Letter-name knowledge longitudinally predicts young Chinese children's Chinese word reading and number competencies in a multilingual context

Abstract

Drawing on theories of cross-language transfer (Cummins, 1979; Weinreich, 1953), this study examines the longitudinal relations between young Chinese children's letter-name knowledge and their Chinese word reading and number competencies in a multilingual context. A total of 109 young Hong Kong Chinese children were assessed first at the end of their nursery year (Time 1; approximately 3 years of age) and then during the first semester of their kindergarten year (Time 2). The results show that letter-name knowledge measured at Time 1 was significantly predictive of Chinese word reading and number competencies at Time 2. Moreover, these relations remained significant after controlling for a large pool of child- and family-level variables. The findings underscore the role of letter-name knowledge in explaining young Hong Kong Chinese children's shared development of Chinese reading and mathematics skills.