Chinese Reading Ability Research Articles

Comprehensive Chinese Course Based on Task-based Language Teaching Approach with Cooperative Learning Technique to Enhance Chinese Reading Ability of International Students in Xi’an University

Background and aim: This study explored the integration of the task-based language teaching approach and cooperative learning to enhance the Chinese reading ability of international students. The aims of this study were: 1) to compare international students’ Chinese reading test scores before and after learning through the comprehensive Chinese course, and 2) to study the international students’ satisfaction with learning through the comprehensive Chinese course. Materials and methods: The study involved 94 international students at Xi’an University, with a sample of 26 second-year foreign students from one class of Xi’an University in China in the autumn term of 2023 through cluster random sampling. The research instruments were lesson plans, a test paper for foreign students’ Chinese reading ability, and a student’s learning satisfaction questionnaire. Experimental design is the one-group pretest-posttest design. Data were collected and analyzed by means, standard deviation, and t-test for the dependent sample. The data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation, t-test for dependent samples, and t-test for one sample. Results: After learning through the comprehensive Chinese course based on a task-based language teaching approach with cooperative learning technique, foreign students’ Chinese reading ability was higher than before at a 0.05 level of statistical significance (t=2.50, p<0.05). The average score of the post-test (M=11.58, SD=5.56) was higher than that of the pre-test (M=9.35, SD=4.91). Additionally, students’ learning satisfaction was at a high level (M=4.19, SD=0.75). Conclusion: The developed comprehensive Chinese courses based on a task-based language teaching approach with cooperative learning techniques have a significant effect on improving the Chinese reading ability of international students. Furthermore, students were satisfied with their learning of this course.

What Really Matters in Early Bilingual and Biliteracy Acquisition?

Home language and literacy input (HLLI) is critical for linguistic and literacy development in bilingual children. This exploratory study investigated home oral, and print input for Chinese heritage language learners between four and six years old in the United States and aimed to identify salient types of input associated with speaking and reading abilities in the heritage language (Chinese) and the societal language (English). Fifty-three parents completed a HLLI questionnaire and rated the speaking and reading competencies in Chinese and English of their children. The relationships between HLLI and bilingual abilities were examined via principal component analysis and regression. There were two major findings: first, Chinese speaking ability mainly depended on oral language exchange between parents and their children, as well as print exposure to Chinese; Chinese reading ability was associated with oral language exchange between parents and their children, as well as pinyin/bopomofo practice at home. Second, both speaking and reading abilities in English were significantly and positively related to children’s interest in reading English only. Evidence-based recommendations are provided regarding home language and literacy practices for young Chinese heritage language learners in the United States.

Measuring Orthographic Knowledge of L2 Chinese Learners in Vietnam Using a Handwriting Task - A Preliminary Report.

In the current study, the orthographic knowledge required for writing Chinese characters was assessed among participants with L1 Vietnamese background who learn Chinese as a foreign language. A total of 42 undergraduates were recruited. They were invited to participate in a delayed Chinese character copying task consisting of 32 characters. Their Chinese character reading abilities were also obtained using a character naming task. All the tests were conducted online during the pandemic in 2021. Results indicated that the participants’ accuracy in the copying task was affected by the familiarity of the characters and the number of strokes of the characters. These effects minimized as reading performance increased. In the inter-stroke interval (ISI) analysis, results indicated a significant boundary effect where ISIs between orthographic units were longer than ISIs within orthographic units, showing the participants’ tendency to chunk Chinese characters into functional units when they write. Only high achievers in the reading task demonstrated the use of both large and small grain-size units in writing (i.e., radical-boundary ISI > logographeme-boundary ISI > non-boundary ISI), while the low achievers only used small grain-size units in their writing. We suggest that the delayed copying task incorporated with handwriting measures is an effective method to assess orthographic knowledge of L2 Chinese learners.

