Design of the multimedia platform for dyslexic children in Hong Kong learning Chinese characters Chan Yuet Hung Cecilia City University of Hong Kong Chinese Semantic Lexical Workshop May 28-30,2020
1. Introduction u According to government statistics (Child Assessment Service, Department of Health, HKSAR, 2018), dyslexia is prevalent among children in Hong Kong. There are about 9.7% to 12.6% of Hong Kong children with dyslexia: 70% of them are mild, 20% moderate, and 10% severe. u Given that there are about 180 thousands of children enrolled in junior primary schools and in senior primary schools in 2017/18 (Student Enrolment Statistics 17-18, Education Bureau, HKSAR), there is a strong need to take care of the dyslexic children. 2
u Dyslexia is a specific language disorder, generally referring to a variety of difficulty with reading and also with writing. u Previous research on Chinese dyslexia found that various types of deficits are associated with this reading difficulty. Most of the deficits are related to Chinese character recognition and decoding. The ability to recognise and decode Chinese characters is crucial for reading in Chinese. 3
2. Previous Studies on the Deficits of Chinese Dyslexic Children u Chinese dyslexia has received growing attention in language disorder studies in recent decades. Most of the studies have investigated various types of deficits as subtypes of dyslexia according to the features of Chinese characters. u In an early small-scale study on Chinese dyslexic children in Hong Kong, it was found that dyslexic children had one or more deficits in the cognitive domains of rapid naming, orthographic, visual, and phonological processing. This study also indicated that a dyslexic child who had more deficits had greater difficulty in reading and dictation (Ho, Chan, Tsang 4 & Lee, 2002).
Ø More subtypes of dyslexia were proposed in a larger-scale study conducted by Ho, Chan, Lee, Tsang & Luan (2004). These subtypes of dyslexia include global deficit, orthographic deficit, and phonological memory deficit, and sub-types of rapid-naming deficit (visual memory, orthographic visual deficits). Ø This study demonstrated that the problems with phonological processing are not as evident as those with orthographic processing and rapid naming in Chinese dyslexic children. It concluded that “ orthographic-related difficulties may be the crux of the problem in Chinese developmental dyslexia ” (Ho, Chan, Lee, Tsang & Luan, 2004:70). Ø Orthographic awareness , the capability of identifying and manipulating 5 orthographic units, is an important predictor of Chinese dyslexia.
Ø Some studies argued that phonological awareness , which is the capability to identify and manipulate phonological units, is a significant predictor of Chinese dyslexia in children (Huang & Hanley, 1994; Chung, Ho & Bryant, 1997; McBride & Ho, 2000; Ziegler & Goswami, 2005; Ho, Chan, Tsang, & Lee 2010). 6
Ø Apart from orthographic and phonological awareness , morphological awareness has also been argued to be the core cognitive construct accounting for Chinese developmental dyslexia. Morphological awareness is defined as “awareness of and access to morphemes in words” (Shu, McBride, Wu, & Liu, 2006:126), which is regarded as key to Chinese word recognition. Chinese dyslexic children manifest difficulty in distinguishing morphemes in oral language and mapping orthography with meaning (McBride, Shu, Zhou, Wat, & Wagner, 2003; Shu, McBride, Wu, & Liu, 2006; Tong & McBride, 2010). 7
The basic research described above provides a theoretical basis for the design and construction of the multi-media platform for learning Chinese characters for dyslexic children. 8
3. Purposes of the platform u To develop a multi-media platform which provides enriched phonological, semantic and orthographic inputs and practices for dyslexic children studying at junior primary schools in Hong Kong to recognise and decode Chinese characters. u To study the difficulty in recognising and decoding Chinese characters of junior primary school dyslexic students in Hong Kong. 9
4. Features of the platform u Address the deficits suffered by the Chinese dyslexics; u Take into account of the characteristics of Chinese characters; u Promote cognitive engagement in Chinese character learning. 10
5. Selection of Chinese characters for the platform u The Chinese characters included in the vocabulary list for primary school students (primary 1 to primary 3) published by the Education Bureau (EDB) (Hong Education Bureau, HKSAR, 2007) are selected, analysed and categorised for the construction of materials to be used in the website. u The characters which can stand alone as monosyllabic words or be included in bi-syllabic words are selected. u Number of characters included in the platform: about 1800 Number of words included in the platform: about 1300 11
6. Learning content and practices 12
7. Evaluation of the platform The platform will be evaluated by: § Users § Parents § Teachers 13
English references Ho, C. S.H. and Bryant, P.P. (1997). Phonological skills are important in learning to read Chinese. Developmental Psychology , 33(6), 946–951. Ho, C. S.H., Chan, D., Tsang, S.M., and Lee, S.H. (2002). The cognitive profile and multiple-deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Developmental Psychology , 38, 543-553. Ho, C. S. H., Chan, D. W. O., Lee, S. H., Tsang, S. M. & Luan V. H. (2004). Cognitive profiling and preliminary subtyping in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Cognition , 91, 43-75. Huang, H. S., & Hanley, J. R. (1994). Phonological awareness, visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition in first graders: A longitudinal study in Taiwan. Advances in the Study of Chinese Language Processing , I, 325-342. McBride, C., & Ho, C. S.H. (2000). Developmental issues in Chinese children’s character acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology , 92, 50– 55. McBride, C., Shu, H., Zhou, A., Wat, C. P., & Wagner, R. K. (2003). Morphological awareness uniquely predicts young children's Chinese character recognition. Journal of Educational Psychology , 95, 743-751. Shu, H., McBride C., Wu, S., & Liu, H. Y. (2006). Understanding Chinese developmental dyslexia: Morphological awareness as a core cognitive construct. Journal of Educational Psychology , 98(1), 122-133. Tong, X., & McBride, C. (2010). Longitudinal predictors of very early Chinese literacy acquisition. Journal of Research in Reading , 33, 1-18. Chinese reference 香港教育局 (2007). 香港小學學習字詞表 . 香港 : 香港政府印刷局 . Internet Sources Education Bureau, HKSAR, Student Enrolment Statistics 2017-2018 (Kindergarten, Primary, and Secondary Levels) . (2018) Retrieved from https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/about-edb/publications-stat/figures/Enrol_2017.pdf. 14 Child Development Service, Department of Health, HKSAR, Dyslexia . (2018) Retrieved from https://www.dhcas.gov.hk/en/dyslexia.html
Acknowledgement: The project is supported by UGC Knowledge Transfer Earmarked Fund. 15
Thank you very much! 16
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