Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:59:59.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The same or different: An investigation of cognitive and metalinguistic correlates of Chinese word reading for native and non-native Chinese speaking children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2015

YANLING ZHOU  and
CATHERINE MCBRIDE
YANLING ZHOU*
Affiliation:
The Hong Kong Institute of Education
CATHERINE MCBRIDE
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. Yanling Zhou Room 33, 1/F, Block B2, Department of Early Childhood Education, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10, Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigated cognitive and metalinguistic correlates of Chinese word reading in children with L2 Chinese learning experience and compared these to those in L1 Chinese speaking children. In total, 102 third and fourth grade children were recruited for the study. We examined a range of Chinese and English word reading related cognitive and metalinguistic skills. Compared to the native Chinese speaking group (NCSS), the non-native Chinese speaking group (NNCS) only performed better in English vocabulary knowledge and English working memory. On Chinese word reading related skills the NNCS group performed significantly worse than the NCS group. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the unique correlates of Chinese word reading for both groups were Chinese vocabulary, working memory, lexical tone awareness, and orthographic skills. For the NNCS group only, visual skills were also unique correlates of word reading skills. The results suggest cognitive similarities and differences in reading among native and non-native Chinese speakers.

Keywords

reading Chinese as a L2childrencognitive skillsvocabularylexical tonevisual-orthographic skills
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 21 , Special Issue 4: Recent developments in child bilingualism: Cross-linguistic influence, incomplete acquisition, critical periods and the advantages of bilingualism , August 2018 , pp. 765 - 781
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*Preparation of this manuscript was made possible by the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (#6903655) from the Hong Kong Government. We thank Gladys Wing-Sum Lui for administrative help.

References

Abidogun, B. G., & Adebule, O. I. (2014). Contributions of mother tongue education in early childhood education. European Scientific Journal, 172–178. Retrieved from http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/download/4020/3831Google Scholar
Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children: Are they separable? Child Development, 77 (6), 1698–1716. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00968.xGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. C., Ku, Y.-M., Li, W., Chen, X., Wu, X., & Shu, H. (2013). Learning to see the patterns in Chinese characters. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17 (1), 41–56. doi:10.1080/10888438.2012.689789Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (2007). Acquisition of literacy in bilingual children: A framework for research. Language Learning, 57 (s1), 45–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., McBride-Chang, C., & Luk, G. (2005). Bilingualism, language proficiency, and learning to read in two writing systems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97 (4), 580–590. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.97.4.580Google Scholar
Brunswick, N., Martin, G. N., & Rippon, G. (2012). Early cognitive profiles of emergent readers: A longitudinal study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 111 (2), 268–285. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2011.08.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butzkamm, W. (2003). We only learn language once. The role of the mother tongue in FL classrooms: Death of a dogma. The Language Learning Journal, 28 (1), 29–39. doi:10.1080/09571730385200181CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, D. W., Ho, C. S.-H., Tsang, S.-M., Lee, S.-H., & Chung, K. K. H. (2006). Exploring the reading–writing connection in Chinese children with dyslexia in Hong Kong. Reading and Writing, 19 (6), 543–561. doi:10.1007/s11145-006-9008-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, B. W., McBride-Chang, C., & Burgess, S. (2005). Phonological processing skills and early reading abilities in Hong Kong Chinese kindergarteners learning to read English as a second language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97 (1), 81–87.Google Scholar
Cole, R. L., & Pickering, S. J. (2010). Phonological and visual similarity effects in Chinese and English language users: Implications for the use of cognitive resources in short-term memory. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13 (4), 499–512. doi:10.1017/S1366728909990587Google Scholar
