The Role of Orthography in the Oral Vocabulary Learning of Chinese Children

• In Event: Poster Session 5
  In Poster Session: New Perspectives on English Language Learning

Abstract

Two experiments investigated whether Chinese orthography facilitates or impairs oral vocabulary learning of Chinese children. In Experiment 1, 24 second graders were taught to associate 12 spoken monosyllable labels with novel-object pictures over four learning trials, while four of the monosyllable-picture pairs with regular Chinese pseudo-characters, four monosyllables with irregular pseudo-characters and four without any orthography. Results revealed orthographic interference, indicated by poorer recall with incongruent characters than with no orthography. In Experiment 2, 48 second graders learned 15 picture-monosyllable associations taught with phonetically congruent pseudo-characters or pinyin or no orthography. Results showed orthographic facilitation. Exposure to congruent characters and pinyin enhanced memory for pronunciations of new vocabulary words compared to no orthography.

Authors

• Hong Li, Beijing Normal University

• Jie Zhang, Western Kentucky University

• Yu Chen, Beijing Normal University

• Xiaotong Ruan, Beijing Normal University

• Qiong Dong, Beijing Normal University

• Linnea C. Ehri, The Graduate Center - CUNY