The Status of the First Letter Improves with Second Language Proficiency for Different-Script Bilinguals: Evidence from Chinese-English Bilinguals
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| Title: | The Status of the First Letter Improves with Second Language Proficiency for Different-Script Bilinguals: Evidence from Chinese-English Bilinguals |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Fengjiao Cong, Changze Zhao, Baoguo Chen (ORCID |
| Source: | International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 2025 28(7):726-743. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Bilingualism, Chinese, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Spelling, Orthographic Symbols, Graphemes, Phoneme Grapheme Correspondence, Brain, Language Proficiency, Cognitive Processes, Romanization, Vocabulary, Semantics, Validity |
| Geographic Terms: | China |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13670050.2025.2468168 |
| ISSN: | 1367-0050 1747-7522 |
| Abstract: | The present study aimed to examine whether the first-letter identity/position advantage in the Roman script could be generalized to Chinese-English bilinguals with different scripts and to address the mechanism underlying the first-letter advantage in Chinese-English bilinguals. Four types of nonwords (substituted-first letter nonwords, e.g. lrunk; substituted-internal letter nonwords, e.g. tronk; transposed-first letter nonwords, e.g. rtunk; transposed-internal letter nonwords; e.g. turnk) plus base words (e.g. trunk) were briefly presented to participants, and the EEG signal of participants was recorded while they performed a lexical decision task. ERP results in N400 show that there was a first-letter identity advantage in Chinese-English bilinguals, and the first-letter position advantage increased with English proficiency. These findings suggest that (a) the first-letter advantage also exists in Chinese-English bilinguals, and (b) the mechanism behind it is adaptive modification rather than sequential processing, which supports the modified receptive field (MRF) hypothesis. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1492691 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The present study aimed to examine whether the first-letter identity/position advantage in the Roman script could be generalized to Chinese-English bilinguals with different scripts and to address the mechanism underlying the first-letter advantage in Chinese-English bilinguals. Four types of nonwords (substituted-first letter nonwords, e.g. lrunk; substituted-internal letter nonwords, e.g. tronk; transposed-first letter nonwords, e.g. rtunk; transposed-internal letter nonwords; e.g. turnk) plus base words (e.g. trunk) were briefly presented to participants, and the EEG signal of participants was recorded while they performed a lexical decision task. ERP results in N400 show that there was a first-letter identity advantage in Chinese-English bilinguals, and the first-letter position advantage increased with English proficiency. These findings suggest that (a) the first-letter advantage also exists in Chinese-English bilinguals, and (b) the mechanism behind it is adaptive modification rather than sequential processing, which supports the modified receptive field (MRF) hypothesis. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1367-0050 1747-7522 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13670050.2025.2468168 |
