Data_Sheet_2_Investigating Heritage Language Processing: Meaning Composition in Chinese Classifier-Noun Phrasal Contexts.XLSX

The aim of the present study was to investigate how Chinese-Malay bilingual speakers with Chinese as heritage language process semantic congruency effects in Chinese and how their brain activities compare to those of monolingual Chinese speakers using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. To this end, semantic congruencies were manipulated in Chinese classifier-noun phrases, resulting in four conditions: (i) a strongly constraining/high-cloze, plausible (SP) condition, (ii) a weakly constraining/low-cloze, plausible (WP) condition, (iii) a strongly constraining/implausible (SI) condition, and (iv) a weakly constraining/implausible (WI) condition. The analysis of EEG data focused on two event-related potential components, i.e., the N400, which is known for its sensitivity to semantic fit of a target word to its context, and a post-N400 late positive complex (LPC), which is linked to semantic integration after prediction violations and retrospective, evaluative processes. We found similar N400/LPC effects in response to the manipulations of semantic congruency in the mono- and bilingual groups, with a gradient N400 pattern (WI/SI > WP > SP), a larger frontal LPC in response to WP compared to SP, SI, and WI, as well as larger centro-parietal LPCs in response to WP compared to SI and WI, and a larger centro-parietal LPC for SP compared to SI. These results suggest that, in terms of event-related potential (ERP) data, Chinese-Malay early bilingual speakers predict and integrate upcoming semantic information in Chinese classifier-noun phrase to the same extent as monolingual Chinese speakers. However, the global field power (GFP) data showed significant differences between SP and WP in the N400 and LPC time windows in bilinguals, whereas no such effects were observed in monolinguals. This finding was interpreted as showing that bilinguals differ from their monolingual peers in terms of global field power intensity of the brain by processing plausible classifier-noun pairs with different congruency effects.

本研究旨在通过脑电图（electroencephalography, EEG）记录，探究以汉语为传承语的汉语-马来语双语使用者对汉语语义一致性效应的加工机制，以及其脑活动与汉语单语使用者的差异。为此，我们对汉语量词-名词短语的语义一致性进行操纵，共设置四种实验条件：(i) 强约束/高完形概率合理条件（SP），(ii) 弱约束/低完形概率合理条件（WP），(iii) 强约束不合理条件（SI），以及(iv) 弱约束不合理条件（WI）。脑电图数据分析聚焦于两种事件相关电位（event-related potential, ERP）成分：其一为N400，其因对目标词与语境的语义匹配度具有敏感性而被广泛认知；其二为N400后晚正复合体（late positive complex, LPC），该成分与预测违背后的语义整合及回溯性评价加工相关。研究发现，单语与双语组在语义一致性操纵下的N400与LPC效应模式相似，具体表现为梯度化的N400模式（WI/SI > WP > SP）；相较于SP、SI与WI组，WP组诱发出更大的额叶LPC；相较于SI与WI组，WP组诱发出更大的中央顶叶LPC，且SP组的中央顶叶LPC显著大于SI组。上述结果表明，从事件相关电位数据来看，汉语-马来语早期双语使用者对汉语量词-名词短语中即将出现的语义信息的预测与整合程度，与汉语单语使用者并无差异。然而，全局场功率（global field power, GFP）数据显示，双语组在N400与LPC时间窗内，SP与WP条件间存在显著差异，而单语组未观察到此类效应。该结果被解释为：双语使用者与单语使用者在加工不同一致性程度的合理量词-名词对时，其脑活动的全局场功率强度存在差异。