Chinese Reading Research Articles

Exploring the flexibility of word position encoding in Chinese reading: the role of transposition effects

ABSTRACT Previous research in the alphabetic writing system has demonstrated that transposition distance (adjacent vs. non-adjacent) modulates word position encoding during sentence reading. To examine the generality of this pattern within a more holistic model of sentence processing, we investigated this effect in the logographic Chinese writing system. We manipulated the number of words intervening between the transposed words, creating four conditions: none, one, two, and three intervening words. Participants performed a rapid grammaticality judgment task. Results showed longer response latencies and higher error rates when words were transposed adjacent to each other compared to non-adjacent transpositions. Furthermore, more errors and longer response times were observed when one word intervened between the transposed words compared to two or three intervening words. However, no significant differences emerged between the two- and three-word interval conditions. These findings suggest that word position encoding exhibits graded, flexible tolerance to transposition distance, constrained by proximity.

Individual refresh ability modulates irrelevant speech effect in reading: Evidence from eye movements

This study randomly recruited 245 college students aged between 18 and 21 years old who had never studied Spanish and selected 60 subjects (30 with high refresh ability and 30 with low refresh ability) based on their scores on a refresh ability test. The mixed experimental design of 2 (refresh ability: high, low) ×3 (background sound: meaningful, meaningless, silent) was adopted. The Eyelink1000 eye tracker was used to record the eye movement data of the subjects when reading the sentences of scientific papers. At the same time, meaningful (news broadcasting) or meaningless (Spanish) background sounds are played. Based on this, the moderating effect of individual refresh ability with the impact of irrelevant speech was investigated. According to the results, the interaction between refresh ability and the meaningful background sound condition was significant, and it had an impact on the totalreading time, gaze count, regression count, total fixation time, and regression-path duration. However, the interaction with the meaningless background sound condition was not significant. The results showed that: (1) refresh ability significantly regulates the irrelevant speech effect in reading, compared with individuals with high refresh ability. The meaningful background sounds have a greater negative impact on the reading of individuals with low refresh ability; (2) the regulating effect of refresh ability occurs in the late stage of vocabulary processing and semantic integration. The results supported the attentional capture theory and found that the irrelevant speech effect in Chinese reading is modulated by individual refresh ability, which mainly acts on semantic components in late reading processing.

Contrasting Deficits in the Function of the Phonological Loop Between Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Reading Disability.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and reading disability (RD) often co-occur. Impairments in the phonological loop of working memory are central to RD, but it is unclear whether this is linked to ADHD, especially in Chinese reading. Two experiments were conducted with Chinese children aged 7 to 12 (Experiment 1, n = 65; Experiment 2, n = 60). Immediate and delayed recognition paradigms were used to assess phonological encoding and rehearsal. Both the RD-only and comorbid (ADHD + RD) groups performed worse than the control and ADHD-only groups in response time and accuracy. Notably, the comorbid group performed similarly to the RD-only group, indicating that phonological loop deficits in comorbid children are likely due to RD, not ADHD. This highlights phonological loop function as the key to distinguishing between ADHD and RD.

Word length and frequency effects in natural Chinese reading: Evidence for character representations in lexical identification.

Word length and frequency are two of the "big three" factors that affect eye movements in natural reading. Although these factors have been extensively investigated, all previous studies manipulating word length have been confounded with changes in visual complexity (longer words have more letters and are more visually complex). We controlled stroke complexity across one-character (short) and two-character (long) high- and low-frequency Chinese words (to avoid complexity confounds) and recorded readers' eye movements during sentence reading. Both word length and frequency yielded strong main effects for fixation time measures. For saccadic targeting and skipping probability, word length effects, but not word frequency effects, occurred. Critically, the interaction was not significant regardless of stroke complexity, indicating that word length and frequency independently influence lexical identification and saccade target selection during Chinese reading. The results provide evidence for character-level representations during Chinese word recognition in natural reading.

