Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2019 Jun 19;62(6):1875-1889. doi: 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-17-0323. Epub 2019 May 14.
Purpose Cantonese lexical tone awareness is closely associated with 1st language Cantonese vocabulary knowledge, but its role in 2nd language English vocabulary knowledge was unclear. We addressed this issue by investigating whether and, if so, how Cantonese lexical tone awareness contributes to English expressive vocabulary knowledge in Hong Kong Cantonese-English bilingual children. Method A sample of 112 Hong Kong Cantonese-English bilingual 2nd graders were tested on Cantonese lexical tone awareness, English lexical stress sensitivity, Cantonese- English segmental phonological awareness, and both Cantonese and English expressive vocabulary knowledge. Results Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that Cantonese lexical tone awareness contributed indirectly to English expressive vocabulary knowledge through English lexical stress sensitivity and Cantonese-English segmental phonological awareness. Conclusion These results demonstrate the role of Cantonese lexical tone awareness in Cantonese-English bilingual children's English vocabulary knowledge. This also underscores the importance of 1st language suprasegmental phonological awareness in 2nd language expressive vocabulary knowledge.
目的 粤语声调意识与第一语言粤语词汇知识密切相关，但它在第二语言英语词汇知识中的作用尚不清楚。我们通过调查粤语声调意识是否以及如何有助于香港粤语-英语双语儿童的英语表达词汇知识来解决这个问题。方法 对 112 名香港粤语-英语双语二年级儿童进行了粤语声调意识、英语词汇重音敏感性、粤语-英语音节语音意识以及粤语和英语表达词汇知识的测试。结果 结构方程模型分析表明，粤语声调意识通过英语词汇重音敏感性和粤语-英语音节语音意识间接影响英语表达词汇知识。结论 这些结果表明了粤语声调意识在粤语-英语双语儿童英语词汇知识中的作用。这也强调了第一语言超音段语音意识在第二语言表达词汇知识中的重要性。
