The relationship between the morphological knowledge and L2 online processing of derivational words

Abstract

Objectives/Research Questions: Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of morphological knowledge on second language (L2) online processing of derivational words by Chinese first language (L1)–English L2 learners. Methodology: Experiment 1 was performed at the single word level with a masked priming paradigm using the lexical decision task. Experiment 2 was conducted at the sentence level with a self-paced reading paradigm. According to their performance on the morphological knowledge test, the Chinese (L1)–English (L2) learners were grouped into two groups: a high morphological knowledge group and a low morphological knowledge group; and these were matched for proficiency. Data and Analysis: Data were analyzed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. In Experiment 1, mean response times and accuracy of the derived suffixed primes were analyzed between the two groups. In Experiment 2, mean response times in the regions of interest were analyzed between the two groups. Findings/Conclusions: In Experiment 1, results showed that a full priming effect was evident in the group with high morphological knowledge, indicating application of rule-based decompositions, whereas this effect was not observed in the group with low morphological knowledge. In Experiment 2, the group with high morphological knowledge had a significant processing cost in processing the derivational words, suggesting the employment of rule-governed decomposition. These results suggest that morphological knowledge plays an important role in online L2 morphological processing. Originality: In L2 morphology literature, the current study empirically explored the role of morphological knowledge in derivational processing. Significance/Implications: The study suggested that improvements in morphological knowledge can facilitate the rule-based processing of L2.

Effects of L1 morphological type on L2 morphological awareness

“…Although few studies have compared advanced adult L2 learners from different L1 morphological types in their L2 morphological awareness, results from previous online morphological processing studies of advanced adult L2 learners have hinted at the probability of an effect of L1 morphological type on L2 morphological awareness. First, offline L2 morphological awareness has been shown to influence online L2 morphological processing in advanced adult L2 learners after controlling for language proficiency (Deng et al, 2016(Deng et al, , 2017. L2 learners with higher morphological awareness have a greater tendency to automatically decompose morphologically complex words online, similarly to native speakers (Deng et al, 2016(Deng et al, , 2017.…”

“…First, offline L2 morphological awareness has been shown to influence online L2 morphological processing in advanced adult L2 learners after controlling for language proficiency (Deng et al, 2016(Deng et al, , 2017. L2 learners with higher morphological awareness have a greater tendency to automatically decompose morphologically complex words online, similarly to native speakers (Deng et al, 2016(Deng et al, , 2017. Deng et al suggested that L2 learners with higher morphological awareness might be more inclined to explicitly analyse morphologically complex words into separate morphemes during reading, which, with practice, could contribute to more native-like automatic online decomposition of morphologically complex words.…”

A Corpus Study of the English Suffixes -ness and -acy: Productivity, Genre, and Implications for L2 Learning

“…Often taking the form of masked priming tasks, numerous studies have revealed learner sensitivity to L2 morphology (Bosch et al 2017;Deng et al, 2016a;Rehak & Juffs, 2010). Critically, to date most of these L2 processing studies have focused on inflection, not derivation, as Deng et al (2016a) note. For example, in Rehak and Juffs (2010), participants with English, Spanish, and Chinese L1s ("advanced/proficient" L2 English) 1 completed lexical decision tasks in English involving words with derivational prefixes.…”

“…We highlight, however, two notable exceptions of studies that measure participants' morphological knowledge prior to conducting processing research. In Deng et al (2016a), the 40 Chinese-speaking learners of English were given a morphological knowledge test in which participants selected correct word forms. After controlling for overall language proficiency (B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] for both groups), it was found that greater priming occurred for the group with higher morphological knowledge, as well as slower reading times.…”

“…Nevertheless, based on these findings, there are implications for language teaching, suggesting that time in the classroom should be devoted to improving learners' explicit derivational morphological knowledge. In fact, since morphology plays an important role in demonstrating a learner's ability to shift between registers (Roche & Harrington, 2013), a hallmark of advanced language use (Bayley & Tarone, 2012;Geeslin, 2018), and since morphological phenomena have shown to pose a learning problem (Bosch et al, 2017), the need to devote curricular attention to instruction on morphological patterns seems paramount, with preliminary evidence suggesting that such knowledge can indeed be deployed quite fruitfully (Deng et al, 2016a).…”