Unfamiliar orthographic information and second language word learning: A novel lexicon study

Showalter, Catherine E.; Hayes‐Harb, Rachel

doi:10.1177/0267658313480154

Cited by 88 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…While a number of studies have demonstrated a facilitative effect of orthographic input for L2 learners (e.g., Escudero et al, 2008; Showalter and Hayes-Harb, 2013), others have found limited or no effect of orthographic input (e.g., Simon et al, 2010; Pytlyk, 2011; Escudero, 2015; Hayes-Harb and Hacking, 2015; Showalter and Hayes-Harb, 2015). Indeed, there are also circumstances where orthographic input can interfere with L2 phonological and lexical acquisition (Bassetti, 2006; Escudero and Wanrooij, 2010; Hayes-Harb et al, 2010; Mathieu, 2016).…”

Section: Orthographic Input and L2 Phonological Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, a number of studies have found no effect of orthographic input in some cases where the graphemes and/or grapheme-phoneme correspondences are unfamiliar (e.g., Simon et al, 2010; Showalter and Hayes-Harb, 2013). Others have even found detrimental effects when the grapheme-phoneme correspondences of the L1 and L2 differ (Young-Scholten, 2002; Hayes-Harb et al, 2010; Hayes-Harb et al, submitted), or when the orthography is entirely unfamiliar (e.g., Mathieu, 2016).…”

Section: Orthographic Input and L2 Phonological Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A small number of studies have specifically investigated the influence of orthographic input on the acquisition of Mandarin by native English speakers (Bassetti, 2006; Pytlyk, 2011; Showalter and Hayes-Harb, 2013). Bassetti (2006) and Pytlyk (2011) specifically explored the acquisition of Mandarin by native English speakers via the written medium of Pinyin , focusing on the potential for interference due to the negative transfer of native English grapheme-phoneme correspondences.…”

Section: Orthographic Input and L2 Phonological Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Influence of the Pinyin and Zhuyin Writing Systems on the Acquisition of Mandarin Word Forms by Native English Speakers

Hayes‐Harb

Cheng

2016

Front. Psychol.

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The role of written input in second language (L2) phonological and lexical acquisition has received increased attention in recent years. Here we investigated the influence of two factors that may moderate the influence of orthography on L2 word form learning: (i) whether the writing system is shared by the native language and the L2, and (ii) if the writing system is shared, whether the relevant grapheme-phoneme correspondences are also shared. The acquisition of Mandarin via the Pinyin and Zhuyin writing systems provides an ecologically valid opportunity to explore these factors. We first asked whether there is a difference in native English speakers' ability to learn Pinyin and Zhuyin grapheme-phoneme correspondences. In Experiment 1, native English speakers assigned to either Pinyin or Zhuyin groups were exposed to Mandarin words belonging to one of two conditions: in the “congruent” condition, the Pinyin forms are possible English spellings for the auditory words (e.g., < nai> for [nai]); in the “incongruent” condition, the Pinyin forms involve a familiar grapheme representing a novel phoneme (e.g., < xiu> for [ɕiou]). At test, participants were asked to indicate whether auditory and written forms matched; in the crucial trials, the written forms from training (e.g., < xiu>) were paired with possible English pronunciations of the Pinyin written forms (e.g., [ziou]). Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1 except that participants additionally saw pictures depicting word meanings during the exposure phase, and at test were asked to match auditory forms with the pictures. In both experiments the Zhuyin group outperformed the Pinyin group due to the Pinyin group's difficulty with “incongruent” items. A third experiment confirmed that the groups did not differ in their ability to perceptually distinguish the relevant Mandarin consonants (e.g., [ɕ]) from the foils (e.g., [z]), suggesting that the findings of Experiments 1 and 2 can be attributed to the effects of orthographic input. We thus conclude that despite the familiarity of Pinyin graphemes to native English speakers, the need to suppress native language grapheme-phoneme correspondences in favor of new ones can lead to less target-like knowledge of newly learned words' forms than does learning Zhuyin's entirely novel graphemes.

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Section: Orthographic Input and L2 Phonological Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Orthographic Input and L2 Phonological Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Orthographic Input and L2 Phonological Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Influence of the Pinyin and Zhuyin Writing Systems on the Acquisition of Mandarin Word Forms by Native English Speakers

Hayes‐Harb

Cheng

2016

Front. Psychol.

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“…In a learning task with English nonwords including these vowels, Escudero, Hayes-Harb, and Mitterer (2008) showed that Dutch-native learners' ability to encode the /ae/-/ɛ/ contrast lexically was determined by the availability of a difference in spelling during the learning phase. Similarly, for native English speakers with no knowledge of Mandarin, even unfamiliar orthographic symbols, namely orthographic tone marks, help to associate auditory lexical tones with new L2 words (Showalter & Hayes-Harb, 2013). 15 Thus, for literate children and adults, orthography can support learning for more variable and transient phonological forms.…”

Section: Support Of Orthographic Representationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does learning to read shape verbal working memory?

Demoulin

Kolinsky

2015

Psychon Bull Rev

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Many experimental studies have investigated the relationship between the acquisition of reading and working memory in a unidirectional way, attempting to determine to what extent individual differences in working memory can predict reading achievement. In contrast, very little attention has been dedicated to the converse possibility that learning to read shapes the development of verbal memory processes. In this paper, we present available evidence that advocates a more prominent role for reading acquisition on verbal working memory and then discuss the potential mechanisms of such literacy effects. First, the early decoding activities might bolster the development of subvocal rehearsal, which, in turn, would enhance serial order performance in immediate memory tasks. In addition, learning to read and write in an alphabetical system allows the emergence of phonemic awareness and finely tuned phonological representations, as well as of orthographic representations. This could improve the quality, strength, and precision of lexical representations, and hence offer better support for the temporary encoding of memory items and/or for their retrieval.

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“…The nonobject differed from one another in terms of visual similarity as well. This method is similar to that in previous studies of spoken language learning (Showalter & Hayes-Harb, 2013, 2015.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Modality-Independent Effects of Phonological Neighborhood Structure on Initial L2 Sign Language Learning

Williams

Newman

2015

RiL

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The goal of the present study was to characterize how neighborhood structure in sign language influences lexical sign acquisition in order to extend our understanding of how the lexicon influences lexical acquisition in both sign and spoken languages. A referentmatching lexical sign learning paradigm was administered to a group of 29 hearing sign language learners in order to create a sign lexicon. The lexicon was constructed based on exposures to signs that resided in either sparse or dense handshape and location neighborhoods. The results of the current study indicated that during the creation of the lexicon signs that resided in sparse neighborhoods were learned better than signs that resided in dense neighborhoods. This pattern of results is similar to what is seen in child first language acquisition of spoken language. Therefore, despite differences in child first language and adult second language acquisition, these results contribute to a growing body of literature that implicates the phonological features that structure of the lexicon is influential in initial stages of lexical acquisition for both spoken and sign languages. This is the first study that uses an innovated lexicon-construction methodology to explore interactions between phonology and the lexicon in L2 acquisition of sign language.

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Unfamiliar orthographic information and second language word learning: A novel lexicon study

Cited by 88 publications

References 19 publications

The Influence of the Pinyin and Zhuyin Writing Systems on the Acquisition of Mandarin Word Forms by Native English Speakers

The Influence of the Pinyin and Zhuyin Writing Systems on the Acquisition of Mandarin Word Forms by Native English Speakers

Does learning to read shape verbal working memory?

Modality-Independent Effects of Phonological Neighborhood Structure on Initial L2 Sign Language Learning

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