Enhancing Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension in Intermediate Chinese: A Corpus-Driven Approach for International Students

This study investigates the effectiveness of corpus-driven thematic vocabulary teaching methods for intermediate Chinese reading, focusing on enhancing learning outcomes for international students. Utilizing the BCC corpus and Wordless software, a quasi-experimental design with 60 participants was employed. The study combined qualitative analysis of corpus data with quantitative assessment of learning outcomes. Results indicate significant improvements in vocabulary acquisition (p < .001, d = 1.34) and reading comprehension (p < .001, d = 1.13). Qualitative data revealed enhanced learner autonomy and engagement. This research contributes to the field of e-learning by showcasing how corpus technology can be effectively integrated into language instruction, particularly in cross-cultural contexts.

Invariant (or Not) Reading Strategies Between Languages and Genders

This study explores the similarities and differences in reading strategies applied by students to Chinese versus English reading. 842 students responded to a reading strategy inventory in terms of their habits when reading in Chinese versus in English. The result validates the general structure of a reading strategy inventory originally designed for English. The general scale seemed reasonable for Chinese reading as well as English reading. However, gender differences were found on some items. In addition, there was no statistically significant correlation between strategy use and test scores, which is inconsistent with previous research. Besides, we found a strong correlation between English and classical Chinese reading scores, but not between English and modern Chinese reading. Language as L1 or L2, curriculum and restricted test formats may partly explain the low correlations while social and educational environment can contribute to the high correlation observed. This study also serves as a rare example of a complete cycle of invariance test for ordinal data with a repeated design in Mplus. Implications for research and pedagogy were discussed.

Schema theory’s immediate impact on college students’ Chinese reading comprehension

Schema theory’s immediate impact on college students’ Chinese reading comprehension

Innovative research of comprehensive practice classroom teaching of Chinese reading

The innovative research of comprehensive practical classroom teaching of Chinese reading shows that teachers should pay attention to cultivating students 'interest in reading in the teaching process, improve their information screening and integration ability, and introduce diversified teaching strategies to stimulate students' learning initiative and creative thinking. Through the continuous innovation of teaching methods, we can enrich the reading practice activities, and provide students with a broader space for exploration and thinking. Classroom teaching is an important link in the field of education, and it has a key influence on students' learning effect and development. With the rapid change of society and the reform of education system, the traditional classroom teaching model faces many challenges. Therefore, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study the innovation of comprehensive practical classroom teaching of Chinese reading and improve the teaching effect. First of all, the innovation of the comprehensive practical classroom teaching can promote the improvement of the quality of Chinese education. Through the exploration and application of the comprehensive practice innovation strategy of different Chinese reading, it can better meet students' learning needs, stimulate their interest and initiative in learning Chinese, and improve the effect and quality of Chinese learning. Secondly, the innovation of comprehensive practical classroom teaching of Chinese reading can promote the professional development of Chinese teachers. Teachers are the main implementers and organizers of classroom teaching, and their teaching ability and level are directly related to the quality and effect of classroom teaching. Studying the practical innovation of classroom teaching can help teachers to continuously improve their teaching ideas, teaching methods and teaching skills, and improve their professional quality and teaching level. In addition, the innovation of studying the comprehensive practical classroom teaching of Chinese reading can also promote the in-depth progress of educational reform. Education reform needs to learn from and introduce new educational ideas, teaching methods and teaching means, and all of these need to be verified and implemented through practical innovation. By studying the innovation of comprehensive practical classroom teaching of Chinese reading, it can provide practical experience and theoretical support for the promotion of educational reform.

Readers with trait anxiety have poor reading efficiency: evidence from the perceptual span in Chinese reading

Readers with trait anxiety have poor reading efficiency: evidence from the perceptual span in Chinese reading

Foveal crowding in children with developmental dyslexia.

