Chen, T., & Zhang, D. (2024). Lexical ability in L2 Chinese reading comprehension: Comparing stronger and weaker readers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 27(1), 144-158.

This study tested how different facets of lexical ability (i.e., morphological awareness, character knowledge, and vocabulary knowledge) contribute to L2 Chinese reading comprehension and how the contributions of these facets may vary depending on learners’ L2 proficiency. Separate sets of path analysis showed that higher- and lower-proficiency learners had distinct patterns of relationships. Whereas higher-proficiency learners relied more on morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge in L2 Chinese reading comprehension, lower-proficiency learners drew largely upon their character knowledge.