Chinese character acquisition of second language learners in Hong Kong kindergartens

Abstract

As classrooms become increasingly multicultural, there is a growing global urgency to understand non-native speaking children’s language acquisition. The demand for second language (L2) learners to learn Chinese in Hong Kong kindergartens has grown rapidly over the last decade. Learning Chinese, which is Hong Kong’s dominant language, is challenging yet important for these children’s later language development and social integration. However, little is known about their Chinese learning, because existing studies focus on school-age populations and their learning of alphabetic languages. The Chinese script is represented by characters, each of which carries a morpheme and a syllable, and to date, no appropriate assessment exists for L2 learners in their earliest stage of Chinese character acquisition. This thesis presents two quantitative studies exploring L2 kindergarteners’ Chinese character acquisition, which is fundamental to Chinese learning.

In Study One, the Chinese Character Acquisition Assessment (CCAA) was developed for L2 kindergarteners in Hong Kong. Six subtests were developed to assess learners’ abilities to associate among the form, sound, and meaning of 40 characters carefully selected from among the most frequently-taught characters in L2 kindergarten classrooms. The assessment was administered to 491 second-language learners aged three to six to evaluate its validity and reliability. A high model-data fit was found in the item analyses using the two-parameter logistic Item Response Theory model (MSinfit = .92 to 1.05, ps > .41). Based on the item difficulty and discrimination parameters, experts decided 36 items showed a range of difficulty and good discrimination abilities across six subtests, and were thus appropriate for the group. The test also yielded high internal consistency reliabilities (αs = .75 to .97) and inter-rater reliabilities (rs > .99). The results demonstrated that the CCAA was a valid and reliable measure for L2 kindergarteners.

Study Two examined the Chinese character acquisition abilities of L2 kindergarten learners, using the six-subtest CCAA developed in Study One. In addition to the L2 learners recruited in Study One, the assessment was administered to 240 first-language (L1) learners. Results showed that L2 learners had little knowledge of Chinese characters near kindergarten entry; however, significant differences were detected in their Chinese character acquisition abilities across the three kindergarten grades (ps < .001). When L2 and L1 learners were compared across the three grades, diverging gaps were found in the four subtests related to character forms (ps < .01), but not in the two subtests on meaning-sound associations. To conclude, significant gaps in Chinese character acquisition abilities existed between L2 and L1 learners in the three kindergarten grades; however, the gap sizes across grades differed for abilities related to oracy and to literacy.

These two studies are among the first to explore systematically the language abilities of young L2 learners of Chinese, and they provide a comprehensive picture of learners’ abilities to map form, sound, and meaning. The findings highlight the unique Chinese learning needs of L2 kindergarteners in Hong Kong. Implications for future research, teaching practice, and educational policy are suggested.