Excessive crowding in the visual periphery has been demonstrated in children with developmental dyslexia (DD). However, less is known about crowding in the fovea, even though foveal crowding is at least equally important, as reading is mostly accomplished through foveal vision. Here we used a special set of digitstimuli (Pelli fonts) to measure foveal crowding in DD and DD + ADHD children, and compared it to that in TD (typically developing) and ADHD children. We also used the Chinese reading acuity charts (C-READ) to assess the maximum reading speed and reading acuity, along with tests to evaluate cognitive attributes including phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, morphological awareness, and orthographic knowledge. The results indicate significantly stronger foveal crowding in the DD and DD + ADHD groups, as well as in the ADHD group, than in the TD group. Furthermore, the DD and DD + ADHD groups exhibited poorer maximum reading speed and reading acuity compared to the ADHD and TD groups.Within the two DD groups, theslower maximum reading speed and higher reading acuitycan be predicted bystronger foveal crowding. In addition, the DD and DD + ADHD groups performed the worst in four cognitive skills, with the DD group showing negative correlations between foveal crowding and performances across all these skills. Our findings thus move beyond previously well-documented peripheral crowding in dyslexia, and the easy administration of the Pelli-font-based crowding test may be useful for early diagnosis of developmental dyslexia in young children.

Multimodal reading in reading-only versus reading-while-listening modes: evidence from Chinese language learners

Abstract Language educators and researchers have shown keen interest in enhancing second language (L2) learners’ reading skills, and recently, more emphasis has been placed on multimodal learning. Multimodal learning theories posit that the confluence of auditory and visual stimuli facilitates learners to establish robust referential connections, and thus integrating audio cues has emerged as a strategy to enhance reading performance. While prior research has affirmed the advantages of incorporating audio cues for fostering reading fluency and comprehension in general, the findings are inconsistent. These investigations have predominantly focused on learners of English as a second language. Considering the differences between English and Chinese, especially their relationship between written scripts and oral language, investigating the reading experiences of Chinese language learners can contribute to a fuller understanding of the effect of audio inclusion on L2 learners. This study compared reading comprehension and reading experiences in reading-only and reading-while-listening modes for intermediate-low and intermediate-high-level Chinese language learners. After learners read in two different modes, a T-test was conducted on their comprehension performance followed by a qualitative analysis of their perspectives on their reading experiences. The findings showed a significant influence of audio integration on enhancing reading comprehension among intermediate-low-level Chinese language learners engaged in multimodal Chinese reading, and these learners displayed a preference for audio inclusion. On the other hand, a lack of significance in the effects of supplementary audio cues on reading comprehension was identified for intermediate-high-level learners, who manifested a mixed attitude towards audio integration with reading. This study complements the existing understanding of multimodal reading based on alphabetic language, particularly in English. Moreover, the findings carry pertinent implications for Chinese language reading pedagogy.

Mismatch responses of basic auditory temporal processing: early predictive biomarkers of Chinese Reading

ABSTRACT The study aimed to explore whether neurophysiological measures of auditory processing in preschoolers can predict Chinese reading after going to school. Mismatch responses (MMRs) to auditory frequency, duration, and temporal pattern deviants were examined in 24 Chinese preschoolers (6.59 ± 0.25 years old). Reading abilities were tracked in Grades 2 (8.09 ± 0.29 years old) and 4 (9.65 ± 0.28 years old). We found that temporal pattern MMRs in preschoolers continuously contributed to Chinese reading fluency in Grades 2 and 4. However, MMRs to frequency or duration deviants did not predict their reading abilities in Grades 2 or 4. These findings suggest that MMRs of basic auditory temporal processing in preliterate children can serve as predictive biomarkers for future Chinese reading acquisition, thus holding promise for identifying Chinese children at risk of dyslexia before formal school education and further guiding early intervention to support their reading development.

Is Chinese Dyslexia Similar Across Chinese Societies? Evidence from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Taipei

AbstractWhile previous research has documented the unique aspects of Chinese dyslexia as compared to dyslexia in alphabetic scripts, it remains unclear whether the difference in Chinese literacy experiences influences the manifestation of Chinese dyslexia. The present article first reviews the characteristics of Chinese languages and scripts, including important cognitive‐linguistic correlates (rapid automatized naming, phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness) of Chinese reading development and impairment. The diversity in Chinese literacy experiences of scripts, languages, and instructional practices, and consequently their impact on Chinese literacy acquisition across different Chinese societies are also reviewed. Using an equivalent Chinese assessment battery administered to 91 children with dyslexia from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Taipei, we examined the subtypes of Chinese dyslexia across these three societies concurrently. With the four cognitive‐linguistic skills included as the clustering variable, the hierarchical cluster analysis revealed four cognitive subtypes of dyslexia: 38% mild orthographic deficit subtype (OD), 33% phonological deficit subtype (PD), 18% morphological deficit subtype (MD), and 11% global deficit subtype (GD)—each with their own set of cognitive‐linguistic deficit profiles. Interestingly, all four subtypes of dyslexia manifested poorer orthographic skills as compared to the control group. Bayesian Analysis of Contingency Table further showed that the distribution of dyslexia subtypes remains similar across the three Chinese societies, suggesting invariance of the Chinese dyslexia construct. Findings highlight the importance of assessment in orthographic processing, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness in order to understand Chinese dyslexia, both in a within and cross‐cultural Chinese perspective.

