Abstract
This three-year longitudinal study investigated the orthographic knowledge development of Chinese characters in relation to lexical development among ethnic minority kindergarteners (N = 56) learning Chinese as a second language (CSL). The study examined the relative contribution of two types of orthographic knowledge (i.e. single character reading and radical awareness), and mental lexicon in Chinese character meaning recognition over the three years of preschool (K1-K3). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that single character reading at K1 and radical awareness at K2 were significant longitudinal predictors to later character meaning identification at K3, after controlling age and mental lexicon. Both single character reading and radical awareness were concurrently significant predictors to character meaning recognition at K3. The results indicated the longitudinal predicting effect of earlier component knowledge and radical awareness on subsequent character meaning identification. The finding supports the essential role of orthographic knowledge in Chinese character learning at early stage of ethnic minority leaners, and further establishes the mediated role of radical awareness between component knowledge and character meaning identification. Building on previous researches (e.g. Liu et al., 2007), this study illustrates that the component knowledge at early learning stage has a unique effect predicting the further development of character meaning identification and the learner framework for processing CSL.
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Data Availability
Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Oxfam Hong Kong, The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) and Credit Suisse. We would like to express our gratitude to the partnership schools, teachers, core team members, and student research assistants of the project for their support. We are also immensely grateful to Prof. Shek-kam Tse, Dr. Che-ying Kwan, and Mr. Armando W. Y. Lai for their contribution to this research project. Our special thanks go as well to Prof. Leung Shing On for his advice on statistical analyses, Dr. Loretta Tam, Mr. Longman Chan, Ms. Jasmine Shum, and Mr. Zhengliang Sun for their editorial assistance.
Funding
The present study was supported by the Oxfam Hong Kong, SIE Fund and Credit Suisse. Project title: “Start from the Beginning - Chinese Supporting Scheme for Non-Chinese Speaking Students in Kindergarten” (Phase 1: 2015–2017, Project ID: 15051-HKG-A0664–01-1516A-32; Phase 2: 2017–2019, Project ID: 17083-HKG-A0664–01-1718A-H32); Project Co-PIs: Dr. Elizabeth K. Y. Loh and Dr. Tikky S. P. Chan.
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Chan, T.S.P., Loh, E.K.Y. & Hung, C.O.Y. A longitudinal study of Chinese as a second language kindergarteners’ orthographic awareness and its association with their lexical learning performance. Curr Psychol 42, 4543–4554 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01797-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01797-2