the process of learning a second language, learners usually tend to rely on their mother tongue to understand the second language, which is recognized to create a certain negative transfer of the mother tongue. In the process of teaching Chinese to the Japanese students, the Japanese students often cannot overcome broke the rule of the original mother tongue. It affects the processes of Chinese language acquisition and the way of expression. China and Japan are the only two countries in the world that use characters. There are many common Chinese words in Chinese and Japanese, so it is relatively easy for Japanese to learn Chinese, but there are also some bottlenecks. The research object of this paper is Japanese adults who are learning Chinese, from basic to intermediate and advanced levels. By comparing Chinese and Japanese grammatical structures, expressions, and cultural factors to find out the difficulties of the Japanese students to learn Chinese, then, analyze the reasons and make suggestions. This paper systematically summarizes the problems that Japanese students encounter in terms of grammar, expression habits, and culture when they are learning Chinese, but does not conduct an in-depth analysis of each point, which is hoped to pave the way for future research. Of course, the factors that affect Japanese learning Chinese are pronunciation problems and other problems, which are not covered in this article.

Research on the Role of Corrective Feedback in Teaching of Chinese as a Second Language: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The study adopts a systematic review and metaanalysis approach to summarize the qualitative research on corrective feedback and to discuss the application and effect of corrective feedback under different conditions in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in the classroom setting. Data mining was conducted from 2006 to 2020 based on the database of CNKI and Google Scholar and analyzed by a systematic review and meta-analysis. There are a total of 20 articles, 18 master's degree thesis and 2 journal papers were involved based on the selection criteria. The use distribution and correction effect of different feedback methods are integrated. The correlation of another five factors (error type, teaching link, language proficiency, research setting, individual factors of teachers and students) was established. Several conclusions were drawn: (a)Error types, teaching links, language proficiency and research setting will all affect the utilization rate and repair rate of corrective feedback, and their influence decreases successively. (b)The response rate and self-repair rate of implicit feedback are higher than that of explicit feedback. (c)Prompts (especially metalinguistic clues and elicitation) is most conducive to learners’ self-correction, so as to promote their Chinese acquisition. (d)The utilization rate of recast is the highest, but its repair rate is much lower. (e)The utilization rate of repetition is the lowest, but response and repair rate is high. (f)The feedback rate to clarification is high but the rate of correction is low. (g) Metalinguistic clues are most likely to trigger learners’ anxiety, while recast can effectively reduce anxiety.

Cross-linguistic issues in the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese negation by Shona–English bilinguals at the University of Zimbabwe: implications for second language teaching

This article provides insights into the nature of the transitional language during the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese as an additional foreign language by students at the University of Zimbabwe. The students concerned are first language speakers of Shona and English as their second language. The article examines linguistic features apparent in the intermediate stages of the acquisition of Mandarin negation systems in a formal learning environment. In establishing this, the researchers employed discourse completion tasks, semi-structured interviews with learners and language instructors, and personal reports as methods of gathering data. Secondary sources, including Mandarin textbooks and Mandarin language instructors, were also consulted to assist in error identification, description and explanation. From the findings, it is apparent that, during the acquisition of Mandarin negation, the intermediate stages can be characterised by a complex system of rules and syntactic-semantic permutations which are independent of both the target language and of previously-acquired languages. The research contributes to an understanding of the development of learner’s language during the acquisition of a typologically-dissimilar foreign additional language, and has further implications for solving problems in foreign language teaching and learning.

Increased Gray Matter Volume Induced by Chinese Language Acquisition in Adult Alphabetic Language Speakers.

It is interesting to explore the effects of second language (L2) acquisition on anatomical change in brain at different stages for the neural structural adaptations are dynamic. Short-term Chinese training effects on brain anatomical structures in alphabetic language speakers have been already studied. However, little is known about the adaptations of the gray matter induced by acquiring Chinese language for a relatively long learning period in adult alphabetic language speakers. To explore this issue, we recruited 38 Indian overseas students in China as our subjects. The learned group included 17 participants who had learned Mandarin Chinese for an average of 3.24 years and achieved intermediate Chinese language proficiency. The control group included 21 subjects who had no knowledge about Chinese. None of the participants had any experience in learning logographic and tonal language before Chinese learning. We found that (1) the learned group had significantly greater gray matter volume (GMV) in the left lingual gyrus (LG) compared with the control group; (2) the Chinese characters’ reading accuracy was significantly and positively correlated to the GMV in the left LG and fusiform gyrus (FG) across the two groups; and (3) in the learned group, the duration of Chinese learning was significantly and positively correlated with the GMV in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) after correction for multiple comparisons with small volume corrections. Our structural imaging findings are in line with the functional imaging studies reporting increased brain activation induced by Chinese acquisition in alphabetic language speakers. The regional gray matter changes reflected the additional requirements imposed by the more difficult processing of Chinese characters and tones. The present study also show that the biological bases of the adaptations induced by a relatively long period of Chinese learning were limited in the common areas for first and foreign language processing.

