Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 10:1 (2020) ► pp.109–151

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The influence of the native language on phonological preparation in spoken word production in a second language

ORCiD logo with link | University of California, San Diego
 | University of Pennsylvania | Amazon Web Services, Seattle
 | University of Maryland, College Park
Published online: 20 February 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.16027.li
Abstract
Three experiments investigated the phonological preparation unit in planning English spoken words, comparing English monolinguals, native Chinese and Japanese-speakers who spoke English as their second language. All three groups named pictures in English, and the names could either share the same initial phoneme, mora, or syllable, or had no systematic commonality. A phoneme preparation effect was shown among English monolinguals but not among the two bilingual groups, suggesting that the phoneme is the phonological preparation unit for English monolinguals, but not for the two bilingual groups. All three groups showed mora and syllable preparation effects, but further analysis and a follow-up experiment suggested that Chinese-English bilinguals may treat morae as open syllables. English monolinguals showed similar phoneme and mora preparation effect sizes, possibly as a result of flexibility. Together, the selection of phonological preparation could be flexible, influenced by both the nature of the target language and speakers’ language experiences.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Cross-linguistic differences in the preferred preparation unit
      • 1.1.1Germanic languages
      • 1.1.2Mandarin chinese
      • 1.1.3Japanese
    • 1.2Flexibility in phonological preparation in L1
    • 1.3The phonological preparation unit in a second language (L2)
    • 1.4The present study
  • 2.Experiment 1: The role of phoneme in phonological preparation
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Design and materials
    • 2.3Procedure
    • 2.4Results and discussion
  • 3.Experiment 2a: The role of mora in phonological preparation
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Design, materials and procedure
    • 3.3Results and discussion
  • 4.Experiment 2b: The role of mora with legal coda in Mandarin
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Design, materials and procedure
    • 4.3Results and discussion
  • 5.Experiment 3: The role of syllable in phonological preparation
    • 5.1Design, materials and procedure
    • 5.2Results and discussion
  • 6.General discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (52)
References
Alario, F. -X., Perre, L., Castel, C., & Ziegler, J. C. (2007). The role of orthography in speech production revisited. Cognition, 102(3), 464–475. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2013). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.0-5. [URL]
Bock, K. (1991). A sketchbook of production problems. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Special Issue: Sentence Processing, 201, 141–160. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, J. -Y. (1993). A small corpus of speech errors in Mandarin Chinese and their classification. World of Chinese Language, 691, 26–41.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, J. -Y., Chen, T. -M., & Dell, G. S. (2002). Word-Form Encoding in Mandarin Chinese as Assessed by the Implicit Priming Task. Journal of Memory and Language, 46(4), 751–781. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, J. -Y., & Li, C. -Y. (2011). Word form encoding in Chinese word naming and word typing. Cognition, 121(1), 140–146. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, T. -M., & Chen, J. -Y. (2013). The syllable as the proximate unit in Mandarin Chinese word production: An intrinsic or accidental property of the production system? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20(1), 154–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, J. Y., Lin, W. C., & Ferrand, L. (2003). Masked priming of the syllable in Mandarin Chinese speech production. Chinese Journal of Psychology, 45(1), 107–120.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheng, C. -C. (1973). A synchronic phonology of Mandarin Chinese. The Hague: Mouton Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Damian, M. F., & Dumay, N. (2007). Time pressure and phonological advance planning in spoken production. Journal of Memory and Language, 571, 195–209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Exploring phonological encoding through repeated segments. Language and Cognitive Processes, 241, 685–712. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dupoux, E., Kakehi, K., Hirose, Y., Pallier, C., & Mehler, J. (1999). Epenthetic vowels in Japanese: A perceptual illusion? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25(6), 1568–1581.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Durgunoğlu, A. Y., Nagy, W. E., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(3), 453–465. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forster, K. I., & Forster, J. C. (2003). DMDX: A windows display program with millisecond accuracy. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 351, 116–124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldinger, S. D., & Azuma, T. (2003). Puzzle-solving science: The quixotic quest for units in speech perception. Journal of Phonetics, 31(3), 305–320. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gottardo, A., Yan, B., Siegel, L. S., & Wade-Woolley, L. (2001). Factors related to English reading performance in children with Chinese as a first language: More evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(3), 530–542. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grotjahn, R., Klein-Braley, C., & Raatz, U. (2002). C-Test: an over-view. In J. A. Coleman, R. Grotjahn & U. Raatz (Eds.), University Language Testing and the C-Test. (pp. 93–114). Bochum: AKS-Verlag Finkenstaedt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyman, L. M. (1985) A theory of phonological weight. Dordrecht: Foris. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ida, K., Nakayama, M., & Lupker, S. J. (2015). The functional phonological unit of Japanese-English bilinguals is language dependent: Evidence from masked onset and mora priming effects. Japanese Psychological Research, 57(1), 38–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jacobs, C. L. & Dell, G. S. (2014). ‘hotdog’ not ‘hot’ ‘dog’: The phonological planning of compound words. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 291, 512–523. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kanopka, A. E. (2012). Planning ahead: How recent experience with structures and words changes the scope of linguistic planning. Journal of Memory and Language, 401, 153–194.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kinoshita, S. (2000). The left-to-right nature of the masked onset priming effect in naming. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 71, 133–141. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kubozono, H. (1989).The mora and syllable structure in Japanese: Evidence from speech errors. Language and Speech, 32(3), 249–278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kureta, Y., Fushimi, T., Sakuma, N., & Tatsumi, I. F. (2015). Orthographic influences on the word-onset phoneme preparation effect in native Japanese speakers: Evidence from the word-form preparation paradigm. Japanese Psychological Research, 57(1), 50–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kureta, Y., Fushimi, T., & Tatsumi, I. F. (2006). The functional unit in phonological encoding: Evidence for moraic representation in native Japanese speakers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(5), 1102–1119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuznetsova, A., Brockhoff, P. B., & Christensen, R. H. B. (2015). lmerTest: tests in linear mixed effects models. R package version 2.0-29. [URL]
