Cross-language transfer of insight into the structure of compound words

Zhang, Jie; Anderson, Richard C.; Li, Hong; Dong, Qiong; Wu, Xinchun; Zhang, Yan

doi:10.1007/s11145-009-9205-7

Cited by 62 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Size of square reflects sample size, with bigger square representing a larger sample size (Cheung et al, 2010;Ip et al, 2016;Pasquarella et al, 2011;Wang, Cheng & Chen 2006;Wang, Yang & Cheng 2009;Zhang & Koda 2014;Zhang et al, 2010;Zhang, Koda & Sun 2012) variation across studies in all correlations as indicated by the Q statistics. We also investigated the potential moderator effects of geographic location and grade level and results of these moderator effects vary to a certain extent.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, researchers have identified crosslinguistic transfer between Chinese and English primarily concerning the decomposition and formation of compound words. This is due to similarities in compound word structure in the two languages (e.g., snowman, street light) (Lam & Sheng, 2016;Luo et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2012). Therefore, we expect to find a correlation between Chinese and English morphological awareness specifically with regard to learner's awareness of compound formation rules.…”

Section: L1 Vs L2 Morphological Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 96%

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An investigation of cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English: a meta-analysis

Man

Cooc

Sheng

2017

Asian. J. Second. Foreign. Lang. Educ.

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Cross-linguistic transfer embodies language learners' use of linguistic knowledge of their first language to leverage the learning of a second language. The cross-linguisitc transfer between Chinese and English has been studied by scholars from different disciplines. However, variances and inconsistencies exist among prior studies regarding the investigated linguistic domains and reported results. Therefore, a meta-analysis is needed to systematically investigate the cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English. This meta-analysis presents research on cross-linguistic transfer between the two languages in four domains: phonological awareness, decoding skills, vocabulary, and morphological awareness. Using 33 articles conducted in different countries, our results show small to moderate levels of transfer in the above four domains. In addition, it was found that the results were moderated by geographic location of the study and participant age. Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that English and Chinese share common linguistic features that can allow for transfer in learning between the languages. Bilingual learners can benefit in educational environments that tap into these linguistic features.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: L1 Vs L2 Morphological Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 96%

An investigation of cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English: a meta-analysis

Man

Cooc

Sheng

2017

Asian. J. Second. Foreign. Lang. Educ.

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“…These studies revealed that compound awareness in Chinese L1 predicted English L2 reading acquisition. However, inflectional and derivational awareness in Chinese did not show a significant cross-linguistic relationship with English reading abilities (Chung & Ho, 2010;Luo et al, 2014;Hu, 2013;Pasquarella et al, 2011;Zhang, 2013;Zhang & Koda, 2014;Zhang et al, 2010). There is some indication that these findings are affected by the morphological structure of the typologically distinct languages (Zhang & Koda, 2014;Zhang, 2013): The derivational process in Chinese is very limited, with few derivational affixes, of little functional salience.…”

Section: Transfer Between Logographic Languages and Englishmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…However, there was not cross-language transfer of compound awareness in both languages. Meanwhile, Zhang et al (2010) argued that increasing exposure to native language compound awareness skills would facilitate transfer to the corresponding skills in a second language. The researchers revealed that Chinese compound awareness training facilitated transfer to the corresponding awareness in English L2.…”

Section: Transfer Between Logographic Languages and Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Skill Transfer in English Reading Acquisition: Alphabetic and Logographic Languages Compared

Shakkour¹

2014

OJML

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The purpose of this article is to review published studies regarding acquisition of English as a second or foreign language by students of different linguistic backgrounds, in light of the English language's opaque alphabetic orthography. This review focuses on the contribution of first language cognitive skills (orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness) in native speakers of languages with alphabetic and logographic orthographies, to English second-language reading skills (word reading and reading comprehension), to better understand the contribution of cognitive reading skills in alphabetic and logographic languages to the acquisition of English reading skills as a second language. The author examines findings in the context of second-language learning theories, and two contradictory hypotheses in particularthe linguistic interdependence hypothesis and the script-dependent hypothesis. The author finds that no consensus can be indicated as to the contribution of most native-language skills in alphabetic vs. logographic languages to the acquisition of second-language or foreign-language English reading, or even whether or not they are language-specific (script-dependent). The exception is phonological awareness in alphabetical orthographies (but not logographic orthographies) which received a consensus among researchers supporting its transfer from the native language to English as a second or foreign language.

