Reading with meaning: The contributions of meaning-related variables at the word and subword levels to early Chinese reading comprehension

Juan ZHANG, Catherine MCBRIDE-CHANG, Xiuli TONG, Anita M.-Y. WONG, Hua SHU, Yui Chi FONG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study examined the associations of three levels of meaning acquisition, i.e., whole word (vocabulary), morpheme (morphological awareness), and semantic radical (orthography-semantic awareness) to early Chinese reading comprehension among 164 Hong Kong Chinese primary school students, ages 7 and 8 years old, across 1 year. With time 1 word reading, phonological awareness and speeded naming controlled, morphological awareness was uniquely associated with concurrent and subsequent reading comprehension; orthography-semantic awareness uniquely explained concurrent reading comprehension at time 2. Together, the meaning acquisition variables explained between 2 and 6% unique variance in reading comprehension across time, underscoring the importance of acquisition of meaning for early reading comprehension among Chinese children. Copyright © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2183-2203
JournalReading and Writing
Volume25
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2012

Citation

Zhang, J., McBride-Chang, C., Tong, X., Wong, A. M.-Y., Shu, H., & Fong, C. Y.-C. (2012). Reading with meaning: The contributions of meaning-related variables at the word and subword levels to early Chinese reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 25(9), 2183-2203. doi: 10.1007/s11145-011-9353-4

Keywords

  • Chinese children
  • Morphological awareness
  • Reading comprehension
  • Semantic radical awareness
  • Vocabulary

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