AI Insight
This eye-tracking study investigated how native Chinese readers and second-language (L2) learners process two-character Chinese words during sentence reading, focusing on morpheme positional probability (MPP) - the likelihood that a morpheme appears at the beginning or end of a word. Results from 76 participants showed that all reader groups use MPP as a statistical cue for word segmentation, but its influence depends on word frequency and processing stage, with L2 learners showing sustained reliance on these positional patterns. In low-frequency words, initial position cues were more stable, while final position cues primarily influenced processing through interaction with initial cues.
Why it matters
These findings have implications for teaching Chinese as a second language, suggesting that explicit instruction about character position patterns within words could support vocabulary acquisition and reading fluency. The results also inform our understanding of how learners develop mental representations of Chinese words when transitioning from beginner to advanced proficiency levels.
Understand the Science
IntroductionChinese text does not mark word boundaries with spaces, requiring readers to rely on statistical cues within character strings for word segmentation and lexical recognition. Morpheme positional probability (MPP), defined as the likelihood that a morpheme occurs in the initial or final position of a two-character word, is one such cue. However, it remains unclear how L2 learners of Chinese use initial and final MPP and whether this use is modulated by whole-word frequency.MethodsUsing a controlled sentence-reading eye-tracking task, this study compared native Chinese readers, intermediate L2 learners, and advanced L2 learners during the processing of high- and low-frequency two-character words in which initial and final MPP were manipulated. Eye-movement data from 76 participants were analyzed using cross-material linear mixed-effects models.ResultsThe results showed significant reader-group effects across first fixation duration, gaze duration, go-past time, and total viewing time. Word frequency significantly affected gaze duration, go-past time, and total viewing time and significantly modulated the effect of initial MPP. The interaction between initial and final MPP varied across frequency conditions: in low-frequency words, initial MPP showed a more stable effect, whereas final MPP mainly influenced processing through its interaction with initial MPP.DiscussionThese findings suggest that MPP functions as an important statistical cue in Chinese word segmentation and recognition, but its contribution is conditional on word frequency, processing stage, and cue configuration. L2 learners’ sustained sensitivity to MPP may reflect less automatized whole-word representations and greater reliance on sublexical processing. Although the present study examined online lexical processing rather than durable vocabulary learning, the findings provide indirect evidence for understanding the development of L2 Chinese lexical representations.