Do pinyin and character recognition help each other grow?

Abstract

Although previous studies have shown that early pinyin knowledge predicts future character recognition, it remains unclear if early character recognition also predicts future pinyin knowledge. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the cross-lagged relations between pinyin knowledge and character recognition and whether their relation is mediated by phonological awareness. One hundred fifty-nine third year kindergarten children (70 girls, 89 boys; Mage = 72.70 months) from Jining, China, were followed from the end of kindergarten to the beginning of Grade 1 and were tested twice on pinyin knowledge, phonological awareness, and character recognition. Results of cross-lagged analysis showed first that pinyin knowledge and character recognition had a reciprocal relationship. Second, phonological awareness did not mediate the effects of pinyin knowledge on character recognition. These findings suggest that pinyin knowledge and character recognition have a reciprocal relation that takes place well before children are formally introduced to either script.