Chinese L2 Research Articles

Acquisition of English liaison among Chinese EFL learners from the perspective of language transfer

This study aimed to investigate the acquisition of liaison in English by Chinese-speaking learners. Ten second-year postgraduate students of non-English majors in Tongji University, China, were invited to take part in an experiment. They were asked to prepare recordings of a set of English materials, including phrases, dialogues, and a talking topic, before and after a self-study training on liaison. To examine every type of liaison in their speech, the study analysed the recordings using the speech analysis software Praat. The results showed that before the training, the students negatively transferred the native language (L1) pattern to the target second language (L2). This kind of negative transfer of L1 Chinese to the acquisition of liaison in L2 English could be explained by the differences between English and Chinese syllables. After the training, the students showed substantial improvement in phrase and dialogue reading. The findings are expected to help both teachers and students gain a better understanding of liaison and the differences between English and Chinese syllables, thus contributing to English teaching and learning.

Spatial repertoire, translingual creativity, and identity in Chinese speakers’ online intercultural experience

ABSTRACT This paper uncovers L1 Chinese speakers' online intercultural communication where they deploy English as a lingua franca and other spatial repertoires to co-construct translanguaging practices with their interlocutors and present three-fold identities - translingual, L1 Chinese, and legitimate users of English, leading to the argument that non-native English speakers and spatial repertoires play agentive roles in shaping English in the trends of globalisation and digitalisation.

Growth mindset and emotions in tandem: Their effects on L2 writing performance based on writers’ proficiency levels

A growth mindset (GM), defined as an individual’s perception that their intellectual ability is malleable, has been the subject of extensive research attention, as it can facilitate learning in many contexts. GM has been found to have more pronounced positive effects on students with lower-level writing proficiency. Emotions have also been found to play a significant role in second language (L2) writing. We conducted an innovative investigation of the relationships between GM, emotions related to writing (enjoyment and anxiety), and writing performance. The results of our study involving 589 Chinese 12th-graders and L2 writing tasks showed that GM was positively associated with enjoyment and negatively associated with anxiety. When assessing students grouped according to their writing performance (high, middle, and low), we found an indirect positive path from GM to writing performance via anxiety in the middle-level group and via enjoyment in the low-level group. The findings suggest that GM can promote enjoyment and mitigate anxiety, therefore facilitating L2 writing performance. The pedagogical implications are that teachers should encourage students to develop a GM and foster their social–emotional learning.

Anxiety in L2 Chinese from different angles

Abstract The current study examines the influence of experience, reading and writing anxieties, and self-assessed proficiency on foreign language anxiety in the context of learning Chinese as a foreign language. Data were collected using questionnaires from 93 learners of Chinese and analyzed using correlational and multiple regression methods. Results indicated that learners at level 200 (i.e., intermediate low/mid) were more anxious compared to those at level 400 (i.e., advanced low/mid). Foreign language anxiety, foreign language reading anxiety, and foreign language writing anxiety were significantly correlated with each other. Foreign language reading anxiety, foreign language writing anxiety, and self-assessed proficiency (listening and reading) were shown to significantly predict foreign language anxiety in the context of L2 Chinese.

Learner Perezhivanie and Mutual Advisor-Advisee Development Through Advising: A Longitudinal Case Study of JSL Learner

This study analyzes the perezhivanie of one second-language learner (Chinese L1) who studied Japanese as a second language and engaged in her learning experience in a Japanese cultural setting through yearlong language advisory sessions. Perezhivanie, a Russian term, and a Vygotskian concept, is employed in the study to observe L2 learner development and to capture the bidirectional influences of the characteristics of agency and the environment. The data analyzed come from two sources: (a) our written correspondence, including email exchanges, from before the study was conducted and (b) audio-recorded data of six face-to-face/ online advisory sessions on a bimonthly basis with a particular focus on her perezhivanie. By applying perezhivanie as a unit of analysis that avoids the cognition-or-emotion and person-or-context dichotomies, the findings revealed the developmental processes of one L2 learner and focused on how both advisor and advisee mutually transform the specific social situation into a social situation of collectividual development through yearlong advisory sessions. Notably, the participant evaluated her original experience negatively at first, but eventually, she learned to value the failure and reinterpreted the initial experience. The significance of the study is to contribute to describing the detailed case of learner perezhivanie with a particular focus on entrance exams in East Asian sociocultural settings.

