The Acquisition of Chinese Pinyin and Hanzi

A Study from English and Arabic Learners
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-86914-8
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 458 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Chinese as a Foreign Language

The Acquisition of Chinese Pinyin and Hanzi focuses on the learning of Pinyin and Hanzi among learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL) from Egypt and the United Kingdom. The objectives of this book are to explore the roles of L1 writing system background, individual differences, and meta-linguistic awareness in the acquisition of Pinyin and Hanzi.

This book presents a unique comparison of the performance in learning Chinese between two groups of CSL learners using L1 scripts with different writing directions, namely the right-to-left Arabic and the left-to-right English. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the orthographic and phonological features of Arabic, Chinese, and English, illustrating how L1 background and individual differences (such as foreign language aptitude and experience of study abroad) impact CSL learners' performance in Chinese meta-linguistic awareness (e.g., phonological awareness and phonetic radical awareness) and literacy skills (e.g., Hanzi reading and writing). Furthermore, it examines the contribution of meta-linguistic awareness to literacy skills. The book also discusses the theoretical implications for understanding the significance of phonological skills for the development of literacy skills and the pedagogical considerations for designing instructional activities for Pinyin and Hanzi in the CSL classroom.

This book is intended for researchers, graduate students, and practitioners interested in CSL teaching and learning.

Zielgruppe

Professional Reference and Professional Training

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zhang, Haiwei

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Fremdsprachenerwerb und -didaktik
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Allgemeine Didaktik Literatur, Deutsch, Fremdsprachen (Unterricht & Didaktik)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Table of contents

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

WRITING SYSTEMS IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE

LITERACY SKILLS, PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND PHONETIC RADICAL AWARENESS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

CHAPTER TWO: READING AND SPELLING IN NATIVE SPEAKERS

WRITING SYSTEM AND ORTHOGRAPHY

Writing system

Orthography

COMPARING THE PHONOLOGIES AND ORTHOGRAPHIES OF ARABIC, CHINESE AND ENGLISH

Comparison of phonological properties of Arabic, Chinese and English

Comparison of orthographies of Arabic, Chinese and English

Section summary

THEORIES OF READING AND SPELLING

Theories of reading

Theories of spelling

Section summary

RESEARCH ON PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS, READING AND SPELLING IN ALPHABETIC WRITING SYSTEMS

Development of phonological awareness

Phonological awareness and reading

Phonological awareness and spelling

RESEARCH ON PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS, PHONETIC RADICAL AWARENESS AND CHINESE LITERACY SKILLS

Phonological awareness and Chinese literacy skills

Phonetic radical awareness and Chinese literacy skills

CHAPTER THREE: READING AND SPELLING IN L2 LEARNERS

INFLUENCE OF L1 ON L2 LEARNING AND NON-LINGUISTIC SKILLS

Influence of L1 on L2 learning

Influence of L1 on non-linguistic tasks

RESEARCH ON CROSS-LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN ESL LEARNING

Phonological awareness and literacy skills among ESL learners

Cross-language transfer in English phonological awareness

Cross-language transfer in English word reading

Cross-language transfer in English spelling

Cross-language transfer vs. intra-lingual influence

RESEARCH ON CROSS-LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN CSL LEARNING

Chinese phonological awareness in CSL learners

Pinyin spelling in CSL learners

Phonetic radical awareness and literacy skills in CSL learners

RESEARCH ON INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES VARIABLES IN SLA

L2 language proficiency

Foreign language aptitude

Number of Languages previously learnt

Study abroad in the L2-speaking country

THE CURRENT STUDY

CHAPTER FOUR: INFLUENCE OF L1 BACKGROUND AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES VARIABLES ON CHINESE PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND PINYIN SPELLING AMONG CSL LEARNERS

METHOD

Participants

Instruments

Procedure

RESULTS

Influence of L1 background and individual differences variables on phonological awareness

Influence of L1 background and individual differences variables on Pinyin spelling

DISCUSSION

Influence of L1 background on Chinese phonological awareness and Pinyin spelling

Influence of individual differences variables on phonological awareness and Pinyin spelling

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER FIVE: INFLUENCE OF L1 BACKGROUND AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES VARIABLES ON PHONETIC RADICAL AWARENESS AND HANZI LITERACY SKILLS AMONG CSL LEARNERS

METHOD

Participants

Instruments

Procedure

RESULTS

Phonetic radical awareness

Hanzi reading

Hanzi writing

DISCUSSION

Influence of L1 background on phonetic radical awareness, Hanzi reading and Hanzi writing skills

Influence of individual differences variables on phonetic radical awareness, Hanzi reading and Hanzi writing skills

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER SIX: INFLUENCE OF L1 BACKGROUND AND L2 CHINESE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ON THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS, PHONETIC RADICAL AWARENESS AND CHINESE LITERACY SKILLS AMONG CSL LEARNERS

METHOD

Participants

Instruments

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Phonological awareness and Pinyin spelling

Phonological awareness, phonetic radical awareness and Hanzi reading

Phonological awareness, phonetic radical awareness and Hanzi writing

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER SEVEN: GENERAL DISCUSSION

THE INFLUENCE OF L1 BACKGROUND ON PINYIN AND HANZI LEARNING

L1 influence: Phonological awareness vs. phonetic radical awareness

L1 influence: Pinyin spelling vs. Hanzi writing

No L1 influence: Tone and Hanzi reading

No L1 influence: Relationships between phonological awareness, phonetic radical awareness and Chinese literacy skills

THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES VARIABLES ON PINYIN AND HANZI LEARNING

Chinese language proficiency

Phonological aptitude

The length of stay in China

The number of languages previously learnt

THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

LIMITATIONS

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1. MATERIALS USED IN CHINESE PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS TEST

APPENDIX 2. DISYLLABIC WORDS USED CHINESE PINYIN SPELLING TEST

APPENDIX 3. SUMMARY OF ERRORS IN RHYME SPELLING

APPENDIX 4. MATERIALS USED IN THE PHONETIC RADICAL AWARENESS TEST

APPENDIX 5. HANZI USED IN THE TASK OF READING

APPENDIX 6. HANZI USED IN THE TASK OF WRITING

APPENDIX 7. SUMMARY OF THE RESPONSES IN PHONETIC RADICAL AWARENESS TEST

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

GLOSSARY

REFERENCES

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Haiwei Zhang received his PhD in Applied Linguistics from University of York and is an Associate Professor at the School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University. His publications cover a wide range of topics, including the acquisition and measurement of Chinese Hanzi and vocabulary among CS/FL learners, Chinese language teacher education, and research methods. His publications have been featured in both top Chinese and English journals in the field of applied linguistics.