Chinese-English bilinguals transfer L1 lexical reading procedures and holistic orthographic coding to L2 English

This study examines second language (L2) reading by individuals with a Chinese or Korean native literacy (L1) background. It tests a hypothesis about the L1-L2 transfer of word reading procedures, which predicts that Chinese-English (CE) bilinguals transfer a bias towards lexical reading procedures and holistic orthographic coding to L2 English reading, whereas Korean-English (KE) bilinguals transfer a bias towards sublexical reading procedures and analytic orthographic coding. To test this hypothesis, we gave a word naming task to CE and KE groups matched on English language experience and use. The stimuli were English words that varied in frequency and orthographic-phonological consistency, and pronounceable English nonwords. Items were presented in an upright or inverted orientation. The CE bilinguals exhibited slower naming latencies, especially for inverted stimuli. Further, the effects of inversion interacted differently with frequency and consistency across the two groups, with CE bilinguals more sensitive to frequency and KE bilinguals more sensitive to consistency. Group differences in naming accuracy were also observed, even when differences in reading skill were taken into account. Overall, these findings provide evidence for L1-L2 transfer of word reading procedures and demonstrate that stimulus inversion can unmask individual differences in reading style. More generally, they indicate that both lexical and sublexical procedures can support skilled English reading, though the pace of reading development will likely be poorer for readers biased towards lexical reading procedures.