Do Chinese- and English-speaking preschoolers think differently about language?

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 617-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Guan ◽  
M. Jeffrey Farrar
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Metalinguistic Awareness ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Rhyme Awareness ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Chinese And English

Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to identify, reflect upon, and manipulate linguistic units. It plays a critical role in reading development. The present study investigated Chinese- and English-speaking preschoolers’ metalinguistic awareness development and the role of cognitive and linguistic abilities in its development. Forty-two Chinese-speaking and 36 English-speaking monolingual children completed a series of metalinguistic awareness, false belief, inhibitory control, and receptive vocabulary tasks. The results revealed distinct pathways for the two language groups. English speakers had a more advanced level of rhyme awareness. Chinese speakers developed homonym understanding faster during the preschool years. Inhibitory control was more important for Chinese speakers to develop synonym and homonym understanding, whereas receptive vocabulary was crucial for English speakers to develop rhyme awareness. These differences may be attributable to the characteristics of the Chinese and English languages, as well as the patterns of cognitive development in the two populations.

Insight into the structure of compound words among speakers of Chinese and English

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIE ZHANG ◽  
RICHARD C. ANDERSON ◽  
QIUYING WANG ◽  
JEROME PACKARD ◽  
XINCHUN WU ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sixth Graders ◽  
Compound Word ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Noun Compounds ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACTKnowledge of compound word structures in Chinese and English was investigated, comparing 435 Chinese and 258 Americans, including second, fourth, and sixth graders, and college undergraduates. As anticipated, the results revealed that Chinese speakers performed better on a word structure analogy task than their English-speaking counterparts. Also, as anticipated, speakers of both languages performed better on noun + noun and verb + particle compounds, which are more productive in their respective languages than noun + verb and verb + noun compounds, which are less productive. Both Chinese and English speakers performed significantly better on novel compounds than on familiar compounds, most likely because familiar compounds are lexicalized and do not invite decomposition into constituents.

Intercultural pragmatics at work: (Self-)perceptions of intercultural behavior of Chinese and English speakers and interpreters in healthcare interactions

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Hlavac ◽  
Zhichang Xu ◽  
David Xiong Yong
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Intercultural Pragmatics ◽  
Linguistic Behavior ◽  
Healthcare Situation ◽  
Chinese And English

AbstractInterpreters are expected to have an advanced command of not only the vocabulary and grammar of their working languages, but also the pragmatic norms that speakers of their working languages employ in communicative interactions. The aim of this paper is to explore the perceptions and practices of interpreters in relation to intercultural pragmatics at work in healthcare interactions. The paper employs two theoretical frameworks: the first is based on interpretations of behavior according to speakers' discourse-pragmatic features as representative of “high” or “low” context cultures (cf. Hall 1976); the second applies Celce-Murcia's (2007) more refined notion of “communicative competence.” The data sample of this paper focuses on cultural-pragmatic features of two linguistic and cultural groups – 25 Chinese speakers and 24 English speakers – and contrasts their selected responses to five features of Chinese-English interpreted healthcare interactions. Responses from 33 Chinese-English interpreters are matched against those from speakers of the two groups to examine the degree of congruence that interpreters have with the self-reported (para-)linguistic behavior of the two groups of speakers, for whom they interpret. This study shows that the self-reported (para-)linguistic behavior of both groups is determined by their adoption of a particular approach (doctor- vs. patient-centered approach) and other micro-level features (perceived time constraints, different notions of “small talk”) that limit elaborate pragmatic enactments. Over-arching cultural-pragmatic models based on “high” (or “low”) context communication, or “vertical” (vs. “horizontal”) hierarchical perceptions of role and status appear to have limited application to the data. Instead, local features specific to the healthcare situation co-determine both English and Chinese speakers' responses to questions about their use of pragmatics. Findings indicate that interpreters attend to each group's enactment of pragmatic features and, as expert language users, are able to recognize features and components of interactions and their functions to a greater degree than the Chinese and English speakers.

