Previous masked translation priming studies, especially those with different-script bilinguals, have shown that cognates provide more priming than noncognates, a difference attributed to cognates' phonological similarity. In our experiments employing a word naming task, we examined this issue for Chinese-Japanese bilinguals in a slightly different…

This book brings applied linguistics and translation studies together through an analysis of literary texts in Chinese, Hindi, Japanese and Korean and their translations. It examines the traces of translanguaging in translated texts with special focus on the strategic use of scripts, morphemes, words, names, onomatopoeias, metaphors, puns and…

In typological literature, there has been disagreement as to whether there should be distinction between relative clauses (RCs) and nominal sentential complements (NSCs) in pro-drop languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Khmer and Thai. In pro-drop languages, nouns can be dropped when its reference can be retrieved from context. Therefore,…

The present study aims to verify the impact of dynamic aids on learning L2 prepositions in relation to individual learner variables. Situated within the cognitive linguistics (CL) framework and differing from previous research, the present study hypothesizes that dynamic (animated) aids are not equally effective for all learners; rather, their…

Previous studies have suggested that word processing in English as a second language (L2) is affected by first language (L1) orthographic features. However, little is known about what affects L2 Chinese character processing in adult Chinese learners with different L1 orthographies such as Japanese, Korean, and English. With a picture-character…

Studies using the lexical decision task with English stimuli have demonstrated that homophones are responded to more slowly than nonhomophonic controls. In contrast, several studies using Chinese stimuli have shown that homophones are responded to more rapidly than nonhomophonic controls. In an attempt to better understand the impact of homophony,…

Many second language acquisition (SLA) studies have traditionally limited their scope of investigation to the description and analysis of errors in L2 learners' use of multiword units. Recently, researchers have begun to approach this topic from a psycholinguistic perspective, examining the processing of multiword units by L2 learners. However,…

The process of reading aloud bare nouns in alphabetic languages is immune to semantic context effects from pictures. This is accounted for by assuming that words in alphabetic languages can be read aloud relatively fast through a sub-lexical grapheme-phoneme conversion (GPC) route or by a direct route from orthography to word form. We examined…

When can children speaking Japanese, English, or Chinese map and extend novel nouns and verbs? Across 6 studies, 3- and 5-year-old children in all 3 languages map and extend novel nouns more readily than novel verbs. This finding prevails even in languages like Chinese and Japanese that are assumed to be verb-friendly languages (e.g., T. Tardif,…

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of the linguistic distance between a first language (L1) and a second language (L2) on neural activity during second language relative to first language processing. We compared different L1-L2 pairs in which different linguistic features characterize linguistic distance. Chinese and Korean native…

Offers an introduction to this themed journal issue dealing with the cognitive processing of the Chinese and the Japanese languages. Discusses processing Chinese, processing Japanese, and research needs. (SR)

Finds that, when only one reading is possible, subjects make a judgment directly, but when multiple readings exist for a given character the subjects first compare the possible readings and make inferences; only when this process is complete do they apply a strategy to identify a reading as On (borrowed from Chinese) or Kun (native Japanese). (SR)

This paper describes four writing systems and discusses research on phonetic coding, eye movements, and cortical processing in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean scripts. Research on word recognition in English, Japanese Kanji and Kana, and Korean Hangul are presented. (Author/MT)

The question of whether it is easier to learn to read through an ideographic, syllabic, or alphabetic writing system is posed. The linguistic nature of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English are examined in relation to differences in information processing and cultural factors related to reading disability. (Author/SEW)

Examined whether superior mathematics performance of students from Japan, Korea, and China may be due, in part, to differences in cognitive representation of number affected by Asian language features. Results suggested that the unique characteristics of the Asian number language system may facilitate the teaching and learning of mathematics,…