The complexities of written Chinese and the cognitive-linguistic precursors to reading, with consequent implications for reading interventions

This chapter will review universal and unique cognitive-linguistic precursors to reading acquisition and impairment, such as reading disabilities and dyslexia, in the Chinese language. The chapter will examine research evidence linking phonological awareness, morphological awareness, orthographic awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and visual skills to reading acquisition among children in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Understanding these cognitive-linguistic constructs and their mechanisms underlying reading acquisition is essential in order to explain reading impairment. Compared to dyslexic children of alphabetic languages, Chinese children with dyslexia present different and often multiple profiles of cognitive-linguistic deficits, the most dominant being RAN, orthographic awareness, and morphological awareness and the less dominant being phonological awareness. In particular, the review will examine the causes, characteristics, uniqueness or idiosyncrasies found in speakers of Chinese, and consequences of dyslexia in children in the three Chinese societies. Such a review will offer insight into and lay foundations for developing effective evidence-based interventions for children with reading impairment both inside and outside of school. Implications for current evidence-based practices in interventions are also discussed. Copyright © 2018 John Benjamins Publishing Company.