Overreliance on Orthographic Similarity in L2‐Japanese Conceptual Processing by L1‐Chinese Learners

ABSTRACT Orthographic and phonological similarities between first (L1) and second (L2) languages can facilitate L2 processing. Particularly, L1‐Chinese learners of L2‐Japanese can benefit from the shared morphosyllabic Chinese characters (Japanese kanji /Chinese hanzi ) because of their similar orthographies. However, they also face challenges from phonological inconsistency derived from the lack of lexical origin: Japanese kanji has both Chinese‐origin readings similar to hanzi pronunciation and native Japanese readings that lack phonological similarity and lexical origin with Chinese. In addition to kanji, Japanese has a Japanese original syllabic script, kana ( hiragana ), sharing neither orthographic nor phonological similarities. Given these orthographic and phonological complexities, investigating how L1‐Chinese learners navigate these challenges in L2‐Japanese word processing is essential. Therefore, we conducted an implicit cross‐language priming lexical decision task on advanced L1‐Chinese learners of L2‐Japanese ( N = 23). Employing L1‐L2 translation equivalent pairs, we manipulated L2‐Japanese words as primes based on their orthographic and phonological similarities, as well as the lexical origin with L1‐Chinese. As a result, responses to L1‐Chinese words primed by L2‐Japanese words of L1‐Chinese origin in kanji with on‐readings (orthographically and phonologically similar) were significantly faster than unprimed controls. Contrarily, responses to L1‐target words primed by L2‐Japanese‐origin words with kun‐readings in hiragana (no orthographic/phonological similarity) were significantly slower than those primed by the L2‐Japanese words of L1‐Chinese‐origin. Nevertheless, we did not find a significant delay by Japanese‐origin words when they include kanji (orthographically similar). This study highlights an overreliance on cross‐language orthographic similarity in L2 lexical access by morphosyllabic readers, unlike alphabetic readers.