Comeau, L., Cormier, P., Grandmaison, E., & Lacriox, D. (1999). A longitudinal study of phonological processing skills in children learning to read in a second language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91 (1), 29–43. Retrieved from http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1712503CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connor, C. M., Morrison, F. J., & Slominski, L. (2006). Preschool instruction and children's emergent literacy growth. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98 (4), 665–689. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.98.4.665CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deckner, D. F., Adamson, L. B., & Bakeman, R. (2006). Child and maternal contributions to shared reading: Effects on language and literacy development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27 (1), 31–41. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2005.12.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demetriou, A., Kui, Z. X., Spanoudis, G., Christou, C., Kyriakides, L., & Platsidou, M. (2005). The architecture, dynamics, and development of mental processing: Greek, Chinese, or Universal? Intelligence, 33 (2), 109–141. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2004.10.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, L. Q., Wu, S., & Daraghmeh, A. (2012). Profiles in bilingualism: Factors influencing kindergartners’ language proficiency. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40 (1), 25–34. doi:10.1007/s10643-011-0491-8Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, D. M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. Inc. Publishing.Google Scholar
Ellis, N., & Large, B. (1988). The early stages of reading: A longitudinal study. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2 (1), 47–76. doi:10.1002/acp.2350020106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Norton, E. S. (2012). Reading abilities: Importance of visual-spatial attention. Current Biology, 22 (9), R298–299. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.03.041Google Scholar
Gardner, M. F. (1996). Test of visual-perceptual skills-revised. Burlingame, CA: Psychological and Educational Publications.Google Scholar
Genesee, F. (1983). An invited article: Bilingual education of majority-language children: The Immersion experiments in review. Applied Psycholinguistics, 4 (1), 1–46.Google Scholar
Gottardo, A., Chiappe, P., Yan, B., Siegel, L., & Gu, Y. (2006). Relationships between first and second language phonological processing skills and reading in Chinese-English speakers living in English-speaking contexts. Educational Psychology, 26 (3), 367–393.Google Scholar
Grainger, J., & Jacobs, A. M. (1996). Orthographic processing in visual word recognition: A multiple read-out model. Psychological Review, 103 (3), 518–565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hao, Y.-C. (2012). Second language acquisition of Mandarin Chinese tones by tonal and non-tonal language speakers. Journal of Phonetics, 40 (2), 269–279. doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2011.11.001Google Scholar
Ho, C. S.-H., & Bryant, P. (1999). Different visual skills are important in learning to read English and Chinese. Educational and Child Psychology, 16 (4), 4–14.Google Scholar
Ho, C. S.-H., Wong, Y.-K., Yeung, P.-S., Chan, D. W., Chung, K. K., Lo, S.-C., & Luan, H. (2011). The core components of reading instruction in Chinese. Reading and Writing, 25 (4), 857–886. doi:10.1007/s11145-011-9303-1Google Scholar
Ho, C. S.-H., Yau, P. W.-Y., & Au, A. (2003). Development of orthographic knowledge and its relationship with reading and spelling among Chinese kindergarten and primary school children. In McBride-Chang, C., & Chen, H. C. (Eds.)., Reading development in Chinese children (pp. 51–72). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.Google Scholar
Hu, C. F., & Catts, H. W. (1998). The role of phonological processing in early reading ability: What we can learn from Chinese. Scientific Studies of Reading, 2 (1), 55–79.Google Scholar
Huang, H. S., & Hanley, J. R. (1994). Phonological awareness and visual skills in learning to read Chinese and English. Cognition, 54, 73–98.Google Scholar
Huang, H. S., & Hanley, J. R. (1997). A longitudinal study of phonological awareness, visual skills, and Chinese reading acquisition among first-graders in Taiwan. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20 (2), 249–268.Google Scholar
Kim, S.-A. (2010). Developmental stages in reading Chinese as a second language (Doctoral dissertation). University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, USA. Retrieved from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/15512/1_kim_sun-a.pdf?sequence=2Google Scholar
Koda, K. (2007). Reading and language learning: Crosslinguistic constraints on second language reading development. Language Learning, 57 (s1), 1–44. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2007.00397.xGoogle Scholar
Lambert, W. E., Genesee, F., Holobow, N., & Chartrand, L. (1993). Bilingual education for majority English-speaking children. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 8 (1), 3–22.Google Scholar
Leong, C. K., Cheng, P. W., & Tan, L. H. (2005). The role of sensitivity to rhymes, phonemes, and tones in reading English and Chinese pseudowords. Reading and Writing, 18, 1–26.Google Scholar
Li, H., Shu, H., McBride-Chang, C., Liu, H., & Peng, H. (2012). Chinese children's character recognition: Visuo-orthographic, phonological processing and morphological skills. Journal of Research in Reading, 35 (3), 287–307. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01460.xGoogle Scholar
Li, X., & Ping, R. (2010). Dui xiaoxue yuwen pinyin jiaoxue de zairenshi [Reconsidering Chinese pinyin teaching in primary schools]. Journal of Hunan First Normal University, 10 (5), 36–40.Google Scholar
Liao, C. H., Georgiou, G. K., & Parrila, R. (2008). Rapid naming speed and Chinese character recognition. Reading and Writing, 21 (3), 231–253.Google Scholar
