文の制約性が中国人中級日本語学習者の聴覚的単語認知過程に及ぼす影響 : 中日漢字の形態・音韻類似性を操作した実験的検討

　本研究では，中国語を母語とする中級の日本語学習者を対象に，日本語漢字単語の聴覚的認知過程に及ぼす文の制約性の影響を検討した。実験では，聴覚的に先行呈示される日本語文（空白付き）の制約性の高低を操作し，後続呈示される漢字単語（空白に入るターゲット単語）の中国語と日本語間の形態類似性と音韻類似性を独立要因として設定した。従属変数は，後続呈示されるターゲット漢字単語の聴覚的語彙判断課題における正反応時間であった。実験の結果，上級の学習者を対象とした先行研究（費・松見，2013）の結果と同様に，聴覚呈示される日本語漢字単語の処理過程が，日本語文の制約性の高・低によって異なることが観察されたが，処理過程に及ぼす形態・音韻類似性の影響の仕方が上級学習者とは異なることがわかった。また，文の高制約性条件の結果も，低制約性条件の結果も，単語の単独呈示の事態を用いた費（2015）の結果とも異なり，日本語文を聴くときの漢字単語の意味処理における形態・音韻類似性の関与の仕方は，文制約性の高低に関係なく文脈に左右されると言える。

The current study investigated the effects of sentence contextual constraint on auditory processing of Japanese kanji words in intermediate learners of the Japanese language whose native language was Chinese. In the current experiment, the degree of contextual constraint (high vs. low) of a preceding Japanese sentence (with a blank as a placeholder for a target word) and orthographical and phonological similarities of kanji words (i.e., the target words) were manipulated as independent factors. The response time of correctly performed trials in an auditory lexical decision task using the target words was measured. Similar to a previous study in advanced learners of the Japanese language (Fei & Matsumi, 2013), the results of the current experiment demonstrated that cognitive processing of Japanese kanji words that were presented auditorily varied depending on the level of contextual constraint of the preceding Japanese sentence. However, the effects of orthographical and phonological similarities on word processing were different from those observed in advanced learners. In addition, the results in both high and low sentence constraint conditions were different from those in the study of Fei (2015) who used a single word presentation paradigm. The effects of orthographical and phonological similarities on lexical information processing of Japanese kanji words that are presented auditorily appear to be impacted by context regardless of the degree of contextual constraint.