This study provides a systematic psycholinguistic analysis of the 3000 characters prescribed in the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education (CPGS). Drawing on the Dual-Route Model of reading and Cognitive Load Theory, it examines how character distribution and phonetic radical consistency influence the developmental trajectory of second language (L2) character acquisition. Characters were classified into phono-semantic compounds (PSCs) and non-phono-semantic characters (NPSCs), with phonetic transparency quantified via a 6-point scoring system. We further distinguished between external consistency (radical-to-character mapping) and internal consistency (regularity within radical families). Results indicate that PSCs constitute 65.9% of the corpus, with their density increasing markedly from approximately 35% at Level 1 to nearly 80% at Levels 7-9. This distribution reveals a "beginner bottleneck" where low sublexical support necessitates a reliance on the lexical route (rote memorization), imposing a high intrinsic cognitive load. Furthermore, nearly half of the NPSCs (46.97%) were found to function as latent phonetic radicals, providing critical scaffolding for later acquisition. The analysis identified 194 high-value phonetic radicals that support the non-lexical route through both direct mapping and orthographic analogy. These findings suggest that even when phonetic transparency is low, high internal consistency allows for analogical inference, effectively shifting cognitive resources toward germane load. This study offers a data-driven framework for an actionable pedagogical syllabus, prioritizing high-value radicals to bootstrap sublexical processing and optimize the cognitive rebalancing required for efficient L2 Chinese literacy development.
Research on the cognate facilitation effect (CFE) in sequential bilinguals and trilinguals' lexical processing has offered important insights into the structure of the multilingual mental lexicon. A key cross‐linguistic factor that has received particular attention is second language (L2) proficiency, yet its role in different‐script trilinguals remains underexplored. The present study addressed this issue in L2 and L3 lexical processing among Chinese–English–Spanish trilinguals using lexical decision tasks. By manipulating L2 proficiency and measuring the strength of CFE through reaction times and accuracy, the study aimed to investigate orthographic‐overlap‐driven, form‐based cross‐language activation between the two non‐native languages. The findings provide preliminary evidence that the strength of form‐based L2–L3 cross‐language activation may vary with L2 proficiency, and they are compatible with the possibility that more entrenched lexical representations reduce reliance on orthographic overlap during visual word recognition.
Hao Chen, Fei Gao, Chuqiao Song et al.· International Journal of App...· 0 citations
The present study examines the role of lexico-phonological distance in shaping vocabulary acquisition within Arabic diglossia, drawing on 299 Arabic-speaking children with and without learning disabilities across Grades 1-6. Performance followed a consistent gradient: identical words were easiest; unique words hardest; cognates fell between. This hierarchy held across both receptive and expressive tasks and remained stable over development; the Grade × Word Type interaction was non-significant, indicating that distance-related constraints remain stable with schooling. More telling was the Group × Word Type interaction: the performance gap between typically developing (TD) and learning-disabled (LD) children widened disproportionately for unique words, where the demands of representational construction meet reduced phonological processing resources. A modality asymmetry further qualified the picture: expressive vocabulary proved more sensitive to diglossic distance than receptive vocabulary, consistent with the heavier retrieval demands production places on underspecified representations. Theoretically, the findings are interpreted within MAWRID, which treats linguistic distance as a constraint on representational quality and the Lexical Quality Hypothesis, which links representational precision to lexical access efficiency. These findings implicate lexico-phonological distance as a structural, developmentally persistent constraint on lexical acquisition in Arabic diglossia, with disproportionate consequences for children with compromised phonological resources.
This study examines interlanguage interference within the context of foreign language education in Kazakhstan. Drawing on an analysis of pedagogical practices and statistical data, this study identifies the primary error types and methods for preventing interlanguage interference. Interlanguage interference occurs when learning Kazakh, Russian, and English within a trilingual education setting. Difficulties arise in phonetics, grammar, and lexis, manifesting as pronunciation errors (e.g., substituting/
θ
/ with/s/) and non-canonical word order. The lexical difficulties included the translator's “false friends.” To minimize interference, the study recommends exercises that facilitate explicit comparison of language structures and grammatical features. Systemic language teaching refers to a structured learning process in which the review of simple constructions gradually shifts to more complex ones. The cognitive-communicative approach is associated with caution due to the quasi-experimental design. A survey on the level of lexical skills development in the context of interlanguage interference, which was conducted on the basis of the Nazarbayev Intellectual School (116 people) and the Nurmakov specialized boarding school (146 people), indicated the following results: a high level of lexical skills—50%, a medium level of lexical skills—40%, and a low level of lexical skills—10%. Thus, the combination of systemic and cognitive-communicative approaches has reduced the impact of interlanguage interference in the study of Kazakh, Russian, and English.