Assessing the dimensionality of Chinese as a second language reading: a confirmatory factor analysis approach

Abstract Second language (L2) reading is a complex construct, and there is no consensus about its dimensionality. The investigation of the dimensionality of L2 reading ability is of great significance since it can provide important implications for teaching and testing. Understanding of the factor structure, subskills, and sub-knowledge of L2 reading is the starting point for language teachers and test developers to plan a syllabus, describe students’ reading proficiency, and develop reading assessments. This study investigated the factor structure of Chinese L2 reading, which has been less commonly studied compared to alphabetic languages. Three hypotheses derived from the literature review have been tested: 1) L2 reading is a unitary skill; 2) L2 reading is bi-divisible; 3) L2 reading is tri-divisible. A series of confirmatory factor analyses shows that the correlated three-factor model is the most appropriate for explaining the factor structure. L2 Chinese reading comprehension can be conceptualized as consisting of three inter-correlated components: lower-level decoding, interim-level textbase construction, and higher-level situation-model building. This study also explores subcomponents of each factor, highlighting Chinese-specific linguistic features and corresponding cognitive processes. Implications for future research, teaching, and testing are provided.

What looks native-like may not necessarily be native-like

Abstract A substantial body of research has investigated null arguments in L2 Chinese, showing that they can be native-like. However, recent linguistic research has demonstrated convincingly that some ‘missing’ arguments in Chinese should be viewed not as ‘null’ arguments but as a result of movement and ellipsis. These advances necessitate a revaluation of the issue of ‘null’ arguments in previous L2 studies which largely overlooked the role of ellipsis in accounting for missing arguments in L2 Chinese. To fill the lacuna, this study recognises the above recent advances and examines whether missing objects in English speakers’ L2 Chinese parallel sentences are a result of verb raising and VP ellipsis and are genuinely native-like. Results of a picture-description task and an acceptability judgement task suggest that although L2ers, like native Chinese speakers, can accept and produce missing objects in Chinese, their native-like performance is driven by mechanisms different from those of native Chinese speakers (i.e., the missing objects are erroneously used as null objects in L2 Chinese). The findings advance our understanding of L1 vs. L2 different mechanisms for phonetically unrealised objects in Chinese, suggesting that what looks native-like in L2 may not necessarily be native-like.

Shared and distinct neural correlates of first and second language morphological processing in bilingual brain

While morphology constitutes a crucial component of the human language system, the neural bases of morphological processing in the human brain remains to be elucidated. The current study aims at exploring the extent to which the second language (L2) morphological processing would resemble or differ from that of their first language (L1) in adult Chinese-English bilinguals. Bilingual participants were asked to complete a morphological priming lexical decision task drawing on derivational morphology, which is present for both Chinese and English, when their electrophysiological and optical responses were recorded concurrently. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) revealed a neural dissociation between morphological and semantic priming effects in the left fronto-temporal network, while L1 Chinese engaged enhanced activation in the left prefrontal cortex for morphological parsing relative to L2 English. In the early stage of lexical processing, cross-language morphological processing manifested a difference in degree, not in kind, as revealed by the early left anterior negativity (ELAN) effect. In addition, L1 and L2 shared both early and late structural parsing processes (P250 and 300 ~ 500 ms negativity, respectively). Therefore, the current results support a unified competition model for bilingual development, where bilinguals would primarily employ L1 neural resources for L2 morphological representation and processing.

