Processing tonal information during visual word recognition in L2 Chinese learners: Evidence from the phonological Stroop task

Aims and Objectives: Given the substantial amount of work indicating how acquiring tonal information is harder than segmental information when L2 Chinese learners were tested in tasks requiring speech perception and/or production, this study investigates whether this differential activation between segmental and tonal information extends to L2 reading. Methodology: Native speakers and highly proficient L2 learners of Chinese were tested in a phonological Stroop task. The participants named the ink color of the Chinese characters that were visually presented to them. The Chinese character and the ink color were manipulated such that they overlapped in both segmental and tonal information (S+T+); either segmental or tonal information (S+T– or S–T+); or no overlap at all (S–T–). Data and Analysis: Reaction times and accuracy data from native speakers and L2 Chinese learners were first manually marked using CheckVocal, and then they were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. Findings: Although native Chinese speakers showed facilitation naming the ink color when the ink color and these visually presented characters shared any phonological information (i.e., segmental and/or tonal), L2 Chinese learners showed facilitation only when segmental information was shared between the ink color and the characters, suggesting that they were not able to activate tonal information of visually presented words even though they were capable of activating segmental information. Originality: This is one of the first studies that uses an implicit task to test the automatic processing of segmental and tonal information during visual word recognition in highly proficient L2 Chinese learners. Implications: This study shows that tonal information is not automatically activated during visual word recognition even in highly proficient L2 Chinese learners. Further research is necessary to find out if suprasegmental information develops later than segmental information.