An Experimental Study On Japanese Students' Lexical Accessing Of Reversible Chinese Words

This study investigated the effect and the role morpheme positionfrequency plays in the lexical processing of reversible two-characterChinese words. The investigation used two-character Chinese words inreverse order as research material, controlling the first and secondcharacter's morpheme position frequency through word recognition andword naming task. Three groups of students were investigated; theyinclude Japanese students with elementary level andintermediate-advanced level, and Chinese students (Chinese as mothertongue) as well.The major findings of the investigative study are: (1) the morphemeposition frequency in reversible two-character Chinese words dominatedlexical judgment and recognition. In the process of word recognition theeffect of first-character morpheme is strengthened in all levels, whereasthat of second-character morpheme weakens when the proficiency levelenhances. (2) when Japanese students with elementary revel in Chineserecognized reversible Chinese words, morphological decomposition andcomprehension played a dominant role; whereas when those withadvanced level in Chinese recognized reversible words, whole wordprocessing played a dominant role; but when Chinese students (Chineseas mother tongue) recognized reversible words, both morphologicallydecomposed form and whole word processing played significant roles.