College of Education

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Phonological Training and Word Learning in a Novel Language
(Frontiers, 2022-02-17) Li, Yixun; Wang, Min; Li, Chuchu; Li, Man
In reading Chinese words, learners may process segment and tone either separately or as an integral unit, as evidenced in previous research. The present study compared two ways—Segmental versus Whole-Syllable-Based Training—for improving learners’ phonological and word learning in Chinese as a novel language, while controlling for learners’ musical ability, an important factor that may contribute to phonological learning. Forty-two American college students learned Chinese words represented by Pinyin, a Romanized script which denotes the pronunciation of Chinese characters. Before the training, all participants were introduced to the phonology and Pinyin system. Then, they were trained on the pronunciation and meaning of the Pinyin words with or without an emphasis on separating the tonal from segmental information. All participants’ musical ability was assessed using a musical ability test. Learning outcomes were measured through tasks of same-different phonological judgment, tone identification, and word comprehension. Results showed the equal success of the two training methods, probably due to the consistent involvement of Pinyin and learner’s reliance on segment and tone as an integral unit rather than separate cues in phonological and word learning. Furthermore, musical ability seems to play a role in phonological and word learning among novel learners of Chinese.
The Contributions of Segmental and Suprasegmental Information in Reading Chinese Characters Aloud
(PLOS (Public Library of Science), 2015-11-09) Wang, Min; Li, Chuchu; Lin, Candise Y.
The Chinese writing system provides an excellent case for testing the contribution of segmental and suprasegmental information in reading words aloud within the same language. In logographic Chinese characters, neither segmental nor tonal information is explicitly represented, whereas in Pinyin, an alphabetic transcription of the character, both are explicitly represented. Two primed naming experiments were conducted in which the targets were always written characters. When logographic characters served as the primes (Experiment 1), syllable segmental and tonal information appeared to be represented and encoded as an integral unit which in turn facilitated target character naming. When Pinyin served as the primes (Experiment 2), the explicit phonetic representation facilitated encoding of both segmental and suprasegmental information, but with later access to suprasegmental information. In addition, Chinese speakers were faster to name characters than Pinyin in a simple naming task (Experiment 3), suggesting that Pinyin may be read via a phonological assembly route, whereas characters may be read via a lexical route. Taken together, our findings point to the need to consider the contributions of both segmental and suprasegmental information and the time course in the well-established models for reading aloud, as well as the cognitive mechanisms underlying the reading aloud of logographic characters versus alphabetic Pinyin script.
The Influence of Orthographic Experiences on the Development of Functional Phonological Unit in Spoken Word Production
(2015) Li, Chuchu; Wang, Min; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The current dissertation project examined the influence of orthographic experiences on the development of the functional phonological unit in spoken word production in native Mandarin-speaking children. Functional phonological unit refers to the first selectable phonological unit after lexical selection in the planning of spoken word production. Previous research has shown that the acquisition of orthographic knowledge restructures literate speakers’ phonological representation and in particular, the acquisition of alphabetic orthographic knowledge improves children’s phonological awareness at the phonemic level. However, few studies have investigated the influence of orthographic experiences on phonological retrieval and encoding in spoken word production. The goal of this dissertation is to fill this gap. Four experiments were carried out to conduct the investigation. Participants consisted of native Mandarin speakers from four age groups with different orthographic experiences, including 1) Grade 1 children, who were comparatively more exposed to alphabetic Pinyin and had very limited Chinese character knowledge, 2) Grade 2 and Grade 4 children, who had better character knowledge and more exposure to characters, and 3) adult readers, who had the highest level of character knowledge and the most exposure to characters. Experiment 1 investigated whether the onset served as the functional phonological unit in producing monosyllables; Experiment 2 investigated whether the role of the onset in phonological retrieval and encoding was sustained when producing disyllabic words; Experiment 3 examined the role of the syllable segment (i.e., a syllable whose tone is indeterminate or an atonal syllable) in producing disyllabic words; Experiment 4 examined the role of the tonal syllable (i.e., tonal information is also included) in producing disyllabic words. Results showed that only Grade 1 children selected the onset as the functional phonological unit regardless of the word length during spoken word production and that additionally, they might process the rime segment and tone as a cohesive unit. By contrast, Grade 4 children and adults selected the syllable segment as the functional phonological unit. Grade 2 children were in their transitional stage of development, and they selected tonal syllable as the functional phonological unit. The different orthographic experiences of the four groups might contribute to the above differences. The current dissertation has important theoretical and pedagogical implications. The aforementioned findings help us better understand the mechanism of phonological processing, and as a result, may help educators develop more efficient pedagogical approaches to improve children’s phonological processing ability.

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