AUTHOR=Chen Xi , Zhao Jingjing 

TITLE=Reading-Related Skills Associated With Acquisition of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language: A Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783964

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783964

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Previous studies have found the effect of cognitive skills (e.g., phonological awareness, morphological awareness, orthographic awareness and rapid automatized naming) on reading ability, but the role of different reading-related skills in Chinese reading acquisition of Chinese as a second/foreign language (CSL/CFL) remains unexplored. Prior meta-analyses on the relationship between cognitive skills and reading have been conducted primarily in native English-speaking or Mandarin-speaking children. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to examine the relationship between Chinese reading-related cognitive skills and Chinese word reading of CSL/CFL learners. A search of English and Chinese databases yielded a total of 989 articles, which were then screened for full text, resulting in ten articles, 42 effect sizes, comprising 1103 subjects met the criteria for meta-analysis and were included in the final meta-analysis. Results revealed a moderate relationship between phonological awareness (r=0.41), morphological awareness (r=0.36), orthographic awareness (r=0.38), rapid automatized naming (r=-0.32) and Chinese word reading in CSL/CFL learners. In addition, a moderating effect of length of study on the relationship between phonological awareness and Chinese word reading (QB=5.20, p=0.023): phonological awareness and Chinese word reading correlated more strongly for beginning learners than for advanced learners. These results suggest the importance of cognitive factors in the acquisition of Chinese word reading as a second language. Results also shed light on the impact of length of study on the influence from phonological awareness to reading, this will provide some thoughts on the sensitive period of phonological learning for CSL/CFL learners.