Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about the extent to which the role of linguistic skills such as phonological awareness (PA) and morphological awareness (MA) in reading is universal. In this meta-analysis, the authors examined the relationship between PA, MA, and reading (accuracy, fluency, and comprehension) in 2 languages (English and Chinese) representing different writing systems (alphabetic and logographic). A random-effects model analysis of data from 64 studies with native speakers of each language revealed significant correlations between PA, MA, and all reading outcomes in both languages. The correlations remained significant even after controlling for each other's effect on reading. However, PA was a stronger correlate of reading in English than in Chinese. MA was as good a correlate of reading in English as in Chinese (except for comprehension, where it was better). In addition, complex PA tasks in English and production/compounding MA tasks in Chinese produced significantly larger correlations with reading accuracy. Taken together, the findings of this meta-analysis suggest that PA and MA are significant correlates of reading, but their role is influenced by the writing system, the type of reading outcome, and the type of task used to operationalize PA and MA. The implications of these findings are discussed. Educational Impact and Implications StatementThe authors examined the role of writing system in the relationship between phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and reading. The results of the meta-analysis revealed significant relationships between these linguistic skills and reading in each language, but the strength of the relationships was influenced by the writing system, the type of reading outcome, and the type of task used to operationalize phonological awareness and morphological awareness. These findings help us better understand the linguistic skills that are most important for reading acquisition in different writing systems.

Embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency is dependent upon sustained expression of the key transcriptional regulators Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2. Dissection of the regulatory networks downstream of these transcription factors has provided critical insight into the molecular mechanisms that regulate ES cell pluripotency and early differentiation. Here we describe a role for Zic3, a member of the Gli family of zinc finger transcription factors, in the maintenance of pluripotency in ES cells. We show that Zic3 is expressed in ES cells and that this expression is repressed upon differentiation. The expression of Zic3 in pluripotent ES cells is also directly regulated by Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog. Targeted repression of Zic3 in human and mouse ES cells by RNA interference-induced expression of several markers of the endodermal lineage. Notably, the expression of Nanog, a key pluripotency regulator and repressor of extraembryonic endoderm specification in ES cells, was significantly reduced in Zic3 knockdown cells. This suggests that Zic3 may prevent endodermal marker expression through Nanog-regulated pathways. Thus our results extend the ES cell transcriptional network beyond Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2, and further establish that Zic3 plays an important role in the maintenance of pluripotency by preventing endodermal lineage specification in embryonic stem cells.

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This study investigates the contributions of semantic, phonological, and orthographic factors to morphological awareness of 413 Chinese-speaking students in Grades 2, 4, and 6, and its relationship with reading comprehension. Participants were orally presented with pairs of bimorphemic compounds and asked to judge whether the first morphemes of the words shared a meaning. Morpheme identity (same or different), whole-word semantic relatedness (high or low), orthography (same or different), and phonology (same or different) were manipulated. By Grade 6, children were able to focus on meaning similarities across morphemes while ignoring the distraction of form, but they remained influenced by whole-word semantic relatedness. Children's ability to overcome the distraction of phonology consistently improved with age, but did not reach ceiling, whereas the parallel ability for orthography reached ceiling at Grade 6. Morphological judgment performance was a significant unique predictor of reading comprehension when character naming and vocabulary knowledge were accounted for.

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