Effects of interword spacing on native English readers of Chinese as a second language

Abstract

Interword spacing facilitates English native readers but not native readers of Chinese, a writing system that does not mark word boundaries. L1-English readers of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) could then be facilitated if spacing is added between words in Chinese materials. However, previous studies produced inconsistent results. This study tested the hypothesis that interword spacing facilitates L1-English CSL readers. We used an online multiple-choice gap-filling task to test 12 English CSL readers and 12 Chinese natives reading a series of eight texts of suitable difficulty, written with or without interword spacing. The CSL readers read faster with interword spacing than without, while Chinese native readers were not affected. The interword spacing effect was negatively correlated with measures of reading proficiency. It is argued that interword spacing facilitates CSL readers reading materials of sufficient difficulty by facilitating their lexical parsing. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

White spaces, music notation and the facilitation of sight-reading

“…In the modern world of music performance, time is money, and the time allocated to rehearsals has decreased significantly; these modifications should help ease the financial pressures on performance by making the process of rehearsal substantially more efficient. Pedagogically, these results suggest ways of facilitating the acquisition of musical literacy amongst children and beginning readers, particularly in the light of results showing that the reading speed of second-language learners (though not that of native readers) is increased by the insertion of inter-word spaces 33 ; making reading music easier should help those motivated to develop musical expertise to a high level, and it could enhance the intrinsic motivations of those for whom music reading is a painful chore. These results also contribute to a growing body of literature that supports the notion that the physical separation of meaning units facilitates comprehension in texts or symbolic systems in general, irrespective of their domain of application.…”

“…Furthermore, inserting interword spacing into Chinese texts seems to help readers to learn new words. This has been shown for native speakers 31 and for second language learners 32 ; moreover, the effect correlates positively with prior lack of experience with the language 33 . Inserting structuring spaces could therefore be a highly appropriate strategy for music readers, since very few —other than members of a professional elite— could be considered native users of the idioms that they are performing.…”

“…For instance, the filling of interword spaces with letters has proven to produce considerable interference in the reading process 27 , specifically with word identification and eye movement control 28 . Conversely, the facilitatory effect of including interword spacings has been found even for languages conventionally not implementing it, such as Chinese 29,30 , being particularly effective for Second Language and inexperienced readers 33 .…”

The Effect of Word-word Space Reading and Resolutions on Ambiguities of Chinese Segmentation by Advanced L2 Learners of Chinese

“…The reaction time of reading Chinese text with word-word space is faster than that without space (e.g. Bai, Tian & Yan et.al, 2009;Bassetti & Lu, 2016;Gao & Jiang, 2015;Perea & Wang, 2017;Rayner, Fischer & Pollatsek, 1998;Rayner & Pollatsek,1996;Shen et.al, 2012), this result indicates that word-word space can help L2 learners of Chinese read text and they spend less time in reading. Oppositely, word-word space does not significantly increase the reading speed during L2 learners' Chinese reading, and the incorrect space between words decreases their reading speed (e.g.…”

Can Word-Word Space Facilitate L2 Chinese Reading: Evidence From the Two Empirical Studies by Advanced L2 Learners of Mandarin Chinese

“…Measuring reaction time research is a practical experimental approach to observing participants’ processing results in second language acquisition. The reaction time of reading Chinese text with word-word space is faster than that without space (e.g., Bai et al, 2009; Bassetti & Lu, 2016; Gao & Jiang, 2015; Ma, 2017; Perea & Wang, 2017; Rayner & Pollatsek, 1996; Rayner et al, 1998; Shen et al, 2012), this indicates that word-word space can help L2 speakers of Chinese process text and spend less time in reading. On the contrary, word-word space does not significantly increase the reading speed in native reading, and the incorrect space between words decreases their reading speed (e.g., Bassetti, 2005; Everson, 1986; Gao, 2004; Inhoff & Liu, 1997; Li et al, 2009).…”