Chinese Text Presentations and Reading Efficiency

Repository record updated on:

April 20, 2022, 10:28 p.m.

Database record updated on:

May 2, 2022, 9:28 p.m.

Last Harvested on:

May 2, 2022, 9:28 p.m.

bitstream:

['http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/67416/1/34_1_10125-67416.pdf']

bitstream_extra:

[]

bitstream_txt:

['http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/67416/2/34_1_10125-67416.pdf.txt']

collection:

Volume 34, No. 1

contributor.author:

Yu, Qiaona

date.accessioned:

2022-04-19T00:28:03Z

date.available:

2022-04-19T00:28:03Z

date.issued:

2022-04-15

description.abstract:

Unlike alphabetic languages, Chinese text marks no word demarcation. Previous research inserted word-demarcating spaces into Chinese text but found inconsistent effects on reading efficiency. To address the potential trade-off effects of the additional length caused by inserted spaces, this study introduces color-and-font formatting as a word demarcation. A total of 41 first-language (L1) and English-speaking second-language (L2) Chinese speakers read Chinese text presented in conventional, interword spaced, nonword spaced, interword formatted, and nonword formatted conditions. Participants further answered comprehension questions and shared retrospective perceptions. The results suggest altered text presentations can facilitate reading for L2 Chinese learners in accordance with proficiency levels and learning objectives. Interword spaced text facilitated reading speed, especially for higher-level Chinese learners. Interword formatted text facilitated accuracy for all L2 Chinese learners. Nonword formatted text facilitated accuracy for lower-level Chinese learners. In addition, altered text presentations were generally acknowledged and welcomed by L2 Chinese learners.

description.provenance:

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-19T00:28:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 34_1_10125-67416.pdf: 560789 bytes, checksum: c7329e43b249d50fca1d39433764131b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2022-04-15

endingpage:

164

identifier.citation:

Yu, Q. (2022). Chinese text presentations and reading efficiency. Reading in a Foreign Language, 34(1), 142-164. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/67416

identifier.issn:

1539-0578

identifier.uri:

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/67416

number:

1

publicationname:

Reading in a Foreign Language

publisher:

University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center Center for Language & Technology

site_url:

/rfl/item/548

startingpage:

142

subject:

L2 Chinese reading reading efficiency reading speed reading accuracy word demarcation space formatting

title:

Chinese Text Presentations and Reading Efficiency

type:

Article

type.dcmi:

Text

volume:

34