Radical sensitivity is the key to understanding Chinese character acquisition in children |
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| Authors: | Xiuhong Tong Xiuli Tong Catherine McBride |
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| Institution: | 1.Institute of Psychological Sciences, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, and Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders,Hangzhou Normal University,Hangzhou,China;2.Speech and Hearing Science Department, Educational Faculty,University of Hong Kong,Shatin,Hong Kong;3.Psychology Department,The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Shatin,Hong Kong |
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| Abstract: | This study investigated Chinese children’s development of sensitivity to positional (orthographic), phonological, and semantic cues of radicals in encoding novel Chinese characters. A newly designed picture-novel character mapping task, along with nonverbal reasoning ability, vocabulary, and Chinese character recognition were administered to 198 kindergartners, 172 second graders and 165 fifth graders. Children’s strategies in using positional, phonological, and semantic cues of radicals varied across grades. The higher the children’s grade level, the more commonly children used semantic and positional cues of radicals. Regression analyses showed that the contribution of semantic radical awareness for explaining Chinese character reading increased as children’s grade increased, whereas the contribution of positional regularity awareness decreased. These findings suggest that learning Chinese characters involves a transition from a sound- and position-based approach to a meaning-based approach. |
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