An Empirical Study of Reading by Chinese English Majors in the Presence of Background Speech
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Xiang He
Abstract
This study investigated how background speech affected L1 and L2 reading of Chinese English major students. English, Dutch, and Mandarin Chinese were respectively set as the second language (L2), foreign language (FL), and first language (L1) background speech conditions. Self-paced word-by-word reading paradigm was used to collect the response time (RT) of each word. The conventional analysis revealed that L1 background speech exerted the most disruptive effect on both L1 and L2 reading and suggested that the background speech effect could be phonological and could be at the stage of phonological processing of L1 and L2 reading. It also implied that L1 phonological processing could be simultaneously activated during L2 reading. Spectral analysis of ten subjects’ reading data indicated that pink noise existed in each time series of word RT of L1 and L2 reading in each condition. It provided clear evidence that L1 and L2 reading processing are similar with different concurrent background speech.
©2014 Walter de Gruyter, Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- A Note from the Guest Editor
- Lexical Phrases as Pathways to Academic Genres: A Report on Two Cases in an EAP Writing Classroom
- A Case Study of Classic Prose as a Psychological Tool in Reflection Writing
- A Case Study of a Chinese English Major’s Argumentative English Writings: Focusing on the Development of Her Thinking and the Facilitating Factors
- Development and Validation of a Test Measuring Language Analytic Ability for Chinese FL learners: A Rasch-Based Pilot Study
- An Empirical Study of Reading by Chinese English Majors in the Presence of Background Speech
- The Development of Lexical Semantic Autonomy of English Majors
- From Learning English to Learning in English: A Comparative Study of the Impact of Learning Contexts upon Chinese EFL Learners’ Strategy Use
- Chinese Abstracts
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- A Note from the Guest Editor
- Lexical Phrases as Pathways to Academic Genres: A Report on Two Cases in an EAP Writing Classroom
- A Case Study of Classic Prose as a Psychological Tool in Reflection Writing
- A Case Study of a Chinese English Major’s Argumentative English Writings: Focusing on the Development of Her Thinking and the Facilitating Factors
- Development and Validation of a Test Measuring Language Analytic Ability for Chinese FL learners: A Rasch-Based Pilot Study
- An Empirical Study of Reading by Chinese English Majors in the Presence of Background Speech
- The Development of Lexical Semantic Autonomy of English Majors
- From Learning English to Learning in English: A Comparative Study of the Impact of Learning Contexts upon Chinese EFL Learners’ Strategy Use
- Chinese Abstracts