Acquisition of kind-reference by Arabic, Chinese, and Turkish L2 learners of English

AbstractThis study examines the acquisition of kind-referring expressions such as The dodo is extinct. The objective is to investigate whether second language (L2) learners’ acquisition of nominal number marking and articles expressing kind-reference in English is affected by their first language (L1), their L2 proficiency in English, or the syntactic position of the kind-referring noun phrase (NP). L2 learners of English with Arabic, Chinese, and Turkish L1 backgrounds and a control group of native English speakers (NSs) participated in the study. The results from a Fill in the Gaps Task (FGT) and an Acceptability Judgment Task (AJT) demonstrated that L2 learners were more successful in their production and acceptability judgments when the expression of kind-reference in the target language was similar to that in their L1. The results also showed non-facilitative L1 transfer in the domain of bare singulars, as well as a positive effect of higher L2 proficiency on kind-referring NPs. Finally, the study revealed a subject/object asymmetry in the acquisition of kind-referring NPs in L2 English.

Cross-Linguistic Influence in Hong Kong ESL Learners’ Acquisition of Conjunctions

AbstractLanguage transfer is one of the most significant aspects of cross-linguistic influence. It can be divided into two types: positive and negative, the beneficial and detrimental use of one language’s acquired characteristics in another. This study aims to investigate the L1 (Chinese) influence on Hong Kong ESL learners’ acquisition of conjunctions and whether the use of L1 has an impact on this influence. An online questionnaire combining questions about students’ English learning experience and a grammatical judgement task was sent to a government-funded secondary school in Hong Kong and completed by 79 students. Evidence of both positive and negative transfer from Chinese to English was found by testing six conjunctions or conjunction pairs: although…but, because…so, not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, and despite. The results suggest that Chinese is likely to have an impact on students’ acquisition of conjunctions, and the use of Chinese in English classes can worsen negative transfer and boost positive transfer. The degree of transfer might increase when more Chinese is used in class. To alleviate the impact of Chinese transfer and to provide more effective L2 teaching, monitoring the use of L1 and regular evaluation might be useful. Teachers can also adjust the amount of Chinese used according to the students’ English proficiency level.

Effects of cognitive task complexity and online planning on second language learners' argumentative writing.

Based on Kellogg's writing model, Skehan's Limited Attentional Capacity Model (LACM), and Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis, our study investigated the effects of cognitive task complexity on syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, accuracy, fluency, and functional adequacy in Chinese L2 students' argumentative writing, when students were under an online planning condition. Sixty-eight participants from a Chinese university were recruited to complete two writing tasks with task complexity varied in terms of [+ argument elements]. The findings showed that increasing task complexity led to decreased subordination in terms of clauses per T-unit and dependent clauses per clause, increased phrasal elaboration in terms of coordinate phrases per clause, and no changes in mean length of T-unit, T-units per sentence, mean length of clause, and complex nominals per clause. Neither significant differences in accuracy nor fluency were found as a function of increasing task complexity. Detrimental effects on functional adequacy in content, organization, and overall scores were identified with the increases in task complexity. The trade-offs between syntactic and lexical complexity and between syntactic complexity and functional adequacy support the basic principle of Skehan's LACM that human's information processing capacity is limited and Kellogg's claim that learners have a limited central executive capacity in writing. Implications of the results of this research are discussed.

L2 learners’ pronunciation of English phonetic sounds

Pronouncing English sounds correctly is not an easy task for second language (L2) learners because of the influence of their mother tongue. Empirical studies, based on first language (L1) interference, have investigated L2 learners’ pronunciation problems. However, these studies rarely focused on students’ development in pronunciation, and their results lack validity and reliability because of their mere employment of L2 English teachers as pronunciation assessors. The present study, using the acoustic software Praat as the instrument and taking a native speaker as the comparison, investigated Chinese L2 English learners’ problems and improvement in pronouncing the English sounds that do not have exact counterparts in Chinese. Data analysis revealed that the participants manifested different degrees of pronunciation accuracy with the target English sounds; their mispronunciations of consonants were mainly due to lacking voicing, wrong manners, and wrong places of articulation, while their mispronunciations of vowels were attributed to their improper tongue position, mouth opening, and diphthongization; and that higher-proficiency students tended to have greater pronunciation accuracy. The findings were discussed with reference to the literature, and pedagogical implications were provided at the end.

