Bridging Languages: Cross-Linguistic Strategies to Boost L2 Chinese Vocabulary

Title: Bridging Languages: Cross-Linguistic Strategies to Boost L2 Chinese Vocabulary

Abstract
How can educators leverage a child’s first language (L1) knowledge to enhance their
learning of a second language (L2)? What kinds of linguistic transfer occur between two
seemingly distinct languages, English and Chinese? Pertaining to the cross-linguistic
associations between English and Chinese, a few studies have shown correlations,
such as between bilinguals’ morphological awareness (MA) of compounding structures
(Ke & Koda, 2021; Pasquarella et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2017) and vocabulary (Chee et
al., 2003; Yang et al., 2017). However, whether those associations identified can be
used and transformed into a useful tool in Chinese vocabulary learning remains
unclear. Therefore, the current study aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of
the cross-language training paradigm in MA, i.e., explicit teaching of compound
structure similarities between English and Chinese, in teaching written Chinese
vocabulary among early English-Chinese bilingual children. This experimental study
involved 57 English-Chinese bilinguals (aged 8;7 – 9;11) in Singapore. Participants were
randomly assigned to one of four groups to learn Chinese vocabulary, based on a brief
instructional intervention: cross-linguistic morphological awareness (MA), Chinese-
only MA, translation equivalent (without metalinguistic awareness training), and a no-
training control group. The findings suggest that explicit instruction in compounding
structure, particularly when highlighting cross-linguistic similarities, offers substantial
benefits for vocabulary acquisition, especially for learners with lower proficiency. These
results underscore the importance of incorporating cross-linguistic strategies in
metalinguistic instruction to support bilingual vocabulary development.

Bio
Sheryl Lim is a PhD candidate in Linguistics, specializing in biliteracy acquisition at the
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, where her research focuses on
cross-linguistic transfer between English and Chinese. She has presented her work at
international conferences, including the Society of the Scientific Study of Reading
(SSSR) and the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA). Prior to her
academic work, she worked as an educational therapist for at-risk pre-literate children
and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and
ADHD. At NTU, she expanded her teaching experience to the undergraduate level,
where she taught Phonetics and Phonology. Her research focuses on biliteracy
development, language pedagogy, psycholinguistics, and the social psychology of
language.

Zoom link for virtual participation: https://middlebury.zoom.us/j/8316473547?pwd=aGwyZjJwQlBRbm9oVzVUQ3dHcFI5Zz09