Naming speed and phonological awareness in Chinese children: Relations to reading skills

Abstract

Examined how naming speed and phonological awareness may be related to reading skills among Chinese children. 80 3–4 yr old Chinese kindergarten students in Hong Kong were tested on a variety of reading-related skills, including speeded picture and number naming, phonological awareness, visual attention, visual memory, vocabulary, letter knowledge, and Chinese character reading. Results show that character recognition was significantly poorer in subgroups of children who showed either relatively poor phonological awareness, slow naming speed, or both. Slow naming speed was associated with relatively poor visual attention and letter knowledge. Findings suggest that both naming speed and phonological awareness are associated with early character recognition and that visual attention and graphological knowledge may be important components of speeded naming in young Chinese readers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)