1. Introduction

The core role of vocabulary recognition in reading was emphasized, and the importance of morphological and phonetic information in visual vocabulary recognition was pointed out. Research has shown that although there have been numerous studies on the form and sound dependence of native speakers, there is relatively little research on the form and sound dependence of second language learners, especially English second language learners with Chinese backgrounds, in vocabulary recognition. This study aims to fill this gap and explore how factors such as native language experience and second language proficiency affect the vocabulary recognition process of second language learners.

2. Literature review

The literature review section explores the issue of form sound dependence in visual vocabulary recognition, pointing out that the orthographic depth hypothesis suggests that orthographic depth affects readers' dependence on orthographic and phonetic information. In shallow orthographic languages, readers tend to use phonetic pathways, while in deep orthographic languages, readers prioritize using orthographic pathways. Research on native speakers supports this hypothesis, and native language characteristics influence second language learners' dependence on information in vocabulary recognition. The study also found that second language proficiency may affect the dependence of second language speakers on orthography and phonetic information, but there are different opinions on this. Some studies suggest that as second language proficiency improves, learners' dependence on native language experience decreases, while others suggest that the influence of native language experience persists in the long term. The aim of this study is to investigate the form and sound dependence of Chinese native English second language learners in vocabulary recognition, and whether this dependence is influenced by their second language proficiency.

Experiment 1: Form Sound Dependence in Vocabulary Recognition for Chinese English Second Language Learners

This chapter explores the dependence of Chinese English second language learners on orthography and phonetic information in vocabulary recognition through experimental research. The experimental subjects were 45 non English major undergraduate students. Through a semantic category judgment task, the influence of orthographic similarity and phonetic similarity between the target word and category examples on accuracy was examined. The experimental results show that orthographic similarity has a significant impact on accuracy, while the impact of phonetic similarity is not significant. This indicates that Chinese second language English learners rely more on orthographic information in vocabulary recognition. This finding is consistent with the influence of native orthography experience on second language vocabulary processing. At the same time, the experiment also found that with the improvement of second language proficiency, learners may reduce their dependence on native language experience. However, this experiment did not directly investigate the impact of second language proficiency on form sound dependence, and further research can explore this issue.

Experiment 2: The Influence of Second Language Proficiency on Chinese English Second Language Learners' Vocabulary Recognition Form Sound Dependence

Experiment 2 explored the influence of second language proficiency on the form sound dependence in vocabulary recognition of Chinese English second language learners. 86 participants were selected for the study and divided into high-level and low-level groups based on their scores in the English Proficiency Test Band 8 and College English Test Band 4, with 23 people in each group. The experiment adopts a three factor mixed design of 2 (orthographic similarity: yes, no) × 2 (phonetic similarity: yes, no) × 2 (second language proficiency: high, low), and measures the accuracy of the task through semantic category judgment. Data analysis shows that orthographic similarity has a significant impact on vocabulary recognition, and there is a significant interaction between second language proficiency and orthographic similarity. Specifically, the accuracy of the low-level group under orthographic similarity conditions was significantly lower than that under dissimilar conditions, while there was no significant difference in the high-level group. This indicates that low-level learners rely more on orthographic information in vocabulary recognition, while high-level learners have less interference with orthographic similarity. Speech similarity did not significantly affect the performance of the two groups of participants. The research results support the view that second language proficiency can affect vocabulary recognition strategies, that is, as the second language proficiency increases, learners' dependence on their mother tongue orthography experience gradually decreases.

5. Overall discussion

This study explores the form sound dependence of Chinese English second language learners in vocabulary recognition through semantic category judgment tasks. Research has found that orthographic information has a significant impact on vocabulary recognition, while phonetic similarity has no significant effect. With the improvement of second language proficiency, learners' dependence on orthographic information decreases. The deep hypothesis of orthography and the transfer of orthographic experience explain the phenomenon that Chinese English second language learners rely more on orthographic information. The second language proficiency has an impact on the dependence on form and sound, with low-level learners relying more on orthographic information, while high-level learners have a reduced dependence on orthographic information. The familiarity of experimental materials may be a key factor affecting form sound dependence. The results of this study indicate that even high-level English second language learners still have differences in language processing strategies compared to native speakers.

6. Conclusion

This study found that Chinese English second language learners' dependence on orthographic information in vocabulary recognition is moderated by their second language proficiency through semantic category judgment tasks. The research results support the hypothesis of orthography depth and reveal the influence of native orthography experience and second language proficiency on form sound dependence in visual vocabulary recognition. Teaching inspirations include: teachers should pay attention to mother tongue transfer, compare the orthographic characteristics of mother tongue and target language, and help students develop reading skills that adapt to the target language; Develop teaching strategies for students of different levels, such as emphasizing the differentiation of similar words for low-level learners; Pay attention to phonetic teaching and help students establish complete vocabulary representations. Future research could explore the impact of vocabulary familiarity and oral vocabulary recognition patterns on form sound dependence.