A computer‐based Pinyin intervention for disadvantaged children in China : Effects on Pinyin skills, phonological awareness, and character reading
Year of publication
2020
Authors
Li, Yixun; Chen, Xi; Li, Hong; Sheng, Xiaotian; Chen, Liu; Richardson, Ulla; Lyytinen, Heikki
Abstract
Pinyin is an alphabetic script that denotes pronunciations of Chinese characters. Studies have shown that Pinyin instruction enhances both phonological awareness (e.g., Shu et al., Developmental Science, 2008, 11, 171–181) and character reading (e.g., Lin et al., Psychological Science, 2010, 21, 1117–1122) in Chinese children. In the present study, we provided a 3‐week Pinyin intervention with a computer‐based Pinyin GraphoGame to disadvantaged migrant children with poor Pinyin skills. A total of 252 first graders who were children of migrant workers in a large Chinese city were assessed to identify poor Pinyin readers. Fifty‐six 7‐year‐old children with poor Pinyin skills were selected and randomly divided into a training group and a control group, with 28 children in each group. The training group played the Pinyin GraphoGame for 3 weeks, while the control group received school instruction only during the same period. Results showed that the children in the training group outperformed their peers in the control group on Pinyin reading accuracy and fluency, onset–rime and phonemic awareness, and character reading. These results suggest that the Pinyin GraphoGame may be a cost‐effective method to enhance Pinyin and literacy outcomes for underprivileged children in China.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Journal
Publisher
Volume
26
Issue
4
Pages
377-393
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
2
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
No
Self-archived
Yes
Other information
Fields of science
Psychology; Educational sciences; Languages
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publication country
United Kingdom
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
Yes
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1002/dys.1654
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes