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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Main Authors: Huimin Xiao, Caihua Xu, Hetty Rusamy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
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.
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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
work_keys_str_mv AT huiminxiao pinyinspellingpromotesreadingabilitiesofadolescentslearningchineseasaforeignlanguageevidencefrommediationmodels
AT caihuaxu pinyinspellingpromotesreadingabilitiesofadolescentslearningchineseasaforeignlanguageevidencefrommediationmodels
AT hettyrusamy pinyinspellingpromotesreadingabilitiesofadolescentslearningchineseasaforeignlanguageevidencefrommediationmodels