L1 Reading Experience Influences L2 Lexical Learning: Spanish Learning in Chinese Speakers and English Speakers

The Effect of First Language Transfer on Second Language Acquisition and Learning: From Contrastive Analysis to Contemporary Neuroimaging

“…Tan et al (2003) used fMRI to study Chinese-English bilinguals' brain activation during the phonological processing of Chinese and English. Chinese has a logographic writing system which is considered morpho-syllabic because each character maps to a syllable and a morpheme (Cao, Sussman, et al, 2017;Cao, Wang, et al, 2019). English has an alphabetic writing system.…”

“…This study provides evidence that linguistic distance between L1 and L2 in terms of writing systems has an effect on whether assimilation or accommodation is engaged. Cao et al (2019) conducted a short-term training study in which English speakers learned Chinese and Spanish simultaneously. The study addressed the effects of orthographic transparency and opacity and the dual-route model.…”

“…The researchers maintain that the engagement of different brain mechanisms depends on the type of L1 reading experience. Cao, Wang, et al (2019) stated that 'When L1 is alphabetic, handwriting facilitates the phonological network; when L1 is logographic, greater reliance on visuo-orthographic analysis is carried over from L1 to the new language, even when the new language does not have a heavy demand on visuo-orthographic analysis. '…”

“…Cao, Sussman, et al (2017) and Cao, Wang, et al (2019: 9) conducted an fMRI neuroimaging study of the brain mechanism of Chinese and English speakers learning Spanish words using speech-based and handwriting-based lexical learning approaches. The research focused on ‘how people with different L1 reading experiences utilize different mechanisms within the brain in response to specific learning methods for L2 lexical learning’.…”

“…Cao, Sussman, et al (2017) and Cao, Wang, et al (2019: 255) found evidence that L1 influences learning; that is, a transfer effect from L1. In the handwriting-learning condition, English L1 speakers engaged a phonological network including the left inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and superior temporal gyrus to a greater extent in the handwriting-learning condition than in the speech-based learning condition.…”