Cynthia B. Leung

Preschoolers' Acquisition of Scientific Vocabulary Through Repeated Read-Aloud Events, Retellings, and Hands-On Science Activities

This study explored 3- and 4-year-old childrens development of scientific vocabulary from participation in repeated interactive read-aloud events and retellings of three informational picture books about light and color, followed by hands-on science activities. Thirty-two children attending a YWCA preschool were matched by age and general vocabulary knowledge and randomly assigned to a retelling or no retelling condition. Repeated measures ANOVA of pretest and posttest scores on a free recall target vocabulary test revealed significantly higher scores for 4-year-olds, those with higher vocabulary knowledge, and those who retold the books. Children used significantly more target words across the three retellings.

A Comparison of Difficulty Levels of Vocabulary in First Grade Basal Readers for Preschool Dual Language Learners and Monolingual English Learners

The present study investigated preschoolers’ knowledge of vocabulary that appears in first grade basal readers by applying Rasch modeling to data from a researcher-developed receptive picture vocabulary assessment administered to 238 children. Levels of word difficulty for dual language learners (DLLs) and monolingual English learners (MELs) were compared. A total of 60 target words were selected from the glossaries of basal readers, and two test forms of 30 words each were created with four illustrations per word plate. Rasch analyses carried out on the entire preschool sample and on separate samples of DLLs and MELs showed that the ranking of target words by difficulty was similar for DLLs and MELs, but the groups differed in mastery of target words. Language status and level of general vocabulary knowledge were stronger predictors of word difficulty than age for this sample of preschoolers. Findings suggest MELs and DLLs learn English words in a similar order, but further research is needed to support this conclusion.

An Analysis of Phonological Processes Involved in Spoken English of Hong Kong Primary Pre-service Teachers

This study investigated the English phonological processes and speech articulation of adult Cantonese-English speakers residing in Hong Kong. The Phonology Test for Cantonese Speakers of English (PTCSE) was developed to assess English articulation and phonological processes of native speakers of Cantonese. Data from 37 adult participants, analyzed descriptively, yielded a total of 466 phonological process deviations. Two syllable words presented the most difficulty, followed by three and single syllable words. Results indicated this group of Cantonese-English speaking participants displayed a wide variety of articulatory patterns, some of which were not evidenced by the literature. Phonological processes noted in this study included: (a) stopping; (b) fronting; (c) deaffrication; (d) gliding; (e) devoicing; (f) lip rounding; (g) backing; (h) affrication; (i) voicing; (j) pre-vocalic singleton omission; (k) post-vocalic singleton omission; (l) consonant sequence reduction; (m) vowel deviations; and, (n) vowel additions. Five suggested instructional strategies focusing on speech production are provided.

Spanish-English speech perception in children and adults: Developmental trends.

This study explored the developmental trends and phonetic category formation in bilingual children and adults. Participants included 30 fluent Spanish–English bilingual children, aged 8–11, and bilingual adults, aged 18–40. All completed gating tasks that incorporated code-mixed Spanish–English stimuli. There were significant differences in performance according to phonotactic construction of the stimuli, with fastest word recognition on words with voiceless initial consonants. Analysis of developmental trends revealed significant differences in childrens performance by grade level and fastest recognition on English voiceless initial consonants than Spanish voiceless initial consonants. Differences in voice onset time between English and Spanish may have contributed to quicker recognition of English voiceless consonants than Spanish voiceless consonants. It is also possible that increased exposure to both spoken and written English may account for faster recognition of English voiceless words than Spanish voiceless words. In conclusion, multiple factors may influence perception of a second language.

Influences of the Cultural Revolution on Chinese Literacy Instruction

This chapter focuses on Chinese literacy education during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. During this time period, political content was heavily integrated into the teaching of Chinese language and literacy, as well as all other school subjects. The authors refer to Chinese Communist Party documents that influenced Chinese literacy education and examine changes to literacy instruction and the functions of literacy during these years. Reading materials used for Chinese literacy instruction are explored, including editorials and lead articles from three influential media publications (i.e., Two Newspapers and One Magazine), Big Character Posters, Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book, and new Chinese literacy textbooks developed by local textbook writing groups. The authors also discuss the effects of the Down to the Countryside Movement and factory training programs on the spread of literacy.

Family Literacy in China

Family literacy practices are important to children’s literacy development. This chapter reviews research on family literacy practices in China. The authors discuss the role of parental support and the home literacy environment on children’s learning of Chinese and the major home and family related factors that contribute to or impact Chinese children’s Chinese literacy development. Factors such as literacy resources available in homes, parents’ education level, parent–child literacy activities, and child home literacy activities have all been shown to be closely related to Chinese children’s literacy development. Another major finding is Chinese parents’ attitudes towards reading predict their children’s reading performance, and their attitudes, support, encouragement, and values relate to their children’s sense of competence and motivation to read. The authors also discuss implications of these findings, including encouraging parents to use oral language to support their children’s Chinese reading at home, to make various reading materials available in the home, and to model good reading practices for their children. Suggestions are made for further research on this topic.

A COGNITIVE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON FIRST-GRADERS' CLASSIFICATIONS OF PICTURE

From the theoretical framework of cognitive anthropology based on the work of Charles Frake, this study explored childrens classification systems underlying their interactions with illustrated picture storybooks in a classroom context. As a classroom participant-observer, the researcher carried out a classification task where children in a culturally diverse first-grade classroom sorted 15 picture books into piles of books having similar characteristics. It was found that the children classified books by topic, genre, author, culture, emotional response, and physical property of the book. The childrens responses were placed in the context of the classroom setting. Some aspects of the childrens classification systems were found to be similar to the teachers way of categorizing books in the classroom library and also her way of classifying books in a book sorting activity.