Lin, D., McBride-Chang, C., Shu, H., Zhang, Y., Li, H., Zhang, J., Aram, D., & Levin, I. (2010). Small wins big: Analystic pinyin skills promote Chinese word reading. Psychological Science, 21, 1117–1122. doi:10.1177/0956797610375447Google Scholar
Liu, P. D., McBride-Chang, C., Wong, A. M.-Y., Tardif, T., Stokes, S. F., Fletcher, P., & Hua, S. (2010). Early oral language markers of poor reading performance in Hong Kong Chinese children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43 (4), 322–331. doi:10.1177/0022219410369084Google Scholar
Liu, Y., Wang, M., Perfetti, C. A., Brubaker, B., Wu, S., & MacWhinney, B. (2011). Learning a tonal language by attending to the tone: An in vivo experiment. Language Learning, 64 (4), 1119–1141. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00673.xGoogle Scholar
Luk, G., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Bilingualism is not a categorical variable: Interaction between language proficiency and usage. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25 (5), 605–621. doi:10.1080/20445911.2013.795574CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y. C., Chen, X., Deacon, S. H., & Li, H. (2011). Development of Chinese orthographic processing: A cross-cultural perspective. Writing Systems Research, 3 (1), 69–86. doi:10.1093/wsr/wsr008Google Scholar
Luo, Y. C., Chen, X., Deacon, S. H., Zhang, J., & Yin, L. (2013). The role of visual processing in learning to read Chinese characters. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17 (1), 22–40. doi:10.1080/10888438.2012.689790Google Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Cheung, H., Chow, B.-Y., Chow, C.-L., & Choi, L. (2006). Metalinguistic skills and vocabulary knowledge in Chinese (L1) and English (L2). Reading and Writing, 19 (7), 695–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Chow, B. W. Y., Zhong, Y., Burgess, S., & Hayward, W. G. (2005). Chinese character acquisition and visual skills in two Chinese scripts. Reading and Writing, 18 (2), 99–128. doi:10.1007/s11145-004-7343-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., & Ho, C. S.-H. (2000). Naming speed and phonological awareness in Chinese children: Relations to reading skills. Journal of Psychology in Chinese Societies, 1 (1), 93–108.Google Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., & Kail, R. V. (2002). Cross-cultural similarities in the predictors of reading acquisition. Child Development, 73, 1392–1407.Google Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Tong, X., Shu, H., Wong, A., Leung, K., & Tardif, T. (2008). Syllable, phoneme, and tone: Psycholinguistic units in early Chinese and English word recognition. Scientific Studies of Reading, 12 (2), 171–194. doi:10.1080/10888430801917290Google Scholar
McBride-Chang, C., Zhou, Y., Cho, J.-R., Aram, D., Levin, I., & Tolchinsky, L. (2011). Visual spatial skill: A consequence of learning to read? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 109 (2), 256–262. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2010.12.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGinnis, S. (1997). Tonal spelling versus diacritics for teaching pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese. The Modern Language Journal, 81 (2), 228–236.Google Scholar
Pan, J., McBride-Chang, C., Shu, H., Liu, H., Zhang, Y., & Li, H. (2011). What is in the naming? A 5-year longitudinal study of early rapid naming and phonological sensitivity in relation to subsequent reading skills in both native Chinese and English as a second language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103 (4), 897–908. doi:10.1037/a0024344Google Scholar
Perfetti, C. A. (2003). The universal grammar of reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 7 (1), 3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perfetti, C. A., Liu, Y., Fiez, J., Nelson, J., Bolger, D. J., & Tan, L.-H. (2007). Reading in two writing systems: Accommodation and assimilation of the brain's reading network. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10 (2), 131–146. doi:10.1017/S1366728907002891Google Scholar
Pickering, S. J. & Gathercole, S. E. (2001). Working memory test battery for children. London, UK: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Qian, Y., Song, Y. W., Zhao, J., & Bi, H. Y. (2015). The developmental trend of orthographic awareness in Chinese preschoolers. Reading and Writing, 28 (4), 571–586.Google Scholar
Quiroz, B. G., Snow, C. E., Zhao, J., Falqueto, S. a., Vaz-de-Mello, F. Z., & Schoereder, J. H. (2010). Vocabulary skills of Spanish–English bilinguals: impact of mother–child language interactions and home language and literacy support. International Journal of Bilingualism, 15 (1), 17–22. doi:10.1177/1367006910370919Google Scholar
Raven, J., Raven, J. C., & Court, J. H. (1995). Manual for Raven's Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Section 1, General Overview). Oxford, UK: Oxford Psychologys Press.Google Scholar
Rayner, K., Foorman, B. R., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky, D., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2001). How psychological science informs the teaching of reading. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2 (2), 31–74.Google Scholar
Seidenberg, M. S. (2005). Connectionist models of word reading. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14 (5), 238–242.Google Scholar