Functional interactions underlying visuospatial orthographic processes in Chinese reading.

As a logographic writing system, Chinese reading involves the processing of visuospatial orthographic (ORT) properties. However, this aspect has received relatively less attention in neuroimaging research, which has tended to emphasize phonological (PHO) and semantic (SEM) aspects in processing Chinese characters. Here, we compared the functional correlates supporting all these three processes in a functional MRI single-character reading study, in which 35 native Chinese adults were asked to make ORT, PHO, and SEM judgments in separate task-specific activation blocks. Our findings revealed increased involvement of the right hemisphere in processing Chinese visuospatial orthography, particularly evident in the right ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOTC). Additionally, time course analysis revealed that the left superior parietal gyrus (SPG) was initially involved in SEM processing but contributed to the visuospatial processing of words in a later time window. Finally, ORT processing demonstrated stronger recruitment of left vOTC-SPG-middle frontal gyrus (MFG) functional connectivity compared to SEM processing. This functional coupling correlated with reduced regional engagement of the left vOTC and MFG, highlighting that visuospatial ORT processes in reading Chinese rely on functional interactions among key regions rather than local regional processes. In conclusion, these findings underscore visuospatial ORT processes as a distinctive feature of reading logographic characters.

Aspects of translation of Russian linguistic realities of N.V. Gogol’s novel “Dead Souls” into Chinese language

Abstract In the modern world, characterised by the increasing popularity of world literature, there exists an escalating demand for accurate and culturally adapted translations that convey the semantic accuracy and meaning of the original text. The purpose of this study is to analyze the specific features of translating antonyms into Chinese reflecting everyday realities in N.V. Gogol’s novel “Dead Souls”. The following methods were used to achieve the research objectives: hypothetical-deductive, content analysis, and comparative. The study determined that the novel “Dead Souls” is rich in Russian everyday realities and antonyms that convey the linguocultural features of the time within the context of the literary work. In addition, it was revealed that translators face the challenge of conveying Russian everyday realities and cultural features in the Chinese translation. This includes the problem of adapting antonyms that may be unfamiliar or have a different meaning in Chinese culture. The translation of antonyms must maintain semantic accuracy and comparability with the original to convey the meaning and contrast that antonyms create in the text. The study showed that the translation of antonyms can influence Chinese readers’ perception of the text. Their correct rendering preserves the meaning and structure of the original, which is significant for a full understanding of the literary work. As a result of a comparative analysis of Chinese translations of N.V. Gogol’s novel “Dead Souls”, various aspects influencing the translation of antonyms and their role in conveying Russian everyday realities were revealed. Practical significance lies in the use of the findings of this study by the researchers engaged in the translation of literary works, as well as specialists in the fields of literary studies, linguistics, and translation studies.