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“…Chinese and English present as a potent language pairing for cross-linguistic comparisons given their striking differences in orthography and morphology (Ke & Xiao, 2015). Interestingly, there is evidence showing the transfer of Chinese morphological awareness to English morphological awareness (Zhang et al, 2010), as well as the contribution of English morphological awareness to Chinese word reading among Chinese-English bilingual readers in the MORPHOLOGICAL TRANSFER AND WORD READING 5 US (Wang, Cheng, & Chen, 2006). However, these studies have either focused on a single developmental stage of reading, i.e., either beginning or intermediate readers, or a restricted set of morphological awareness tasks such as only lexical compounding awareness task.…”

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confidence: 99%

Within- and cross-language contributions of morphological awareness to word reading development in Chinese–English bilingual children

et al. 2017

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A growing body of cross-linguistic research has suggested that morphological awareness plays a key role in both L1 and L2 word reading among bilingual readers.However, little is known about the interaction and development of L1 and L2 morphological awareness in relation to word reading. We addressed this issue by evaluating the unique contributions of L1 Chinese and L2 English morphological awareness to word reading in both Chinese and English across Grades 2 (N=150), 5 (N=158), and 8 (N=159) Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. Children completed five tasks of Chinese morphological awareness which tapped for compounding awareness, homophone awareness, homographic awareness, semantic radical awareness, and affix awareness, and six English morphological judgment and analogy tasks that assessed morphological awareness at three levels: inflection, derivation, and compounding. English phonological awareness, Chinese and English vocabulary, and nonverbal ability were measured as controls. Word reading was assessed in both languages. Within-language analyses revealed that Chinese morphological awareness accounted for 27%, 22%, and 12% of unique variances in MORPHOLOGICAL TRANSFER AND WORD READING 3 Chinese word reading above the control measures in Grades 2, 5, and 8 respectively.In contrast, English morphological awareness explained small but significant unique variances in English word reading, i.e., 4%, 8%, and 2%, across Grades 2, 5, and 8 respectively. Critically, there were cross-language influences: Chinese morphological awareness explained 4% of unique variance in English word reading in Grade 2 after controlling for IQ, English vocabulary, English phonological awareness, and English morphological awareness; English morphological awareness explained significant variances in Chinese word reading, i.e., 4%, 3%, and 4% in Grades 2, 5, and 8 respectively, after the relevant controls. These findings suggest a bi-directional crosslanguage transfer of morphological awareness to word reading in L1 Chinese and L2 English. However, the direction of its transfer may be constrained by some languagespecific morphological features. Morphological awareness is children's awareness of the morphemic structure of words and ability to manipulate that structure (Carlisle, 1995). Despite differences in morphological structure across languages, morphological awareness has been proposed to be a universal part of reading (Verhoeven & Perfetti, 2011). While a majority of early studies only focused on English (e.g., Fowler, Napps, & Feldman, 1985; Marslen-Wilson, Tyler, Waksler, & Older, 1994; Taft & Forster, 1975), Frost andGrainger (2000) emphasized the importance of cross-linguistic morphological research as it would contribute to a more complete understanding of the general principles guiding lexical organization. Chinese and English present as a potent language pairing for cross-linguistic comparisons given their striking differences in orthography and morphology (Ke & Xiao, 2015). Interestingly, there is evidenc...

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Cross-language transfer of insight into the structure of compound words

Cited by 62 publications

References 38 publications

An investigation of cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English: a meta-analysis

An investigation of cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English: a meta-analysis

Cognitive Skill Transfer in English Reading Acquisition: Alphabetic and Logographic Languages Compared

Within- and cross-language contributions of morphological awareness to word reading development in Chinese–English bilingual children

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