Marina Knol, D. Assanova, G. Smagulova et al.· Frontiers in Education· 0 citations
The perception of Russian toponyms by Chinese learners often brings the logic of spatial partitioning and linguocultural knowledge into conflict with practical speech application. This study systematizes the associative, emotional-evaluative, and phonetic-graphic features of Russian toponym acquisition by Chinese speakers. Theoretically, it draws on A. A. Leontiev’s psycholinguistic theory of speech activity, cognitive linguistics, and the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language. A directed associative experiment with 56 Chinese students (B1–B2) utilized ten high-frequency Russian toponyms as stimuli. The four-stage procedure included recording three associations, audio-recording pronunciation, a structured interview, and processing 1,680 reactions via content analysis, psycholinguistic commentary, and phonetic observation. The findings indicate that the core of associative fields consists of textbook stereotypes. Toponyms with vivid natural imagery are perceived most positively. Systematic articulatory difficulties and a notable influence of hieroglyphic transcription were identified; the latter generates quasi-etymologies and distorts cultural semantics. Articulatory difficulties heighten cognitive tension and trigger speech reduction of toponyms. Based on these results, a linguodidactic model is proposed, featuring a three-component toponym introduction (phonetics, cultural commentary, and comparison with hieroglyphic transcription), the targeted development of an emotional component, a bilingual associative dictionary, and the systematic use of hieroglyphic transcription for metalinguistic reflection. The model aims at building comprehensive toponymic competence by integrating the cognitive styles and evaluative strategies of Chinese learners.
Yoonsang Song· Bulletin of Science and Prac...· 0 citations
Introduction: Multilingual speakers frequently report that operating in a different language involves more than a change in grammatical system. The phenomenon at issue is linguistic frame switching (LFS): the involuntary reorganisation of cognitive, emotional, and identity-relevant schemas when a multilingual speaker moves between languages. This study investigated whether German–English bilinguals exhibit systematic language-dependent differences in self-perception and narrative content.
Materials and methods: This report presents findings from an original mixed-methods study of 27 German–English bi- and multilinguals, combining self-report questionnaire data with computational text analysis (linguistic inquiry and word count, LIWC) of matched narrative pairs elicited by identical picture prompts in both languages at a six-week interval.
Results: Approximately 78% of the participants reported feeling distinctly different when using their respective languages (21 of 27; χ2(1) = 8.33, p = 0.004). LIWC analysis revealed systematic cross-linguistic divergences: German narratives were consistently richer in cognitive processing, occupation-related content, and achievement themes; English narratives were higher in social process language. At the individual level, the contrasts were sometimes dramatic—the same person, the same picture, but two narratives that read as if written by different authors.
Conclusions: It is argued that these patterns cannot be explained by code-switching or translation equivalence effects alone. LFS, the present report suggests, has largely untapped implications for how neuroscience conceptualises the brain–mind–environment relationship. These findings are exploratory and subject to important limitations: the sample was small (N = 27) and self-selected, language proficiency was self-rated rather than objectively measured, and no monolingual control group was included.
Judith Zangerle· Academia Neuroscience and Br...· 0 citations
This study examines the patterned formation and interactional functions of
amn
-series (e.g.,
bamn
,
samn
,
tamn
) in contemporary Chinese social media. Drawing on a corpus of 2,095 tokens from Weibo, the analysis investigates morpho-phonological patterning, analogy-based semantic anchoring, and cross-script integration. The findings suggest that a stylized rendering of the English word
damn
becomes stabilized in writing as a prosodically salient template and refunctionalized into a productive phonosemiotic construction in Mandarin. These forms are systematically integrated into Mandarin grammar and interaction, where they serve affective, evaluative, interpersonal, and metalinguistic functions. The study contributes to translanguaging research by demonstrating that what circulates across languages and platforms may include prosodically salient patterns, not only lexical or script-based resources. It further shows how such patterns are structured through analogy and embedded in local linguistic practices, highlighting prosodic templating as a key mechanism in digitally mediated communication.
Jianxin Yang, Yililan Wang· Discourse & Communicatio...· 0 citations
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