Korean-speaking Learners’ Production of Mandarin Non-low Back Vowels

Vowels are the main components of Chinese syllables, and in order to produce standard Chinese pronunciation, it is essential to accurately distinguish the pronunciation of vowel variants under different conditions. Korean-speaking learners often struggle with differentiating Chinese non-low back vowels, leading to pronunciation errors. Through Praat speech analysis of formant values for the pronunciation of Chinese non-low back vowels by six participants, Korean L2 Chinese speakers and L1 Chinese speakers’ vowel spaces were compared. It was found that the distinction between /ʅ / and /ɿ / was not very clear, with both vowels overall shifting closer to /i /. In terms of /u / and /o / pronunciation, Korean L2 Chinese speakers differentiated these two vowels mainly based on the value of F2, whereas L1 Chinese speakers primarily distinguished them by the difference in F1 values, indicating variations in tongue height. Furthermore, the F1 and F3 values for /ɣ / were higher for Korean L2 Chinese speakers, suggesting an incorrect interpretation of /ɣ / as a front vowel with slightly higher tongue position, whereas it should align closely with /o / in terms of height.

Teaching Both Simplified and Traditional Characters to Learners of Chinese as L2

In the acquisition of Chinese as a second language, learning Chinese characters is an essential part of the learning process. There are various approaches to how and when Chinese characters should be introduced. Some scholars claim simplified characters should be given priority, while others promote teaching traditional characters first. Yet to some, teaching traditional and simplified characters simultaneously is preferable, while others believe that learning Hanyu Pinyin alone reduces the learning load and advocate the idea that learning characters be postponed to the later stages. This study discusses reading priorities for students of L2 Chinese in an environment that promotes balanced teaching of traditional and simplified characters from scratch. Results show that most learners prefer simplified characters though the number of students who equally acquired both characters in a set is also high. Fewer students prefer traditional characters, whereas texts in Hanyu Pinyin were not students’ preferred choice. Moreover, learners’ text comprehensions were better and more accurate when texts were written in characters.

Exploring the relationship of working memory to the temporal distribution of pausing and revision behaviors during L2 writing

AbstractThis study examined the extent to which L2 writers with varied working memory display differential pausing and revision behaviors at different periods during writing. The participants were 30 advanced Chinese L2 users of English, who wrote an argumentative essay. While composing, participants’ keystrokes and eye-gaze movements were recorded to capture their pausing, revision, and eye-gaze behaviors. The working memory battery included tests of phonological and visual short-term memory and executive functions. We divided the writing process into five equal periods. The results revealed that participants’ pausing and revision patterns were consistent with previous findings that planning, linguistic encoding, and monitoring processes dominate the initial, middle, and later composing periods, respectively. Various working memory components had differential effects on pausing depending on period, largely reflecting the predictions of Kellogg’s (1996, 2001) model. However, we identified no differences in the temporal distribution of revision behaviors contingent on working memory.

