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Reading and Writing

, Volume 31, Issue 8, pp 1765–1786 | Cite as

Within- and cross-language contributions of morphological awareness to word reading and vocabulary in Chinese–English bilingual learners

  • Xiuhong Tong
  • Catherine McBride
  • Connie Suk-han Ho
  • Mary Miu Yee Waye
  • Kevin Kien Hoa Chung
  • Simpson Wai Lap Wong
  • Bonnie Wing Yin Chow
Article
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Abstract

In this study, we investigated the contribution of morphological awareness (MA) in one language to word reading and vocabulary in another language in Hong Kong Cantonese–English speaking children, who learn Chinese and English in school in parallel from the age of 3.5 years onwards. Our sample consisted of 97 Cantonese–English speaking children including 34 first graders, 28 second graders, 21 third graders and 14 fourth graders. All children were administered tasks of nonverbal reasoning, phonological awareness in Chinese, and lexical compounding, vocabulary, and word reading in both Chinese and English. Results revealed that second language (L2) English MA significantly contributed to first language (L1) Chinese word reading and Chinese vocabulary knowledge. However, L1 Chinese MA was not uniquely associated with either L2 English word reading or vocabulary knowledge. Findings suggest that among Chinese children learning in Chinese medium of instruction schools with English taught as a second language, compounding skills in English may be useful for facilitating Chinese word reading and vocabulary acquisition, but Chinese compounding skills are not uniquely important for learning in English.

Keywords

Morphological awareness Transfer Word reading Vocabulary Chinese–English bilingual children 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Collaborative Research Fund of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Research Grants Council (CUHK8/CRF/13G) to Catherine McBride, Connie Ho, Mary Waye, and colleagues. We thank all research assistants for data collection. We are also especially grateful to parents and participants for their participation.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Xiuhong Tong
    • 1
  • Catherine McBride
    • 2
  • Connie Suk-han Ho
    • 3
  • Mary Miu Yee Waye
    • 4
  • Kevin Kien Hoa Chung
    • 5
  • Simpson Wai Lap Wong
    • 5
  • Bonnie Wing Yin Chow
    • 6
  1. 1.Institute of Psychological Sciences, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, and Center for Cognition and Brain DisordersHangzhou Normal UniversityHangzhouChina
  2. 2.Department of PsychologyThe Chinese University of Hong KongShatinHong Kong
  3. 3.Department of PsychologyHong Kong UniversityPok Fu LamHong Kong
  4. 4.School of Biomedical SciencesThe Chinese University of Hong KongShatinHong Kong
  5. 5.Department of Early Childhood EducationHong Kong Institute of EducationTai PoHong Kong
  6. 6.Department of Applied Social SciencesCity University of Hong KongKowloonHong Kong

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