ASYMMETRY OF NULL SUBJECTS AND NULL OBJECTS IN CHINESE SPEAKERS' L2 ENGLISH

1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boping Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Null Subjects ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Null Objects ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
Chinese And English

One of the differences between Chinese and English is that the former allows both null subjects in finite sentences and null objects, but the latter allows neither. This cross-linguistic variation is believed to be related to the underspecification of I and topic drop in Chinese but not in English. This paper reports on an empirical study investigating the unlearning of null subjects and null objects by 159 Chinese learners in their L2 acquisition of English. In L1 acquisition, it has been found that English-speaking children display an asymmetry by frequently allowing null subjects but rarely null objects. The results of this study indicate that there is an asymmetry in Chinese learners' L2 English, which, however, is opposite to that found in English L1 acquisition: Chinese learners are able to reject the incorrect null subject in English, but unable to detect the ungrammaticality of the null object. It is proposed that the unlearning of null subjects by Chinese learners of English is triggered by the evidence in their input indicating the specification of AGR(eement) and T(ense) in English, and that the difficulty in the unlearning of null objects is related to the lack of informative evidence to unset the [+ topic-drop] setting in Chinese learners' L2 English.

Evidence Against Linguistic Relativity in Chinese and English: A Case Study of Spatial and Temporal Metaphors

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 335-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Shing Tse ◽  
Jeanette Altarriba
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Current Experiment ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Spatial Metaphors ◽  
Reverse Pattern ◽  
Chinese And English

AbstractTo talk about time, English speakers often use horizontal spatial metaphors whereas Chinese speakers use both vertical and horizontal spatial metaphors. Boroditsky (2001) showed that while Chinese-English bilinguals were faster to verify a temporal target like June comes earlier than August after they had seen a vertical spatial prime rather than a horizontal spatial prime, English monolinguals showed the reverse pattern, thus supporting the linguistic relativity hypothesis. This finding was not conceptually replicated in January and Kako's (2007) six experiments for English monolinguals. In the current experiment, we failed to conceptually replicate her English monolinguals' findings: both Chinese-English bilinguals and English monolinguals were faster to verify the sentences after seeing a vertical spatial prime than a horizontal spatial prime. While we replicated Boroditsky's findings, in part, for our Chinese-English bilinguals, the similarity in the pattern of findings for both Chinese-English bilinguals and English monolinguals argues against the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

scholarly journals English and Chinese children’s motion event similarity judgments

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinglin Ji ◽  
Jill Hohenstein
Keyword(s):  
Visual Motion ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Match To Sample ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Similarity Judgments

AbstractThis study explores the relationship between language and thought in similarity judgments by testing how monolingual children who speak languages with partial typological differences in motion description (English and Chinese) respond to visual motion event stimuli. Participants were either Chinese- or English-speaking, 3-year-olds, 8-year-olds and adults (32 in each group) who judged the similarity between caused motion scenes in a match-to-sample task. The results suggest, first of all, that the two younger groups of 3-year-olds are predominantly path-oriented, irrespective of language, as evidenced by their significantly longer fixation on path-match videos rather than manner-match videos in a preferential looking scheme. Using categorical measurement of overt choices, older children and adults also showed a shared tendency of being more path-oriented. However, the analysis using continuous measurement of reaction time revealed significant variations in spatial cognition that can be related to linguistic differences: English speakers tended to be more manner-oriented while Chinese speakers were equally manner- and path-oriented. On the whole, our findings indicate a likelihood that children’s non-linguistic thought is similar prior to internalising the lexicalisation pattern of motion events in their native languages, but shows divergences after such habitual use, thus suggesting that the pattern of non-linguistic thought may be linked, among other things, to linguistic structure.

Linguistically directed attention to the temporal aspect of action events in monolingual English speakers and Chinese–English bilingual speakers with varying English proficiency

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENN-YEU CHEN ◽  
JUI-JU SU ◽  
CHAO-YANG LEE ◽  
PADRAIG G. O'SEAGHDHA
Keyword(s):  
English Proficiency ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Temporal Aspect ◽  
Chinese And English

Chinese and English speakers seem to hold different conceptions of time which may be related to the different codings of time in the two languages. Employing a sentence–picture matching task, we have investigated this linguistic relativity in Chinese–English bilinguals varying in English proficiency and found that those with high proficiency performed differently from those with low proficiency. Additional monolingual English data, reported here, showed further that high-proficiency bilinguals performed similarly to the English monolinguals, suggesting that Chinese speakers’ sensitivity to the time of an action event might be modifiable according to the extent of their experience with a tensed language.

Strategies of Impression Management and Deception among Chinese and English speakers

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenling Hsieh ◽  
Cheryl Hiscock-Anisman ◽  
Kevin Colwell ◽  
Samantha Florence ◽  
Andrea Sorcinelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impression Management ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese And English

scholarly journals An Innovative Mental Health Model for Treating Culturally Diverse Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 93-93
Author(s):  
Tobi Abramson ◽  
Jacquelin Berman ◽  
Madison Gates
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers

Abstract The mental health needs of older adults are largely unmet, a finding even more prevalent within culturally diverse older adult populations. Added to this is the high rate of social isolation. Research has indicated increased connection to mental health services when services are embedded within physical health care settings. For those attending community centers, 85% indicate that they are socially isolated, 68% indicate they are lonely, and 53% have a mental health need (compared to 20% nationally). The need for innovative programming is evident. When examining the needs of diverse older adults, it is increasingly important that new and innovative approaches address social isolation, loneliness, and mental health problems experienced by this cohort. Utilizing this knowledge an innovative model of embedding and integrating mental health services, provided by bilingual and bicultural clinicians, into congregate sites (older adult centers) was implemented. Those that participated were mainly female (72.1%), 68.5% English-speaking, 14.5% Spanish-speaking, 13.6% Chinese-speaking and 3.4% other. Spanish-speakers had more depression than English-speakers and both had more depression than Chinese-speakers. English and Spanish-speakers reported more social isolation and Chinese-speakers compared were more likely to participate in engagement. Chinese-speakers were less likely to be in clinical services with a positive screen compared to English-speakers. Overall, 75% engaged in treatment; 37.3% and 41% showed a 3-month improvement of depression and anxiety, respectively. This presentation focuses on the innovative components of this model, how to engage diverse older adults to utilize treatment, steps needed for replication, and policy implications around integrated mental health treatment.

Limited English Proficiency and Disparities in Health Care Engagement Among Patients With Breast Cancer

2021 ◽  
pp. OP.20.01093
Author(s):  
Mohana Roy ◽  
Natasha Purington ◽  
Mina Liu ◽  
Douglas W. Blayney ◽  
Allison W. Kurian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Genetic Counseling ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Patient Portal ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Health Care Engagement

PURPOSE: Race and ethnicity have been shown to affect quality of cancer care, and patients with low English proficiency (LEP) have increased risk for serious adverse events. We sought to assess the impact of primary language on health care engagement as indicated by clinical trial screening and engagement, use of genetic counseling, and communication via an electronic patient portal. METHODS: Clinical and demographic data on patients with breast cancer diagnosed and treated from 2013 to 2018 within the Stanford University Health Care system were compiled via linkage of electronic health records, an internal clinical trial database, and the California Cancer Registry. Logistic and linear regression models were used to evaluate for association of clinical trial engagement and patient portal message rates with primary language group. RESULTS: Patients with LEP had significantly lower rates of clinical trial engagement compared with their English-speaking counterparts (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.29; 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.51). Use of genetic counseling was similar between language groups. Rates of patient portal messaging did not differ between English-speaking and LEP groups on multivariable analysis; however, patients with LEP were less likely to have a portal account (adjusted OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.96). Among LEP subgroups, Spanish speakers were significantly less likely to engage with the patient portal compared with English speakers (estimated difference in monthly rate: OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.77). CONCLUSION: We found that patients with LEP had lower rates of clinical trial engagement and odds of electronic patient portal enrollment. Interventions designed to overcome language and cultural barriers are essential to optimize the experience of patients with LEP.

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