Interword spacing effects on reading Mandarin Chinese as a second language

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Yao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Spacing Effects

Learning opportunities in peer-peer interaction: A case study of two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Dan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning

AbstractThe roles of interaction have been studied for several decades. Recent studies have turned to investigate “the details of which components of interaction might be more or less effective in which contexts with which learners” (Loewen, Shawn & Masatoshi Sato. 2018. Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 51(3). 285–329: 286). This case study, based on three unstructured interactions outside the classroom between two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners, investigates the learning opportunities these interactions brought about in terms of helping them to increase in control over forms that had already been encountered inside the classroom. Using the concept of the language-related episode (Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 1998. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal 82(3). 320–337), this study sets focus on learning opportunities for lexis- and grammar-related items. It finds learning opportunities arise as the two peers negotiate for meaning motivated by the need to comprehend, strive to use the L2 to express/co-express themselves, and improve their form through the other’s feedback. In addition, lexis-related learning is found to be very positive in this study. The dictionary played an indispensable role in facilitating the learners when they encountered lexis-related issues. Further, it enabled the learners to learn new vocabulary when driven by communicative needs. In comparison, the grammar-related learning is found to be relatively complicated. And the fact the learners had nowhere to resort to concerning grammatical issues attributed to it. In terms of the different types of interactions, compared to learning through negotiation for meaning and feedback, output and co-construction/collaboration were found to be most productive in promoting the learning.

Interword spacing effects on the acquisition of new vocabulary for readers of Chinese as a second language

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. S4-S17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuejun Bai ◽  
Feifei Liang ◽  
Hazel I. Blythe ◽  
Chuanli Zang ◽  
Guoli Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Spacing Effects

scholarly journals Task-evoked pupil response for accurately-recognized accented speech

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Jordan McLaughlin ◽  
Kristin J. Van Engen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Recognition Accuracy ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Pupil Response ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
Native Speech ◽  
Accented English

Unfamiliar second-language (L2) accents present a common challenge to speech understanding. However, the extent to which accurately-recognized unfamiliar L2-accented speech imposes a greater cognitive load than native speech remains unclear. The current study used pupillometry to assess cognitive load for native English listeners during the perception of intelligible Mandarin Chinese-accented English and American-accented English. Results showed greater pupil response (indicating greater cognitive load) for the unfamiliar L2-accented speech. These findings indicate that the mismatches between unfamiliar L2-accented speech and native listeners’ linguistic representations impose greater cognitive load even when recognition accuracy is at ceiling.

English Nasalance Values of Chinese Learners of English

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yilan Liu ◽  
Sue Ann S. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Production ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners Of English

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate nasalance scores of speakers of different languages, little research has examined the nasalance characteristics of second language learners. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The goal of the current study was to examine whether English nasalance values of Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those of native English speakers, examining the potential effect of the first language on the nasalance scores of the second language production. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Thirty-two adults (16 Mandarin Chinese speakers and 16 native English speakers) with a normal velopharyngeal anatomy participated. Nasalance scores of various speech stimuli were obtained using a nasometer and compared between the 2 groups. <b><i>Results and Conclusions:</i></b> Chinese learners of English produced higher nasalance scores than native English speakers on prolonged vowel /i/ and /a/, the syllable “nin,” and non-nasal sentences and passages. The first language effect on nasalance of the second language found in the current study suggests the importance of linguistic consideration in the clinical evaluation of resonance.

scholarly journals On the usefulness of formal judgment tasks in syntax and in second-language research: The case of resumptive pronouns in English, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese

Linguistics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hitz ◽  
Elaine J. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Resumptive Pronouns ◽  
Language Research

AbstractGibson and Fedorenko (2013, The need for quantitative methods in syntax and semantics research,

Gender and second language style

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Hardeman Guthrie
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Variation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Style ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Meanings ◽  
Learner Perceptions ◽  
Salient Factor

Abstract Gender has been shown to be a salient factor in acquisition of second language variation (Adamson & Regan, 1991; Major, 2004; Meyerhoff & Schleef, 2012; Rehner, Mougeon, & Nadasdi, 2003; Schleef, Meyerhoff, & Clark, 2011). However, these studies have primarily focused on learner production of target language variation and style in the sense of attention paid to speech. There has been little focus on learner perceptions of the social meanings associated with L2 variants and styles. The present article addresses this gap in the research by examining L2 learner perceptions of a gendered style of speaking in Mandarin Chinese known as sajiao. Results from a perception experiment confirm the salience of gender in the acquisition of L2 variation and show that American L2 Mandarin learners have acquired some of the social meanings associated with sajiao but not others. An acoustic phonetic analysis of sajiao is also presented.

scholarly journals Exploring Mandarin Chinese Teacher's Knowledge Base in China and the US: A Comparative Case Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moi Mooi Lew ◽  
Liu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Subject Matter Knowledge ◽  
The Us

Abstract This study aimed to explore Mandarin Chinese teachers’ knowledge base in two different sociocultural contexts by comparing graduate level’s Teaching Chinese As a Foreign Language (TCFL) teacher education program curricula in China and the United States. The unit of analysis included four TCFL teacher education programs in both countries. The program curricula were analyzed based on three domains of knowledge, i.e., subject matter knowledge, procedural knowledge, and contextual knowledge. The comparative study results revealed that both countries focus on different domains of knowledge. China emphasis subject matters knowledge and the US focuses more on procedural knowledge. This study suggested that the TCFL teacher education program curricula in China should modify to focus more on the processes of Chinese second language teaching. The findings also asserted that the US’s TCFL teacher education curricula should focus more on the Chinese language subject matter knowledge so that graduates possess in-depth content knowledge to handle students’ misconceptions in second language acquisition. Mandarin Chinese teachers in both countries possess different domains of knowledge.

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