The effects of linguistic similarities between L1 and L2 on L2 Chinese and English literacy acquisition

Abstract

This study examines how language distance between first language (L1) and second language (L2) affects L2 Chinese and English lexical processing using event-related potential (ERP). Twenty-two native Koreans L2 Chinese and English learners were recruited to complete delayed naming task in their L2s with results compared to those of native Chinese and English. ERP results showed left lateralization effect at N170 only in L1 readers, clarifying N170’s expertise-dependent property. In Chinese, significant frequency effect was found in late positive component (LPC) for both groups, but was only seen in regular characters in L1 readers at N400, possibly explained by sensitivity to frequency and/or regularity. No significant regularity effect was found. The frequency by regularity interaction effect reveals greater processing for less familiar irregular words. In English, the early frequency effect in L1 reflected higher proficiency. L2 readers had unexpectedly early consistency effect, revealing greater processing demand for inconsistent words, which was probably affected by their phonologically transparent L1. L2 readers also exhibited an early frequency by consistency interaction effect at N400. This study suggests that Koreans, with an alphabetic L1 of shallow orthography, rely heavily on phonological information in lexical processing, confirming that L1-L2 lexical similarity affects L2 literacy acquisition.