Reading in Chinese is complex because readers should not only recognize characters by basic units (i.e., characters) but also integrate characters into words when reading text. While many efforts have been devoted to investigating the effect of sub-lexical orthographic knowledge in Chinese character reading, less is known about the role played by lexical orthographic knowledge at word level. A total of 424 secondary learners with Chinese as a second language (CSL) in Hong Kong were assessed with character reading, reading comprehension, and two lexical orthographic knowledge tasks: lexical orthographic choice (OKC) and lexical orthographic choice in context (OKCC). Path analysis results demonstrated that these lexical orthographic skills significantly mediated the effect of character reading on comprehension, in which OKCC was a more critical mediator as its mediating effect was bigger than that of OKC. Further analyses showed that these mediating effects were significant only among students with richer learning experience (i.e., learning Chinese for 4 years or above). Our results illustrate the possible trajectory of CSL learners’ literacy development from character reading to reading comprehension and provide pedagogical implications for teaching and learning.
Robust relation has been revealed previously between the components of executive function (EF) and reading comprehension performance. However, the specific role of EF in the reading processes remains relatively underexplored. Within the framework of the lexical quality hypothesis (LQH), this study examined the contribution of EF to the lexical processing of words, and how this eventually supports reading comprehension. A total of 262 Grade 3 students in Hong Kong were assessed using multiple measures of EF, lexical processing skills (i.e. orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, and receptive vocabulary knowledge) and reading comprehension, respectively. Our findings indicate significant associations between EF and lexical processing skills, which, in turn, contributed to better reading comprehension. The results demonstrate how EF supports Chinese reading comprehension through the mediating effects of a reader's mental operation in obtaining meanings of individual words. The findings support to the notion that peripheral skills facilitate reading comprehension through more central skills.
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