Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models
Pinyin is a phonological encoding system used to spell modern Chinese Mandarin due to the phonological opacity of Chinese characters. The present study examined the role of Pinyin spelling in the reading abilities of adolescents learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). A total of 158 Indonesian...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-12-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.596680/full |
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author | Huimin Xiao Caihua Xu Hetty Rusamy |
author_facet | Huimin Xiao Caihua Xu Hetty Rusamy |
author_sort | Huimin Xiao |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Pinyin is a phonological encoding system used to spell modern Chinese Mandarin due to the phonological opacity of Chinese characters. The present study examined the role of Pinyin spelling in the reading abilities of adolescents learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). A total of 158 Indonesian senior primary students were tested on Pinyin spelling, character production, listening comprehension, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension. Pinyin spelling skills were assessed by two measures, Pinyin Dictation (sentence dictation in Pinyin) and Pinyin Tagging (Pinyin writing for characters). Path analysis revealed that even after controlling for the effect of character production, Pinyin dictation performance influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of listening comprehension and the depth of vocabulary knowledge, and Pinyin tagging performance also influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The results highlight the importance of Pinyin skills for Chinese reading abilities of CFL learners. As a reliable and explicit indicator of specifying Chinese phonological representations and processing, Pinyin spelling has a long-term and multifaceted influence on higher-level CFL abilities. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:34:00Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-813bcbfd5d0142399887aff46a525a6e |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1664-1078 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:34:00Z |
publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Psychology |
spelling | doaj.art-813bcbfd5d0142399887aff46a525a6e2022-12-21T21:30:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-12-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.596680596680Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation ModelsHuimin Xiao0Caihua Xu1Hetty Rusamy2Chinese Language and Culture College, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaChinese Language and Culture College, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaChinese Department, Xin Zhong School, Surabaya, IndonesiaPinyin is a phonological encoding system used to spell modern Chinese Mandarin due to the phonological opacity of Chinese characters. The present study examined the role of Pinyin spelling in the reading abilities of adolescents learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). A total of 158 Indonesian senior primary students were tested on Pinyin spelling, character production, listening comprehension, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension. Pinyin spelling skills were assessed by two measures, Pinyin Dictation (sentence dictation in Pinyin) and Pinyin Tagging (Pinyin writing for characters). Path analysis revealed that even after controlling for the effect of character production, Pinyin dictation performance influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of listening comprehension and the depth of vocabulary knowledge, and Pinyin tagging performance also influenced reading comprehension through the mediating effect of the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The results highlight the importance of Pinyin skills for Chinese reading abilities of CFL learners. As a reliable and explicit indicator of specifying Chinese phonological representations and processing, Pinyin spelling has a long-term and multifaceted influence on higher-level CFL abilities.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.596680/fullPinyinChinesePinyin spellingChinese reading abilitiesChinese as a foreign language (CFL) |
spellingShingle | Huimin Xiao Caihua Xu Hetty Rusamy Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models Frontiers in Psychology Pinyin Chinese Pinyin spelling Chinese reading abilities Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) |
title | Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models |
title_full | Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models |
title_fullStr | Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models |
title_full_unstemmed | Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models |
title_short | Pinyin Spelling Promotes Reading Abilities of Adolescents Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: Evidence From Mediation Models |
title_sort | pinyin spelling promotes reading abilities of adolescents learning chinese as a foreign language evidence from mediation models |
topic | Pinyin Chinese Pinyin spelling Chinese reading abilities Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) |
url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.596680/full |
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