Re: Reading depends on writing, in Chinese

Austin P. So (Hae Jin) wrote:
>
> http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/102/24/8781?etoc
>
> PNAS | June 14, 2005 | vol. 102 | no. 24 | 8781-8785
>
> Reading depends on writing, in Chinese
>
> Li Hai Tan *, John A. Spinks {dagger}, Guinevere F. Eden {ddagger},
> Charles A. Perfetti § and Wai Ting Siok *, ¶

> Language development entails four fundamental and interactive abilities:
> listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Over the past four decades, a

No, it doesn't; reading and writing are strictly optional.

> large body of evidence has indicated that reading acquisition is
> strongly associated with a child's listening skills, particularly the
> child's sensitivity to phonological structures of spoken language.
> Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that the close relationship
> between reading and listening is manifested universally across languages
> and that behavioral remediation using strategies addressing phonological
> awareness alleviates reading difficulties in dyslexics. The prevailing
> view of the central role of phonological awareness in reading
> development is largely based on studies using Western (alphabetic)
> languages, which are based on phonology. The Chinese language provides a
> unique medium for testing this notion, because logographic characters in
> Chinese are based on meaning rather than phonology. Here we show that
> the ability to read Chinese is strongly related to a child's writing
> skills and that the relationship between phonological awareness and
> Chinese reading is much weaker than that in reports regarding alphabetic
> languages. We propose that the role of logograph writing in reading
> development is mediated by two possibly interacting mechanisms. The
> first is orthographic awareness, which facilitates the development of
> coherent, effective links among visual symbols, phonology, and
> semantics; the second involves the establishment of motor programs that
> lead to the formation of long-term motor memories of Chinese characters.
> These findings yield a unique insight into how cognitive systems
> responsible for reading development and reading disability interact, and
> they challenge the prominent phonological awareness view.

Maybe this is the first time Perfetti (a senior reading scholar) has
ever looked at Chinese; the rest of the abstract reads like "Chinese
diffidence" -- "shame" at their "inferior" way of doing things.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: SCWC 32: Discussion: IMPLEMENT
    ... Language is not writing. ... Writing and reading are clearly and obviously two facets of ... speech is unavailable; it is not speech, nor is it a 'recording' of ...
    (rec.puzzles.crosswords)
  • Re: SCWC 32: Discussion: IMPLEMENT
    ... Language is not writing. ... If writing is a representation of speech, ... Chinese, a right to left reading such as Arabic, or Greek or Cyrillic ...
    (rec.puzzles.crosswords)
  • Re: colour languages - maybe hair brained! :)
    ... even when reading, writing, etc. ... Maybe pictures or colours. ... reading or writing visually isn't limited to colours. ... Metaphor is central for language and memory. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Reading depends on writing, in Chinese
    ... in Chinese ... >> listening, speaking, reading, and writing. ... >> child's sensitivity to phonological structures of spoken language. ... >> Chinese are based on meaning rather than phonology. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: use-package & name conflict: why they are not deferred?
    ... No use of the feature without editor change. ... language: language is stronger than me and I can't win and change it ... But the activity of preparing a conflict-free package composition is writing ... code, not reading. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)