Author: Huijing Jin
Jin, Huijing, 2023 A Comparison of the Phonological and Morphological Awareness between Mandarin and Korean–Mandarin Speakers on English Language Learning, Flinders University, College of Nursing and Health Sciences
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This study compared Korean–Mandarin bilinguals and Mandarin monolinguals who were learning English to understand whether bilinguals have an advantage in their awareness of phonology and morphology. The original contribution of this research is that it broadens third language (L3) acquisition research by comparing the phonological and morphological awareness of bilingual and monolingual teenagers. The study measures whether bilinguals have advantages in the phonological and morphological awareness of English as an L3. The bilingual participants in the present study were notable because they were simultaneous Korean–Mandarin bilinguals rather than sequential bilingual language learners. Cenoz (2000) explained that sequential language learners obtained languages sequentially. However, simultaneous bilingual learners acquire two languages (L1 and L2) simultaneously and then learn an L3. In the current study, the bilingual participants were junior high school students. They acquired Mandarin and Korean from birth and then commenced learning English in primary school. Mandarin monolingual speakers acquired Mandarin from birth and started learning English at the same age as the bilingual participants in primary school.
This study proposes that bilinguals have an advantage in acquiring English phonological and morphological awareness. Accordingly, this study theorises that there are positive phonological and morphological effects from previous languages on the target language. It also shows the effects of similarities and differences among the three languages—Mandarin, Korean and English—from the perspective of phonology, morphology and language transfer.
This research aspires to improve language teachers’ and students’ awareness of trilingualism, especially focusing on teachers fully utilising the learners’ previous language knowledge to learn a second or a third language. There are also implications for teachers’ instructional strategies in the English as a foreign language classroom. The study also aims to explore the cross-linguistic influence and positive transfer from Mandarin and Korean to English. The research analyses the linguistic similarities between Mandarin, Korean and English to discuss the possibilities of the facilitative effect of bilingual learners’ prior language experience on L3 learning. The study researches the causes and factors that affect positive transfer.
The data were collected from a public Mandarin monolingual junior high school and a public bilingual Mandarin–Korean junior high school in China. Altogether, 271 participants were included in the dataset: 111 in the Mandarin monolingual group and 160 in the Korean–Mandarin bilingual group. All participants answered a language background questionnaire. The monolingual participants completed four language tasks (two for English and two for Mandarin). The bilingual participants completed six language tasks (two for English, two for Mandarin and two for Korean).
The t-test results indicated no significant difference in Mandarin phonological and morphological awareness between the two groups. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the English phonological and morphological awareness. The results showed that bilinguals performed significantly better than monolinguals in phonological and morphological awareness. Bilingual participants seemed to have benefited from their previous knowledge of Korean in learning English as L3, which indicates a bilingual advantage.
In the L3 language acquisition literature, scholars’ arguments concentrate on how L1 and L2 interact with L3. Four compelling models are discussed in this study: the Cumulative-Enhancement Model (CEM), the L2 status factor model, the Typological Primacy Model and the Linguistic Proximity Model. This study confirmed the CEM: bilinguals’ previous language experience facilitated their achievement of higher scores in English phonological and morphological awareness tasks than monolinguals. Korean, Mandarin and English, a different language combination to the combination in Flynn et al. (2004), obtained identical results to the CEM. Bilinguals performed better in their other language (Mandarin phonological awareness), which influenced their English phonological awareness (Flynn et al., 2004; Jessner, 1999).
The current study also aimed to share opinions of English teachers working in bilingual schools about improving the understanding of bilingual learners’ language experience so they can teach English more effectively. English teachers and policymakers should investigate the students’ prior language experience, focus on the similarities between Mandarin, Korean and English, and adjust their pedagogical approach to English teaching. This study has implications for English teachers in bilingual schools to be aware of the positive transfer of phonology and morphology from previously acquired languages. The findings from this study will also benefit future research on minority education in China.
Keywords: third language acquisition, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, English learning, Mandarin, Korean, ethnic Korean–Chinese, language transfer
Subject: Linguistics thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2023
School: College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Supervisor: Dr Amanda Müller