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Is Chinese Special? Four Aspects of Chinese Literacy Acquisition that Might Distinguish Learning Chinese from Learning Alphabetic Orthographies

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Abstract

Some aspects of Chinese literacy development do not conform to patterns of literacy development in alphabetic orthographies. Four are highlighted here. First, semantic radicals are one aspect of Chinese characters that have no analogy to alphabetic orthographies. Second, the unreliability of phonological cues in Chinese along with the fact that word building relies heavily on lexical compounding in Chinese makes morphological awareness particularly important for early reading development. Third, two different scripts (simplified, traditional) have different characteristics and strengths and weaknesses in relation to teaching and learning Chinese. Fourth, learning Chinese may strengthen both segmental and suprasegmental phonological sensitivity and even promote basic visual skills, potential cognitive advantages. Collectively, these aspects of Chinese make it important to consider as a unique orthography for understanding universals and specifics in the process of learning to read and write.

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Notes

  1. Pronunciations here are given in Mandarin and written in Pinyin, a phonological coding system using the Roman alphabet to indicate pronunciations, with the number beside each indicating the lexical tone of the syllable.

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Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to Gladys Wing-Sum Lui, Xiuhong Tong, and Ying Wang for comments on a previous version of this manuscript. Preparation of this manuscript was made possible by the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship (#2190401) from the Hong Kong government, awarded to Catherine McBride.

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  1. Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sino Building, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Catherine Alexandra McBride

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  1. Catherine Alexandra McBride
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Correspondence to Catherine Alexandra McBride.

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McBride, C.A. Is Chinese Special? Four Aspects of Chinese Literacy Acquisition that Might Distinguish Learning Chinese from Learning Alphabetic Orthographies. Educ Psychol Rev 28, 523–549 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9318-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9318-2

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