How First-Language Orthography Shapes L2 Chinese Character Processing

Description

This study examines how learners’ native writing systems shape processing of Chinese characters as a second language, focusing on the roles of semantic and phonetic radicals and their typical spatial arrangements. Three participant groups were formed based on their writing-system experience and exposure to logographic signs: an alphabetic group (users of sound-based alphabets), a Korean group (users of a sound-based script but within the historical Sinosphere), and a Japanese group (users of a system that incorporates Chinese characters as meaning-bearing units). A picture–pseudo-character ranking task probed Chinese learners’ reliance on radical information. The findings indicate that L2 Chinese learners can access both phonological and semantic information at the radical level, but their weighting of these sources is shaped by first-language orthographic experience and by whether radicals appear in familiar spatial configurations. Learners from alphabetic backgrounds show a stronger tendency to rely on phonetic cues, likely reflecting experience with sound-letter mappings. Japanese learners, familiar with characters that convey meaning, favour semantic components and are more influenced by conventional layouts. Korean learners fall between these profiles, often integrating both types of information. Pedagogically, these findings suggest tailoring Chinese character instruction to learners’ backgrounds.

Period	23 Apr 2026
Held at	School of Education, Shanghai International Studies University, China
Degree of Recognition	Regional