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Learning to Read Chinese: Universal and Unique Cognitive Cores
Author(s) -
McBride Catherine,
Wang Ying
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
child development perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1750-8606
pISSN - 1750-8592
DOI - 10.1111/cdep.12132
Subject(s) - rapid automatized naming , psychology , phonological awareness , learning to read , reading (process) , cognitive psychology , dyslexia , literacy , cognition , phonemic awareness , developmental dyslexia , phonology , chinese characters , linguistics , developmental psychology , pedagogy , philosophy , neuroscience
How do children learn to read Chinese? Three abilities identified as cognitive cores for reading in alphabetic orthographies are letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, and rapid automatized naming (RAN; Hulme & Snowling, 2013). What are the cognitive cores for Chinese? Identifying such cores is important for two reasons. First, if they can be identified, cores can be tested early to distinguish those children who might be at risk for reading difficulties, helping prevent and remediate dyslexia. Second, training of such core abilities might facilitate more optimal word recognition and word writing over time. In other words, identifying such core abilities can suggest more effective ways to teach early Chinese literacy skills. In this article, we argue that phonological sensitivity, RAN, and morphological awareness are cores for Chinese learning. In addition, visual‐orthographic abilities may be associated causally with Chinese literacy skills over time.