KEMAMPUAN MEMBACA MEMAHAMI TEKS BAHASA MANDARIN SISWA KELAS VIII SMP FRATER MAKASSAR

INTAN MEYLENIA NAGA-ULAWENG, 2021, "The 8th Frater Junior High School Chinese Text Reading Ability in Makassar". paper. National language education in the Department of Foreign Languages. Language and Writing College. Makassar State University (supervised by Misnawaty Usman and Burhanuddin). The purpose of this research is to obtain data and information about the reading and comprehension of Chinese texts in the eighth grade of Makassar Junior High School. This study is a quantitative descriptive study. The object of this study is the eighth class of Frater Junior High School in Makassar City, with a total of eight classes and a total of 248 students. The sample of this study is the eighth grade G class with a total of 29 students. The samples were determined by random sampling method. The results of the study showed that the Chinese reading and comprehension abilities of the eighth Class G students belonged to the general category (75.4%). Keywords: reading comprehension ability, Chinese text

Phoneme Awareness Predicts Character Reading Ability in Young Chinese Children Through Phonemic Mismatch Negativity

The current literature suggests mixed findings regarding the relationship between visual spatial skill and Chinese reading ability. In this longitudinal study, 106 kindergarteners in Hong Kong were tested on visual spatial skill and Chinese character reading ability in their first, second, and third years of kindergarten (K1, K2, and K3) with 12-month intervals between the three testing points. Cross-lagged path analysis showed a bidirectional relationship between visual spatial skill and Chinese character reading ability from K1 to K2. Children's visual spatial skill in K1 predicted their reading ability in K2 (B = 0.35, SE = 0.17, p < .05, β = .17), and their reading ability in K1 explained the unique variance of visual spatial skill measured in K2 (B = 0.29, SE = 0.12, p < .05, β = .25). In total, it explained 19.4% (p < .01) and 35.8% (p < .001) variance of visual spatial skill at T2 and reading ability at T2. However, the bidirectional relationship diminished between K2 and K3. The results demonstrate the developmental course of the relationship between visual spatial skill and reading ability as well as the reciprocal facilitation of the two skills in the beginning phase of reading development but not later phases.

Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models.

Pinyin is a phonological encoding system used to spell modern Chinese Mandarin due to the phonological opacity of Chinese characters. The present study examined the role of Pinyin spelling in the reading abilities of adolescents learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). A total of 158 Indonesian senior primary students were tested on Pinyin spelling, character production, listening comprehension, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension. Pinyin spelling skills were assessed by two measures, Pinyin Dictation (sentence dictation in Pinyin) and Pinyin Tagging (Pinyin writing for characters). Path analysis revealed that even after controlling for the effect of character production, Pinyin dictation performance influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of listening comprehension and the depth of vocabulary knowledge, and Pinyin tagging performance also influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The results highlight the importance of Pinyin skills for Chinese reading abilities of CFL learners. As a reliable and explicit indicator of specifying Chinese phonological representations and processing, Pinyin spelling has a long-term and multifaceted influence on higher-level CFL abilities.

Enhancing Poor Readers’ Reading Comprehension Ability through Word Semantic Knowledge Training

Word semantic knowledge (WSK) is crucial to the development of one’s reading comprehension ability. A total of 608 students (208 poor readers in the experimental group and 200 poor readers in the control group one, and 200 typical readers in control group 2) from grade 4 participated in this study. Selected reading ability assessments were administered at pretest, post-test and a 3-month delayed post-test. After 6 weeks of intervention, poor readers from the experimental group scored higher in Chinese reading abilities than the poor readers in control group one. Experimental group students reached a similar level of reading abilities with typical readers. Findings from this study suggested the main challenge in reading activities for those students who had reading problems is the characters’ semantic identification. The current study confirmed the self-agency learning mode is an effective approach to semantic intervention design on semantic network construction for primary school learners. HIGHLIGHTS Children can understand the complex and abstract reading materials through word semantic intervention. There is a positive causal effect of word semantic knowledge on reading comprehension, content inference, receptive vocabulary, word recognition, and reading mastery goals. Self-agency learning mode is an effective approach to semantic knowledge intervention design Word semantic training is an effective method in facilitating poor readers’ reading abilities at early reading stages

The Prevalence of Dyslexia in Primary School Children and Their Chinese Literacy Assessment in Shantou, China.

