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Writing quality predicts Chinese learning

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An Erratum to this article was published on 04 April 2015

Abstract

To examine the importance of manual character writing to reading in a new writing system, 48 adult Chinese-as-a-foreign-language students were taught characters in either a character writing-to-read or an alphabet typing-to-read condition, and engaged in corresponding handwriting or typing training for five consecutive days. Prior knowledge of orthography and phonology was assessed before training. At the end of each training day, improved orthographic quality was assessed via increased skill in producing Chinese characters at both the component and global levels. In addition, pretests and posttests were administered at each training day, and the proportional changes were used as the measure of learning gains. Outcomes replicated earlier findings of improved phonological knowledge following pinyin-typing practice and improved semantic knowledge following handwriting practice. Improvement in handwriting quality played a significant role in predicting reading gains after controlling for prior knowledge.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by China’s Young Talent Plan Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. frf-br-B and frf-br-14-028A) to Connie Qun Guan, and by NIH Grant (1R01 HD058566 01A1) and National Science Foundation Grant (SBE-0836012) to the University of Pittsburgh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China

    Connie Qun Guan

  2. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Connie Qun Guan

  3. Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Charles A. Perfetti

  4. China National Institute of Education Sciences, Beijing, China

    Wanjin Meng

Authors
  1. Connie Qun Guan
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  2. Charles A. Perfetti
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  3. Wanjin Meng
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Correspondence to Connie Qun Guan or Wanjin Meng.

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Guan, C.Q., Perfetti, C.A. & Meng, W. Writing quality predicts Chinese learning. Read Writ 28, 763–795 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9549-0

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