의미 네트워크(Semantic Network)를 활용한 중국 독자의 한국 여성 서사 수용 연구: 최은영 『밝은 밤』의 정동(Affect)적 접근

This study analyzes Chinese readers' rating reviews of Eunyoung Choi's Bright Night using a semantic network to explore Chinese readers' acceptance of Korean female narratives in terms of affect. Eunyoung Choi's Bright Night was ranked second overall and first in the foreign fiction category in the 2023 annual book rankings on Douban, China's largest book rating site. The novel centers on the stories of four women: a great-grandmother, a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter. The relationship between the great-grandmother, aunt, and neighboring women who lived through the Japanese occupation and the Korean War, as well as the conflict and reconciliation between grandmother, mother, and me, are important narrative devices in the novel. Affect refers to the continuous transformation of potential states inherent in the body into reality through ‘encounter’. The bodies that are encountered are not only human bodies, but also literary works such as Bright Night. The idea transformed by the encounter between bodies is affect, and the actual state is objectified in language. The analysis showed that Chinese readers were most affected by the matriarchal narratives of the four women, and the women's painful lives and internal conflicts, and the friendship and solidarity of other women to help them overcome them. Cluster analysis of the reviewed texts to identify specific emotional patterns revealed four patterns: ‘empathizing with women's suffering and pain’, ‘emotions of healing and hope for female characters’ ‘friendship and reconciliation’, ‘literary emotions of female solidarity’, and ‘heart-to-heart encounters’. This study confirms that Korean women's narratives can reach readers with different national systems and social structures and cause emotional changes, which can be extended to East Asian women's narratives.

Direct lexical control of eye movements in Chinese reading: Evidence from the co-registration of EEG and eye tracking

The direct-lexical-control hypothesis stipulates that some aspect of a word’s processing determines the duration of the fixation on that word and/or the next. Although the direct lexical control is incorporated into most current models of eye-movement control in reading, the precise implementation varies and the assumptions of the hypothesis may not be feasible given that lexical processing must occur rapidly enough to influence fixation durations. Conclusive empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis is therefore lacking. In this article, we report the results of an eye-tracking experiment using the boundary paradigm in which native speakers of Chinese read sentences in which target words were either high- or low-frequency and preceded by a valid or invalid preview. Eye movements were co-registered with electroencephalography, allowing standard analyses of eye-movement measures, divergence point analyses of fixation-duration distributions, and fixated-related potentials on the target words. These analyses collectively provide strong behavioral and neural evidence of early lexical processing and thus strong support for the direct-lexical-control hypothesis. We discuss the implications of the findings for our understanding of how the hypothesis might be implemented, the neural systems that support skilled reading, and the nature of eye-movement control in the reading of Chinese versus alphabetic scripts.

Young Chinese Language Learners’ L2 Motivational Self System and Learning Achievement in Chinese Literacy Acquisition

ABSTRACT This study investigated the impact of young Chinese second language learners’ motivation on their Chinese literacy acquisition. Based on the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), 188 Grade 5 ethnic minority students in Hong Kong were assessed. They completed an L2MSS questionnaire, a Chinese oral vocabulary test, and Chinese literacy measures, which covered Chinese character reading, spelling, reading comprehension, and sentence writing. Structural equation modelling results showed that the L2MSS tripartite predictors—ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and learning experience—predicted the students’ intended learning effort and literacy achievement, controlling for oral vocabulary. The ought-to self had the strongest total effect on effort and achievement, while the ideal self had a substantial effect on the learning experience and indirectly contributed to effort. This study argues that young learners’ perceived social expectation significantly influenced their motivation to learn to read and write Chinese. Their identification as fluent Chinese readers and writers generated positive learning experiences that were conducive to literacy learning.

The role of semantic information in Chinese word segmentation

ABSTRACT Word segmentation is crucial for reading in Chinese, where the absence of explicit word boundaries poses a distinct challenge. Previous studies in Chinese have examined how lexical and sub-lexical variables affect word segmentation. The present study investigated whether higher-level semantic information affects word segmentation using a primed word segmentation task with Overlapping Ambiguous Strings (OAS). An OAS is a three-character string in Chinese (e.g. ABC [in Latin letters]) where the middle character can constitute a word with both the left (word AB) and right (word BC) characters. The OAS was preceded by a semantic or repetition prime (presented for 42, 83, or 200 ms, across participants), priming either AB or BC. The semantic priming effect occurred at the 200-ms Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA), whereas the repetition priming effect occurred at both 83 and 200-ms SOAs. These findings demonstrate that semantic information can affect word segmentation in Chinese within 200 ms.

Profiling text cohesion in the development of L2 Chinese reading materials: variation by text level and genre

Profiling text cohesion in the development of L2 Chinese reading materials: variation by text level and genre