Levelt, W. J. M. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Bradford, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. (1992). Accessing words in speech production: Stages, processes and representations. Cognition, 42(1), 1–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J., Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S. (1999). A theory of lexical access in speech production. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(01), 1–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, C., Wang, M., & Davis, J. A. (2017). The phonological preparation unit in spoken word production in a second language. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20 (2), 2017, 351–366. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, C., Wang, M., & Idsardi, W. (2015). The effect of orthographic form-cuing on the phonological preparation unit in spoken word production. Memory & Cognition, 43(4), 563–578. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50(4), 940–967. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meyer, A. S. (1990). The time course of phonological encoding in language production: The encoding of successive syllables of a word. Journal of Memory and Language, 29(5), 524–545. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Bialystok, E., Chong, K. K., & Li, Y. (2004). Levels of phonological awareness in three cultures. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 89(2), 93–111. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meyer, A. S. (1991). The time course of phonological encoding in language production: Phonological encoding inside a syllable. Journal of Memory and Language, 30(1), 69–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nakayama, M., Kinoshita, S., & Verdonschot, R. G. (2016). The Emergence of a Phoneme-Sized Unit in L2 Speech Production: Evidence from Japanese–English Bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology, 71: 175. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Seaghdha, P. G., Chen, J. -Y., & Chen, T. -M. (2010). Proximate units in word production: Phonological encoding begins with syllables in Mandarin Chinese but with segments in English. Cognition, 115(2), 282–302. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Séaghdha, P. G., & Frazer, A. K. (2014). The exception does not rule: Attention constrains form preparation in word production. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(3), 797–810. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Otake, T., Hatano, G., Cutler, A., & Mehler, J. (1993). Mora or syllable? Speech segmentation in Japanese. Journal of memory and language, 32(2), 258–278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Development Core Team. (2008). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. 3-900051-07-0, URL [URL].
Roelofs, A. (1999). Phonological segments and features as planning units in speech production. Language and Cognitive Processes, 14(2), 173–200. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S. (1998). Metrical structure in planning the production of spoken words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24(4), 922–939. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shu, H., Peng, H., & McBride-Chang, C. (2008). Phonological awareness in young Chinese children. Developmental Science, 11(1), 171–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tseng, C. H., Huang, K. Y., & Jeng, J. Y. (1996). The role of the syllable in perceiving spoken Chinese. Proceedings of the National Science Council, 6(1), 7l–86Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van de Velde, M., Meyer, A. S., & Konopka, A. E. (2014). Message formulation and structural assembly: describing “easy” and “hard” events with preferred and dispreferred syntactic structures. Journal of Memory and Language, 71(1), 124–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verdonschot, R. G., Kiyama, S., Tamaoka, K., Kinoshita, S., La Heij, W., & Schiller, N. O. (2011). The functional unit of Japanese word naming: evidence from masked priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(6), 1458–1473.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verdonschot, R. G., Lai, J., Chen, F., Tamaoka, K., & Schiller, N. O. (2015). Constructing initial phonology in Mandarin Chinese: Syllabic or subsyllabic? A masked priming investigation. Japanese Psychological Research, 57(1), 61–68. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verdonschot, R. G., Nakayama, M., Zhang, Q., Tamaoka, K., & Schiller, N. O. (2013). The Proximate Phonological Unit of Chinese-English Bilinguals: Proficiency Matters. PLoS ONE, 8(4), e61454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wagner, V., Jescheniak, J. D., & Schriefers, H. (2010). On the flexibility of grammatical advance planning during sentence production: Effects of cognitive load on multiple lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(2), 423–440.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wong, A. W. -K., & Chen, H. -C. (2008). Processing segmental and prosodic information in Cantonese word production. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 341, 1172–1190.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). What are effective phonological units in Cantonese spoken word planning? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 161, 888–892. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
You, W., Zhang, Q., & Verdonschot, R. G. (2012). Masked syllable priming effects in word and picture naming in Chinese. PloS One, 7(10), e46595. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Wang, Man, Shuai Liu, Jiahuan Zhang & Niels O. Schiller
2025. The effect of proficiency on phonological encoding in L2 speech production. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Wing-Kuen Wong, Andus, Terri Yuen-King Ng, Yiu-Kei Tsang & Hsuan-Chih Chen
2025. Phonological planning in Cantonese–English bilingual speech production. International Journal of Bilingualism 29:1 ► pp. 237 ff. DOI logo
Li, Chuchu, Min Wang, Say Young Kim, Donald J. Bolger & Kelly Wright
2022. Phonological Preparation in Korean: Phoneme, or Syllable or Another Unit?. Language and Speech 65:2 ► pp. 337 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue