A Correlational Study On Chinese Children’s Phonological Awareness, Early Reading Ability And Pinyin Level

Phonological awareness (PA) has been shown to be closely related to children’s early word reading ability both in English and Chinese. Also, many studies have pointed out that Chinese Pinyin knowledge could help promote children’s phonological awareness and thus improve the correlation between PA and early reading ability. This study, therefore, is intended to explore the relationship between Chinese children’s phonological awareness, word reading ability and Pinyin level. The research questions are as follows:(1) Do Chinese children’s Chinese Phonological Awareness (CPA) and English Phonological Awareness (EPA) correspond with each other?(2) Are there correlations between Chinese children’s PA and their word reading ability, both for their CPA and Chinese word reading ability and for their EPA and English word reading ability?(3) Is Chinese children’s Pinyin level related to their CPA and EPA?(4) Is Chinese children’s Pinyin level associated with their word reading ability?The participants in this study were students of Grade3and Grade5from Shilihe Primary School in Jinan,30in each grade. The instruments used included tests of CPA, EPA, Chinese word reading, English word reading, and Pinyin level. These tests were administered either individually or in groups. SPSS17.0was used to obtain descriptive statistics and to do One-Way ANOVA tests and correlation analysis. Based on the results, we have five major findings:(1) Younger Chinese children’s CPA corresponds with their EPA and both their CPA and EPA are still at the primary level;(2) Middle level of correlation exists between CPA and Chinese word reading ability for younger Chinese children and low level of correlation between EPA and Chinese word reading ability for older Chinese children;(3) For younger Chinese children, while their overall performance of Pinyin tests is related to CPA, only their performance on easier Pinyin-Chinese test is associated with their EPA;(4) For both grades, Chinese children’s Pinyin level is only related to their Chinese word reading ability, but not their English word reading ability. All in all, this study extends the previous researches on the relationships between Chinese children’s PA, their early reading ability and their Pinyin level. The findings here provide the area of study with more evidence for the possible relationships between these variables, especially for that between Chinese children’s Pinyin and its related factors. These findings also have some pedagogical implications. Pinyin instruction might be helpful in promoting younger Chinese children’s CPA and EPA and thus assist them in reading both Chinese and English. Also, in the practice of teaching English, to make children grasp certain level of vocabulary first would help to develop their EPA and improve their later English reading ability.