The epidemiological studies of Chinese developmental dyslexia (DD) in China are still limited. In addition, literacy assessment has seldom been performed for children with dyslexia, due to lack of uniform assessment tools. This study was aimed at investigating the prevalence rate of children with dyslexia, and to evaluate their Chinese reading ability. A total of 2955 students aged 7–12 years were enrolled by randomized cluster sampling. The study was divided into three stages. In stage I, all participating students were asked to finish the Combined Raven Test (CRT) and Chinese Vocabulary Test and Assessment Scale. In stage II, the Chinese teachers and parents of the children with suspected dyslexia were interviewed by psychiatrists, and finished the Dyslexia Checklist for Chinese Children (DCCC). In stage III, these children were evaluated by child psychiatrists for the diagnosis with or without dyslexia, according to the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), and their Chinese literacy was further evaluated by using the Chinese Reading Ability Test (CRAT). The prevalence rate of children with dyslexia was 5.4% in Shantou city, 8.4% in boys and 2.3% in girls, with a gender ratio of 3.7:1.0. Children with dyslexia scored lower in all the five subscales of the CRAT tests. including phonological awareness, morphological awareness, rapid automatized naming, orthographic awareness, and reading ability than the control group (all p < 0.001). This study suggested that the prevalence rate of Chinese dyslexia in Shantou city is roughly equivalent to that previously reported in China. Children with dyslexia have a relatively lower Chinese reading ability in all assessments.

Analysis of Chinese Reading Ability in College Entrance Examination

This research starts from the investigation of the distribution of Chinese reading testing-points in college entrance examinations in Beijing, and analyzes the requirements of the reading ability of college entrance examinations in detail. The Chinese reading test in college entrance examination generally focuses on the examining of understanding ability and evaluating ability. It is also distinctive to the focus testing-point in different text type reading questions. In discussion and practical texts readings, it focuses on the analyzing ability. In readings of literary texts and ancient poetry, it focuses on the ability of evaluating, while in the reading of classical Chinese article, the key testing-point is on the understanding ability.

The Reliability and Validity of an Assessment Tool for Developmental Dyslexia in Chinese Children

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a common neurobehavioral disorder in children. It refers to the phenomenon in which children with normal intelligence lag significantly behind their peers in reading ability. In China, there is no unified standard for the assessment of dyslexia due to the use of simplified and traditional Chinese characters in different regions. This study was aimed at analyzing the reliability and validity of the self-developed Chinese dyslexia assessment tool named Chinese Reading Ability Test (CRAT), which was suitable for students of grade 3 to 5 in primary school. We randomly selected three primary schools in Shantou city of China, including two in the central district and one in the surrounding district. A total of 1492 students of grades 3 through 5 were recruited. We assessed the reliability of CRAT by test–retest reliability and internal consistency. The validity assessment was realized by discriminant validity, content validity and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). For reliability, the test–retest correlation coefficient of the total score of the CRAT was 0.671. The difference between the test–retest was not statistically significant. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the CRAT was 0.75. For validity, the correlation coefficient between the score of each subscale and the total score of the scale ranged from 0.29 to 0.73. The indexes of the three structural equation models all meet the standard (p > 0.05, χ2/df < 2.00, RMSEA < 0.05, GFI > 0.90, AGFI > 0.90, NFI > 0.90, CFI > 0.90 and IFI > 0.90). The fitting effects of the models were good. The CRAT has sufficient reliability and validity which could be used for the assessment and auxiliary diagnosis of Chinese Dyslexia in primary school students of grade 3 to 5.

The N200 enhancement effect in reading Chinese is modulated by actual writing

Previous research has demonstrated that writing can modulate the orthographic processing of reading in Chinese. We examined whether such a modulatory effect from Chinese writing to reading can occur even when visual feedback is not provided during writing. Using the repetition prime paradigm in conjunction with imagined and actual writing prime tasks, we found that actual but not imagined writing elicited an N200 enhancement effect, which reflects deep orthographic processing in reading Chinese characters at a topographic and ERP level. This effect can be explained by the interaction between writing production processing and the environment during writing execution, which may modulate the subsequent deep orthographic process of reading through a kinesthetic gesture orthographic code system in reading or a tight connection between visual orthography and writing motion. In addition, writing influenced the orthographic processing of Chinese reading in a different way than reading. Our findings suggest that the actual writing process without visual feedback can modulate the orthographic processing in reading Chinese characters, and highlight the crucial role of writing motion in developing Chinese reading ability.

Analysis and Proposal on the Status of Chinese Reading in Malaysia —Taking Miri Peimin Middle School as an Example

Reading ability is the foundation of an individual’s learning ability. It plays a vital role in the overall development of people. As one of the key Chinese language schools in Malaysia, the Chinese reading ability of the Miri Peimin Middle School's students can fully represent the current situation of Chinese reading ability in Malaysian Chinese students. We take it as the research object, and give the relevant research data of Malaysian Chinese students’ reading situation, then analysis the data. The lack of reading ability of Malaysian Chinese students is closely related to Malaysian national policies, the school management and family education. At the end, we put forward the proposal of how to improve Malaysian Chinese students' reading ability purposefully and efficiently.

Analysis of Aassignment Design and Rresults for Improving Chinese Reading Ability: Focusing on Recital and Silent Reading Ability of Primary Level Chinese Llearners

Analysis of Aassignment Design and Rresults for Improving Chinese Reading Ability: Focusing on Recital and Silent Reading Ability of Primary Level Chinese Llearners

Relations between awareness of morphosyntactic structures in Chinese compound words and reading abilities: A short report

ABSTRACTThis is a short report of the investigation of the relationship between awareness of morphosyntactic structures in Chinese compound words and reading abilities on 268 fourth graders studying in three mainstream schools in Shenzhen. All children were assessed using reading and cognitive tasks including rapid automatized naming, phonological, orthographic and morphological awareness. A compound production task using pseudo compound words with different morphosyntactic structures in the first and second levels as stimuli was also conducted. Results of ANOVA indicated that main effect of first level morphosyntactic structures, main effect of second level morphosyntactic structures and interaction effects between the two were significant. Children’s awareness of different morphosyntactic structures were affected by frequency of usage of individual morphosyntactic structures in the language. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the awareness of morphosyntactic structures in Chinese compound words is strongly associated with Chinese reading abilities. Theoretical and clinical implications were discussed.

Understanding the Mapping Principle of One Syllable One Character as a Predictor of Word Reading Development in Chinese

Speech-print mapping awareness is defined as the awareness of the principles underpinning how speech sound is matched to print symbols. Chinese is unique in that it follows the one syllable one character mapping principle. The present study examined the predictive power of speech-print mapping awareness in young children's word reading. Seventy-four Hong Kong children from the first and second kindergarten years were tested with phonological awareness, visual skills, syllable-level mapping awareness, and Chinese reading ability at Time 1. Chinese reading abilities were tested again 1 year later. It was found that syllable-level mapping awareness predicted Chinese word reading abilities 12 months later. Further, it seemed that the link of syllable mapping to Chinese reading is particularly significant for beginning readers. The findings suggest that understanding the language-specific speech-print mapping principle is critical for reading acquisition at the early stage of reading development.

