The Role of Pinyin in the Development of Cross-Linguistics in a Mandarin-English Dual-Immersion Program

• In Event: Practices and Policies in Early Childhood Education: Language Identity, Cross-Linguistic Connections, and Biliteracy

Abstract

The rapid growth of Mandarin Chinese and English dual language (DL) programs and the differences between these two languages foster a need to investigate how biliteracy development happens between them in DL programs. This study uses the interactive transfer framework (Chung, Chen, & Geva, 2018) to understand the Mandarin/English biliteracy development of 1st-grade students in a dual immersion program, with a particular focus on the influence of Pinyin. The study analyzed 13 first-grade DL students’ s Pinyin skills and found that students with higher English proficiency performed better on Pinyin tests. The findings provide a better understanding of the role of Pinyin learning in Mandarin/English biliteracy development as a cross-linguistic bridge between the two languages.

Authors

• Manqian Zhao, George Mason University

• Elizabeth R. Howard, University of Connecticut