How proficiency and task type influence Chinese EFL learners’ processing of English suffixed words

Purpose. This study aims to systematically examine how L2 proficiency and
experimental task demands interact to shape the early stages of morphological
processing, addressing a gap in current research regarding how speakers process morphologically complex words within the mental lexicon.
Methods. Two groups of Chinese EFL learners (more proficient and less
proficient) were recruited to complete two masked priming tasks: a lexical decision task (LDT) and a naming task. The study utilized three critical prime types designed to the contributions of form and meaning: Transparent (e.g., worker-WORK), Opaque (e.g., corner-CORN), and Form (e.g., think-THIN).
Results. More proficient learners demonstrated a clear semantic effect,
with Transparent priming emerging as significantly stronger than both Opaque and Form priming, particularly in the LDT. In contrast, less proficient learners produced priming effects only for form-related words, suggesting a reliance on surface-level orthographic cues. Furthermore, the advantage for transparent words was significantly modulated by both proficiency and task, emerging most strongly for more proficient learners in the LDT.
Conclusions. The results demonstrate that early L2 morphological processing
is guided by an interaction between form and meaning, lending strong support
to a supra-lexical model where semantic verification influences initial recognition. Crucially, the expression of these morpho-semantic effects is not uniform but is critically dependent on both the learner’s L2 proficiency and the processing depth required by the task.