Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T00:08:27.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Orthographic effects on L2 production and L2 proficiency in ESL learners with non-alphabetic and orthographically opaque L1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2022

Wenxiyuan Deng ,
Kit Ying Chan Open the ORCID record for Kit Ying Chan [Opens in a new window]  and
Ka Man Au Yeung
Wenxiyuan Deng*
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Kit Ying Chan
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Ka Man Au Yeung
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examined the role of first language (L1) transparency in intra-orthographic effects on second language (L2) pronunciation by studying L2 learners with a non-alphabetic and orthographically opaque L1 and an alphabetic L2. Relations between orthographic effects, phonological awareness, and L2 proficiency were examined. Fifty-four Cantonese-speaking English as a second language (ESL) learners participated in Experiment 1 with orthographic effect tasks (homophone and silent-letter read-aloud) and phonological awareness tasks. Thirty Cantonese-speaking and 30 Mandarin-speaking ESL learners participated in Experiment 2 with orthographic effect tasks and an L2 proficiency task. The L2 pronunciation of Cantonese and Mandarin participants was subjected to intra-orthographic effects. Phonological awareness and L2 proficiency were associated with less orthographic effects on L2 pronunciation in Cantonese participants. Mandarin participants did not subject to more orthographic effects than Cantonese participants when controlling L2 proficiency, implying that shared alphabetic scripts between Pinyin and English did not interfere with L2 production. Overall, transferring the L1 reading strategy that relies on orthography to decode phonology to L2 reading seemed not to be the key mechanism behind intra-orthographic effects. L2 graphemes were likely to be decoded with incorrect L2 grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences, resulting in intra-orthographic effects.

Keywords

orthographic effectsL2 productionnon-alphabeticopaquePinyin
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 43 , Issue 6 , November 2022 , pp. 1329 - 1357
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aloisi, A. (2008). Homophone dictionary at homophone. Retrieved January 23, 2018 from https://www.homophone.com Google Scholar
Bassetti, B. (2007). Effects of hanyu pinyin on pronunciation in learners of Chinese as a foreign language. In Andreas, G., Xin, J. & Yexin, W. (Eds.), The cognition, learning and teaching of Chinese characters (pp. 156–179). Beijing, China: Beijing Language and Culture University Press. ISBN 9787561918807.Google Scholar
Bassetti, B. (2008) Orthographic input and second language phonology. In Piske, T. and Young−Scholten, M. (Eds.), Input matters in SLA (pp. 191–206). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bassetti, B. (2017). Orthography affects second language speech: Double letters and geminate production in English. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43(11), 1835. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000417 Google ScholarPubMed
Bassetti, B., & Atkinson, N. (2015). Effects of orthographic forms on pronunciation in experienced instructed second language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(01), 67–91. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000435 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bassetti, B., Mairano, P., Masterson, J., & Cerni, T. (2020). Effects of orthographic forms on second language speech production and phonological awareness, with consideration of speaker-level predictors. Language Learning, 70(4), 1218–1256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, E. M., Alpert, R., & Goldstein, A. (1954). Communications through limited-response questioning. Public Opinion Quarterly, 18(3), 303–308. https://doi.org/10.1086/266520 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., McBride-Chang, C., & Luk, G. (2005). Bilingualism, language proficiency, and learning to read in two writing systems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(4), 580. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.97.4.580 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borleffs, E., Maassen, B. A. M., Lyytinen, H., & Zwarts, F. (2017). Measuring orthographic transparency and morphological-syllabic complexity in alphabetic orthographies: A narrative review. Reading and Writing, 30(8), 1617–1638. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9741-5 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broselow, E., Chen, S.-I., & Wang, C. (1998). The emergence of the unmarked in second language phonology Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20(2), 261–280. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263198002071 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bürki, A., Welby, P., Clément, M., & Spinelli, E. (2019). Orthography and second language word learning: Moving beyond “friend or foe?”. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 145(4), EL265–EL271. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5094923 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cao, M. (2017). An analysis of phonics teaching in Mainland China. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8(2), 286. http://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0802.09 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, A. Y. W. (2006). Cantonese ESL learners’ pronunciation of English final consonants. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 19(3), 296–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310608668769 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, A. Y. W. (2019). Use and misuse of the English ‘the’: A case of Hong Kong Cantonese ESL learners. Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(3), 859. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2019.16.3.6.859 Google Scholar