Seidenberg, M. S., & McClelland, J. L. (1989). A distributed, developmental model of word recognition and naming. Psychological Review, 96 (4), 523–68.Google Scholar
Shen, H. (2005). An investigation of Chinese-character learning strategies among non-native speakers of Chinese. System, 33 (1), 49–68. doi:10.1016/j.system.2004.11.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shu, H., Chen, X., Anderson, R. C., Wu, N., & Xuan, Y. (2003). Properties of school Chinese: Implications for learning to read. Child Development, 74 (1), 27–47.Google Scholar
Shu, H., Peng, H., & McBride-Chang, C. (2008). Phonological awareness in young Chinese children. Developmental Science, 11 (1), 171–181.Google Scholar
Siok, W. T., & Fletcher, P. (2001). The role of phonological awareness and visual-orthographic skills in Chinese reading acquisition. Developmental Psychology, 37 (6), 886–899.Google Scholar
Sprenger-Charolles, L., Siegel, L. S., Béchennec, D., & Serniclaes, W. (2003). Development of phonological and orthographic processing in reading aloud, in silent reading, and in spelling: A four-year longitudinal study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 84 (3), 194–217.Google Scholar
Swain, M., Lapkin, S., Rowen, N., & Hart, D. (1990). The role of mother tongue literacy in third language learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 3 (1), 65–81. doi:10.1080/07908319009525073Google Scholar
Swanson, H. L., Rosston, K., Gerber, M., & Solari, E. (2008). Influence of oral language and phonological awareness on children's bilingual reading. Journal of School Psychology, 46 (4), 413–29. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2007.07.002Google Scholar
Tong, X., & McBride-Chang, C. (2009). Chinese–English biscriptal reading: Cognitive component skills across orthographies. Reading and Writing, 23 (3–4), 293–310. doi:10.1007/s11145-009-9211-9Google Scholar
Tong, X., & McBride-Chang, C. (2010). Developmental models of learning to read Chinese words. Developmental Psychology, 46 (6), 1662–1676.Google Scholar
Tong, X., McBride-Chang, C., Shu, H., & Wong, A. M.-Y. (2009). Morphological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and spelling errors: Keys to understanding early Chinese literacy acquisition. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13 (5), 426–452. doi:10.1080/10888430903162910Google Scholar
Tsai, R. (2011). Teaching and learning the tones of Mandarin Chinese. Scottish Languages Review & Digest, (24), 43–50.Google Scholar
Uchikoshi, Y., & Marinova-Todd, S. H. (2012). Language proficiency and early literacy skills of Cantonese-speaking English language learners in the US and Canada. Reading and Writing, 25 (9), 2107–2129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vellutino, F. R., Tunmer, W. E., Jaccard, J. J., & Chen, R. (2007). Components of reading ability: Multivariate evidence for a convergent skills model of reading development. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11 (1), 3–32.Google Scholar
Wagner, R. K., & Torgesen, J. K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 192–212.Google Scholar
Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, , Rashotte, J. K., a., C. (1994). Development of reading-related phonological processing abilities: New evidence of bidirectional causality from a latent variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 30 (1), 73–87. doi:10.1037//0012-1649.30.1.73Google Scholar
Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (1999). Comprehensive test of phonological processing: CTOPP. Diagnostique, 24, 69–82.Google Scholar
Wang, M., Perfetti, C. A., & Liu, Y. (2003). Alphabetic readers quickly acquire orthographic structure in learning to read Chinese. Scientific Studies of Reading, 7 (2), 183–208.Google Scholar
Woodcock, R. W., McGrew, K. S., & Mather, N. (2001). Woodcock-Johnson III tests of cognitive abilities. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.Google Scholar
Yang, L.-Y. L., Guo, J.-P. J., Richman, L. C., Schmidt, F. L., Gerken, K. C., & Ding, Y. (2013). Visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition: A meta-analysis of crrelation evidence. Educational Psychology Review, 25 (1), 115–143. doi:10.1007/s10648-013-9217-3Google Scholar
Yin, L., Li, W., Chen, X., Anderson, R. C., Zhang, J., Shu, H., & Jiang, W. (2011). The role of tone awareness and pinyin knowledge in Chinese reading. Writing Systems Research, 3 (1), 59–68. doi:10.1093/wsr/wsr010Google Scholar
Zhang, Y., Tardif, T., Shu, H., Li, H., Liu, H., McBride-Chang, C., Liang, W., & Zhang, Z. (2013). Phonological skills and vocabulary knowledge mediate socioeconomic status effects in predicting reading outcomes for Chinese children. Developmental Psychology, 49 (4), 665–671.Google Scholar
Ziegler, J. C., Bertrand, D., Tóth, D., Csépe, V., Reis, A., Faísca, L., Saine, N., Lyytinen, H., Vaessen, A., & Blomert, L. (2010). Orthographic depth and its impact on universal predictors of reading: a cross-language investigation. Psychological Science, 21 (4), 551–9. doi:10.1177/0956797610363406Google Scholar
Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2005). Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages: a psycholinguistic grain size theory. Psychological Bulletin, 131 (1), 3–29. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.3Google Scholar
Ziegler, J., & Goswami, U. (2006). Becoming literate in different languages: Similar problems, different solutions, 9 (5), 429–436. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2006.00509.xGoogle Scholar