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

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.

Concurrent and longitudinal contributions of phonological awareness to early adolescent Chinese reading acquisition

This study investigated universal and language-specific phonological awareness in reading development among Chinese early adolescent students. Seventy-six children participated in this study and completed a series of reading tasks at two data collection points across Grades 5 and 6. In Grade 5, universal phonological awareness (syllable, onset, rhyme, and phoneme awareness), language-specific phonological awareness (tone awareness) as well as character recognition and production measurements were administered to the participants. Lexical inferencing ability was measured in Grade 6. Character recognition and lexical inference were coded as the outcome variables. Subsequent multiple regression analyses showed that Time 1 (Grade 5) language-universal onset and phoneme awareness predicted character recognition and production at Time 1. More strikingly, the study demonstrated that language-specific tone awareness exerted a longitudinal effect on later lexical inferencing ability after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence. Results underscored both the universality and language specificity of phonological awareness and provided empirical evidence to substantiate the facilitative role of early language-specific psycholinguistic grain size in later reading performance.

Language Interfaces in Adult Heritage Language Acquisition: A Study on Encoding of Nominal Reference in Mandarin Chinese as a Heritage Language

According to the Interface Hypothesis in the field of bilingualism, the interface connecting a linguistic module with a language-external domain (e.g., syntax-discourse) will present prolonged difficulties for adult bilingual learners, as compared with the interface connecting language-internal modules (e.g., syntax-semantics). This study tested whether the Interface Hypothesis is applicable to the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese as a heritage language. An internet-based acceptability judgment task (AJT) was administered to 58 advanced and intermediate adult Chinese heritage speakers to collect data in accuracy and reaction time to investigate the adult heritage speakers’ mastery of referential nominal expressions regulated at the syntax-semantics and syntax-discourse interfaces, respectively, in Mandarin Chinese. The target linguistic phenomena involved three nominal expressions (i.e., the bare N(oun), the [Cl(assifier)-N], and the [Num(eral)-Cl-N]) under four interface-regulated referential readings (i.e., type-denoting, quantity-denoting, indefinite individual-denoting, and definite individual-denoting). In terms of accuracy, the results showed that (i) for the N and the [Num-Cl-N], regardless of the interface type, the advanced group acquired the target phenomena to a nativelike level, who significantly outperformed the intermediate group; (ii) for the [Cl-N], the advanced group exhibited nativelike attainment at the syntax-discourse interface but not at the syntax-semantics interface, and performed significantly better than the intermediate group at both interfaces. Regarding reaction time, no significant differences were reported between the advanced group and the native group for the target structures at either the syntax-semantics or the syntax-discourse interface, while the advanced group performed significantly better than the intermediate group, regardless of the interface type and the structure type. The findings suggest that the nature of the language interface, i.e., whether it pertains to language-external domains (i.e., the external interface) or not (i.e., the internal interface), should not be a reliable factor for predicting the (im)possibility of nativelike attainment of bilingual grammar knowledge, contra the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis. The present study provides new empirical evidence to show that language-external interface properties are not necessarily destined for prolonged difficulties in heritage language acquisition, and that it is possible for adult heritage speakers to make developmental progress in both accuracy and processing efficiency at different types of interfaces.

What Limits the Benefits of Land-Lost Farmers in Chinese Courts? An Investigation of Chinese Land Acquisition and Resettlement Cases in the Yangtze River Delta

Due to China’s rapid urbanization, the growing presence of land-lost farmers in land acquisition and resettlement (LAR) cases has led to major practical and academic concerns. However, few studies have focused on administration policy restrictions and how they affect land-lost farmers in Chinese courts for land resources. Based on the quantitative analysis and case studies involving 2,242 administrative LAR cases, this interdisciplinary work examines how administrative bureaucracy affects public departments’ ability to win in court. The findings of this study are twofold. First, in the relationship of Tiao, public departments at the top of the hierarchy can use administration policies to screen conflicts, which can increase the win rate of LAR cases. Second, in the relationship of Kuai, authorities’ relationships limit the investment in administration policies, which in turn decide the utility of administration policies in LAR cases. The findings can facilitate the implementation of appropriate administrative and judicial measures in different departments to promote land-lost farmers.