A move analysis of Chinese L2 student essays from the sociocognitive perspective: Genres, languages, and writing quality

A move analysis of Chinese L2 student essays from the sociocognitive perspective: Genres, languages, and writing quality

Exploring the learning benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese: a product-oriented perspective

Abstract This study explored the benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese by (a) comparing the texts written collaboratively versus individually and (b) investigating the effects of collaborative writing on subsequent individual writing. Forty-four English-speaking students enrolled in an intermediate Chinese course were assigned to a collaborative writing group and an individual writing group. All participants completed a timed in-class writing task at the beginning and end of the semester, working as pre-and post-tests. The participants in the collaborative writing group completed two out-of-class writing assignments in pairs through online written chats, while those in the individual writing group completed the same tasks individually. The texts were analyzed for content, organization, character and lexical accuracy, and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U tests and Wilcoxon signed ranks tests) were performed on the data for statistical analyses. The online chats were segmented into different episodes (e.g., language- and content-related episodes) to provide in-depth explanation for the findings. The effect of collaboration was examined from two aspects. The comparison between the texts written collaboratively versus individually showed that the collaborative texts were significantly better than those composed individually in organization and lexical accuracy. The pre-post comparison between collaborative and individual writing groups observed that collaboration contributed positively to subsequent individual writing quality by significantly impacting its content and lexical accuracy.

Cross-Linguistic Comparison of the Pitch and Temporal Profiles between L1 and Chinese L2 Speakers of Spanish

Cross-linguistic studies between intonational languages suggest that there is a universal trend during the L2 learning process regarding pitch and temporal characteristics. We extend these hypotheses to Chinese learners of Peninsular Spanish-a new pairing of tone and non-tone languages. Using six pitch and temporal metrics, we examine how Chinese learners’ pitch and temporal profiles deviated from those of L1 native speakers and explore the factors that may contribute to L2 speech deviations. The Discourse Completion Task was conducted to elicit five question types produced by 37 participants, who were divided into three language groups. Consistent with previous literature, our study shows that Chinese L2 learners had a compression of pitch span (at both the utterance and syllable levels) and pitch variability, as well as a strong reduction of pitch change rate, speech rate, and articulation rate compared to L1 Spanish speakers. Most pitch and temporal deviations in L2 Spanish intonation are closely linked to psychological and cognitive attributes rather than being determined by physiological factors or L1 tonal transfer. Moreover, the lack of prosodic knowledge of the target intonation patterns concerning the different question types may also hinder L2 learners from approaching a native-like pitch and temporal profile.

The processing of multiword expressions in L1 and L2 Chinese: Evidence from reaction times and eye movements

AbstractFrequency and proficiency have been found to play an important role in second language (L2) phrasal processing. However, existing research has largely focused on English and other European languages, with other commonly used languages, such as Chinese, being largely disregarded. To fill this gap, we carried out two experiments to investigate how frequency—operationalized as a dichotomy (collocation vs. control) and a continuum (log‐transformed corpus frequency)—and language proficiency affect phrasal processing in first language (L1) and L2 speakers of Chinese. The results of a grammaticality judgment task (Experiment 1) and an eye‐tracking experiment (Experiment 2) largely converged to show that not only L1 speakers but also L2 learners are sensitive to phrase frequency manipulations, with collocations and higher frequency phrases being processed faster than controls and lower frequency phrases, respectively. Additionally, the analysis of eye movements—but not reaction times—showed a relationship between proficiency and phrase frequency. Finally, the use of the eye‐tracking methodology allowed us to tap into the mechanisms associated with earlier and later stages of phrasal processing, and to analyze multiple interest areas.

The pitch contour of the French discourse marker donc: A corpus-based study using generalized additive mixed modeling

AbstractIn this article, we explored the pitch contour patterns of the French discourse marker donc in realizing different pragmatic functions from native and non-native oral corpora in French. Statistical analyses using generalized additive mixed modeling revealed that even though Mandarin Chinese L1 speakers learning French also used the pitch cue to realize pragmatic functions, their prosodic pattern is different from the native pattern. Their L1 Chinese seemed to influence their usage of the pitch cue significantly. In addition, women were shown to be better than men in using the pitch cue in conveying pragmatic functions with a closer pattern to the native pattern. Overall, our study sheds new light on the relationship between speakers’ L1 and L2 regarding the interaction between pragmatic and prosodic features. It also provides new reflections on the acquisition of socio-pragmatic competence.