Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr;50(2):261-273.
doi: 10.1007/s10936-018-9619-y.

Developmental Relations Between Listening and Reading Comprehension in Young Chinese Language Learners: A Longitudinal Study

Yu Ka Wong  1
Affiliations

Developmental Relations Between Listening and Reading Comprehension in Young Chinese Language Learners: A Longitudinal Study

Yu Ka Wong. J Psycholinguist Res. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

The reciprocal influences between the development of Chinese-as-a-second-language (CSL) listening and reading comprehension among young learners in Hong Kong were evaluated using a 2-year, three-wave longitudinal design. A total of 129 senior primary CSL students were assessed using listening and reading comprehension tests at the end of grades 4, 5, and 6. An autoregressive, cross-lagged model was specified, and it accounted for a substantial portion of variance (more than 60%) in the two comprehension abilities by grades 5 and 6. Path analysis showed that the two comprehension abilities facilitated each other's development across the years: on controlling for their respective strong autoregressive effects, the two comprehension abilities predicted a unique, substantial variance portion of each other every year. In addition, based on previous studies conducted on readers of both alphabetic languages and Chinese, this study argues the following points: (1) the development of CSL students' reading comprehension is constrained by their listening comprehension, and (2) the acquisition of Chinese literacy skills may promote students' listening comprehension by enhancing their linguistic knowledge and awareness.

Keywords: Chinese as a second language; Developmental relations; Hong Kong; Listening comprehension; Reading comprehension.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Adachi, P., & Willoughby, T. (2015). Interpreting effect sizes when controlling for stability effects in longitudinal autoregressive models: Implications for psychological science. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12(1), 116–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2014.963549 . - DOI
    1. Alderson, J. C., Nieminen, L., & Huhta, A. (2016). Characteristics of weak and strong readers in a foreign language. The Modern Language Journal, 100(4), 853–879. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12367 . - DOI
    1. August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2008). Developing reading and writing in second-language learners: Lessons from the report of the National Literacy Panel on language-minority children and youth. New York: Routledge.
    1. Berninger, V. W., & Abbott, R. D. (2010). Listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension, and written expression: Related yet unique language systems in grades 1, 3, 5, and 7. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 635–651. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019319 . - PubMed - DOI
    1. Cheng, Y., Zhang, J., Wu, X., Liu, H., & Li, H. (2016). Cross-lagged relationships between morphological awareness and reading comprehension among Chinese children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1379. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01379 . - PubMed - PMC - DOI

LinkOut - more resources