Chan, A. Y. W., & Li, D. C. S. (2000). English and Cantonese phonology in contrast: Explaining Cantonese ESL learners’ English pronunciation problems. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310008666590 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheung, H., & Chen, H.-C. (2004). Early orthographic experience modifies both phonological awareness and on-line speech processing. Language and Cognitive Processes, 19(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690960344000071 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheung, H., Chen, H.-C., Lai, C. Y., Wong, O. C., & Hills, M. (2001). The development of phonological awareness: Effects of spoken language experience and orthography. Cognition, 81(3), 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(01)00136-6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, S. V., Pandža, N. B., Lancaster, A. K., & Gor, K. (2016). Fuzzy nonnative phonolexical representations lead to fuzzy form-to-meaning mappings. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1345. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01345 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edge, B. A. (1991). The production of word–final voiced obstruents in English by L1 speakers of Japanese and Cantonese. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13(3), 377–393. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100010032 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erdener, V. D., & Burnham, D. K. (2005). The role of audiovisual speech and orthographic information in nonnative speech production. Language Learning, 55(2), 191–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0023-8333.2005.00303.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Escudero, P., Simon, E., & Mulak, K. E. (2014). Learning words in a new language: Orthography doesn’t always help. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17(2), 384–395. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728913000436 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. (1996). The context of English language education the case of Hong Kong. Relc Journal, 27(2), 30–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/003368829602700203 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gan, Z. (2012). Understanding L2 speaking problems: Implications for ESL curriculum development in a teacher training institution in Hong Kong. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 37(1), 43–59. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/ielapa.767278306610364 Google Scholar
Hayes-Harb, R., Brown, K., & Smith, B. L. (2018). Orthographic input and the acquisition of German final devoicing by native speakers of English. Language and Speech, 61(4), 547–564. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100010032 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes-Harb, R., & Cheng, H.-W. (2016). The influence of the Pinyin and Zhuyin writing systems on the acquisition of Mandarin word forms by native English speakers. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 785. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00785 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holm, A., & Dodd, B. (1996). The effect of first written language on the acquisition of English literacy. Cognition, 59(2), 119–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(95)00691-5 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Indefrey, P. (2006). A meta-analysis of hemodynamic studies on first and second language processing: Which suggested differences can we trust and what do they mean? Language Learning, 56(s1), 279–304. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00365.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, L., & Frost, R. (1992). The reading process is different for different orthographies: The orthographic depth hypothesis. Advances in Psychology, 94, 67–84. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4115(08)62789-2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuperman, V., Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H., & Brysbaert, M. (2012). Age-of-acquisition ratings for 30,000 English words. Behavior Research Methods, 44(4), 978–990. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-012-0210-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemhöfer, K., & Broersma, M. (2012). Introducing LexTALE: A quick and valid Lexical test for advanced learners of English. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 325−343. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0146-0 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemhöfer, K., Dijkstra, T., Schriefers, H., Baayen, R. H., Grainger, J., & Zwitserlood, P. (2008). Native language influences on word recognition in a second language: A megastudy. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.34.1.12 Google Scholar
Leong, C. K., Tan, L. H., Cheng, P. W., & Hau, K. T. (2005). Learning to read and spell English words by Chinese students. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(1), 63–84. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr0901_5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, L.-C., & Johnson, C. J. (2010). Phonological patterns in Mandarin–English bilingual children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 24(4–5), 369–386. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699200903532482 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lü, C. (2017). The roles of pinyin skill in English-Chinese biliteracy learning: Evidence from Chinese immersion learners. Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 306–322. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12269 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukatela, G., & Turvey, M. (1991). Phonological access of the lexicon: Evidence from associative priming with pseudohomophones. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 17(4), 951. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.17.4.951 Google ScholarPubMed
McBride-Chang, C. (1995). What is phonological awareness? Journal of Educational Psychology, 87(2), 179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Bialystok, E., Chong, K. K., & Li, Y. (2004). Levels of phonological awareness in three cultures. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 89(2), 93–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2004.05.001 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDowell, H. J., & Lorch, M. P. (2008). Phonemic awareness in Chinese L1 readers of English: Not simply an effect of orthography. TESOL Quarterly, 42(3), 495–513. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00143.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Education of the People’s Republicof China. (2011).Yiwu jiaoyu yuwen kechengbiaozhun [National curriculum standard for Chinese language arts]. Retrieved December 29, 2021, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A26/s8001/201112/t20111228_167340.html Google Scholar
Moran, M. J., & Fitch, J. L. (2001). Phonological awareness skills of university students: Implications for teaching phonetics. Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, 28, 85–90.Google Scholar
Muneaux, M., & Ziegler, J. (2004). Locus of orthographic effects in spoken word recognition: Novel insights from the neighbour generation task. Language and Cognitive Processes, 19(5), 641–660. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690960444000052 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nusbaum, H. C., Pisoni, D. B., & Davis, C. K. (1984). Sizing up the Hoosier mental lexicon. Research on Spoken Language Processing Report No, 10, 357–376.Google Scholar
Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589–613. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588214 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Citation. In Oxford English dictionary online. Retrieved January 23, 2018 from https://www.oed.com Google Scholar
Perception Research Systems. (2007). Paradigm Stimulus Presentation [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.paradigmexperiments.com Google Scholar
Perfetti, C. A., Rieben, L., & Fayol, M. (Eds.). (1997). Learning to spell: Research, theory, and practice across languages. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poon, A. Y. (2010). Language use, and language policy and planning in Hong Kong. Current Issues in Language Planning, 11(1), 1–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664201003682327 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pytlyk, C. (2011). Shared orthography: Do shared written symbols influence the perception of l2 sounds? The Modern Language Journal, 95(4), 541–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01244.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qualtrics. (2005). Provo, Utah, USA: Qualtrics. Retrieved from https://www.qualtrics.com Google Scholar
Radant, H.-L., James, H., & Huang, H. (2009). Chinese phonotactic patterns and the pronunciation difficulties of Mandarin-Speaking EFL learners. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 11(4), 115.Google Scholar
Rafat, Y. (2015). The interaction of acoustic and orthographic input in the acquisition of Spanish assibilated/fricative rhotics. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(1), 43–66. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000423 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, C., Yun-Fei, Z., Hong-Yin, N., & Bao-Qing, D. (1986). The ability to manipulate speech sounds depends on knowing alphabetic writing. Cognition, 24(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(86)90003-X CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shu, H., Peng, H., & McBride-Chang, C. (2008). Phonological awareness in young Chinese children. Developmental Science, 11(1), 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00654.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snow, D. (2004). Cantonese as written language: The growth of a written Chinese vernacular (Vol. 1). Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Sokolović-Perović, M., Bassetti, B., & Dillon, S. (2020). English orthographic forms affect L2 English speech production in native users of a non-alphabetic writing system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(3), 591–601. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891900035X CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spencer, E. J., Schuele, C. M., Guillot, K. M., & Lee, M. W. (2008). Phonemic awareness skill of speech-language pathologists and other educators. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 39(4), 512–520. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2008/07-0080) CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taft, M., Zhu, X., & Peng, D. (1999). Positional specificity of radicals in Chinese character recognition. Journal of Memory and Language, 40(4), 498–519. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1998.2625 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treiman, R. (1991) Phonological awareness and its roles in learning to read and spell. In Sawyer, D. J. & Fox, B. J. (Eds.), Phonological Awareness in Reading. Springer Series in Language and Communication, vol. 28. New York, NY: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3010-6_6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, M. D., & Burnham, D. K. (2006). Orthographic influences on phoneme deletion response times. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(11), 2010–2031. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210500521828 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veivo, O., & Järvikivi, J. (2013). Proficiency modulates early orthographic and phonological processing in L2 spoken word recognition. Bilingualism, 16(4), 864. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728912000600 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, S. W., Dealey, J., Leung, V. W., & Mok, P. P. (2021). Production of English connected speech processes: an assessment of Cantonese ESL learners’ difficulties obtaining native-like speech. The Language Learning Journal, 49(5), 581–596. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2019.1642372 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeung, S. S., & Chan, C. K. (2013). Phonological awareness and oral language proficiency in learning to read English among Chinese kindergarten children in Hong Kong. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(4), 550–568. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.2012.02082.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, S. Z., Georgiou, G. K., Inoue, T., Zhong, W. W., & Shu, H. (2020). Do pinyin and character recognition help each other grow? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 476–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.06.004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, J. C., Perry, C., & Coltheart, M. (2000). The DRC model of visual word recognition and reading aloud: An extension to German. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 413–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/09541440050114570 CrossRefGoogle Scholar