Bidirectional relationship between visual spatial skill and Chinese character reading in Chinese kindergartners: A cross-lagged analysis

The current literature suggests mixed findings regarding the relationship between visual spatial skill and Chinese reading ability. In this longitudinal study, 106 kindergarteners in Hong Kong were tested on visual spatial skill and Chinese character reading ability in their first, second, and third years of kindergarten (K1, K2, and K3) with 12-month intervals between the three testing points. Cross-lagged path analysis showed a bidirectional relationship between visual spatial skill and Chinese character reading ability from K1 to K2. Children's visual spatial skill in K1 predicted their reading ability in K2 (B = 0.35, SE = 0.17, p < .05, β = .17), and their reading ability in K1 explained the unique variance of visual spatial skill measured in K2 (B = 0.29, SE = 0.12, p < .05, β = .25). In total, it explained 19.4% (p < .01) and 35.8% (p < .001) variance of visual spatial skill at T2 and reading ability at T2. However, the bidirectional relationship diminished between K2 and K3. The results demonstrate the developmental course of the relationship between visual spatial skill and reading ability as well as the reciprocal facilitation of the two skills in the beginning phase of reading development but not later phases.

Unexpected Poor Comprehenders Among Adolescent ESL Students

This study explored characteristics of reading comprehension difficulties among Chinese students learning English as a second language (ESL). Two hundred forty-six Grade 8 English-immersion students in China were administered a battery of reading-related and reading comprehension tests. Three groups of comprehenders matched on age, nonverbal intelligence, and word-reading speed were identified: unexpected poor comprehenders, expected average comprehenders, and unexpected good comprehenders. The three groups differed in vocabulary and higher level processes. Vocabulary breadth and depth distinguished between the unexpected poor comprehenders and the expected average comprehenders. Inference, strategy, listening comprehension, summary writing, and morphological awareness distinguished between the expected average comprehenders and the unexpected good comprehenders. The findings suggest that vocabulary is the main source of reading comprehension difficulties in ESL unexpected poor comprehenders. The advantage of the unexpected good comprehenders group is primarily due to discourse comprehension and strategic processes, and is only possible with high language proficiency. There is no evidence that ESL unexpected poor comprehenders have poor Chinese (L1) reading ability.

중국 어린이들에게 있어 필순과 기억이 중국어 읽기 능력에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

중국 어린이들에게 있어 필순과 기억이 중국어 읽기 능력에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

A comparison of English and Chinese reading proficiency of primary school Chinese students

Hong Kong children's comprehension of Chinese and English text is of concern to parents and teachers since school leavers need to be proficient readers both of Chinese and English. Although Chinese has been officially designated the medium of instruction in most secondary schools, many parents want their children to be taught in English-medium schools for, although Hong Kong is now a Chinese region, being literate in English is still highly prized by the public. A comparison was made of the bilingual reading attainment of Hong Kong primary students, using instruments and procedures used in the 2001 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. The average standard of reading English was below the international average, and only 70% of the average standard of reading in Chinese. Only 7% of students read English as well as age-related peers in English-speaking countries. Whereas this minority can be taught via English to no academic detriment, most students understand text much less well in English than in Chinese. The best readers were good both in English and Chinese, the poor readers being particularly weak readers of English. Being taught via English enhanced students' general English reading ability, and being taught in Cantonese enhanced their Chinese reading ability.

The Influence of the Language that Hong Kong Primary School Students Habitually Speak at Home on their Chinese Reading Ability in School

This study examines how the language used at home, Putonghua or Cantonese, has influenced the Chinese reading attainment of 4335 primary school students in Hong Kong. Also examined was the influence of the birthplace and home background socioeconomic status (SES) of the reader. Although the indigenous Hong Kong population uses Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese, for everyday communications, the Chinese written in school is Modern Standard Written Chinese (MSWC), the written equivalent of Putonghua, the spoken language of the people of China. Many of the numerous families migrating from China to Hong Kong in recent years have brought with them children educated in Putonghua in China and with extensive experience of MSWC. It was hypothesised that the reading attainment of these students would be superior to that of classmates born in Hong Kong and using Cantonese habitually. This would apply particularly to students from advantaged SES homes. The children born in China indeed had superior reading attainment. But children speaking Cantonese at home and Putonghua ‘sometimes’ had the highest reading scores, regardless of their birthplace or SES. The writers reflect on assumptions about the influence of the language used at home on language attainment and the implications for educational planning.