隨著世界“漢語熱”和漢語的國際推廣，對外漢語教學各方面取得顯著進步，但漢字教學整體方面還相對薄弱。筆者認為，這與漢字的性質有關。對外漢語的漢字教學，可以從解決漢字與拼音文字的性質差異著手，針對不同程度的學生，設計相對應的教學活動和遊戲，可以幫助提高學生漢字學習的興趣和提升學習動機。漢語漢字是世界三大古典文字之一，屬於獨立形成的文字體系，即兼用意符和聲符的文字。這對於單純使用音符的拼音文字為母語的學生而言，具有很大的學習難度。漢語作為第二語言的教學和學習，既包括了口頭語的教與學，也包括了書面語的教與學。漢語書面語的教與學，自然離不開語言的書寫系統，也就是漢字教學。因此，漢字教學在對外漢語教學中佔據重要地位，同時一直被認為是漢語國際教學中的難點，學生學習的動機不強，學習興趣也不高。本研究以香港及深圳共三所不同背景的國際學校為對象，根據不同中文程度的學生，設計相對應的漢字學習遊戲，讓學生在遊戲中學習，通過參與遊戲的學生進行投票，統計分析學生最感興趣的漢字學習遊戲，並且結合國際學校教師的訪談和反饋，得出提高學習動機的漢字識字教學方法。希望能夠通過本研究，為國際學校漢語教師提供針對不同學習背景及不同中文程度的學生，學習漢字的有效途徑和方法，提升實際教學中，學生學習漢字的興趣和動機。 Copyright © 2019 國際漢語教學研討會.

閱讀是一種重要的語言技能，幼兒從小透過閱讀，將來就能學會寫作、認識詞彙、學習語法和句式，並能朗讀詩歌。早期的閱讀能為幼兒以後的學習活動打下良好的基礎，但幼兒因受限於本身識字與生活經驗，所以圖畫故事書就是最好的媒介引發幼兒閱讀的興趣，使他們從有趣的圖畫故事書中認識不同的詞彙、各種語法和句式技能，培養他們的閱讀理解能力有更好的基礎。本研究旨在探討香港一所幼稚園以「交互教學法」的策略來說故事，提升幼兒的閱讀理解能力。是次研究，共 32 位 5 至 6 歲幼稚園高班的幼兒參與，隨機將幼兒分為實驗組及控制組，分前測、實驗教學及後測三個階段進行，再就所得資料做質性和量化的分析，對幼兒在「交互教學策略」的閱讀能力表現作評估、討論和分析。結果顯示，經過「交互教學法」的閱讀策略說故事後，實驗組閱讀理解能力比控制組為佳。根據實驗教學的結果，找出如何以圖書故事為教材並運用交互教學策略進行活動，來幫助香港幼稚園教師實踐交互教學以提升幼兒的閱讀能力。 Copyright © 2019 國際漢語教學研討會.

This study examined how a dialogic reading (DR) program with a component of multisensory learning (MS) of Chinese characters improved early Chinese reading and writing skills in L2 Chinese-speaking kindergarteners in Hong Kong. The DR + MS program was compared to the same DR program but focusing on morphological awareness (MA) training. A total of 118 3- to 4-year-old L2 Chinese-speaking kindergartners were recruited for the study. These children were randomly assigned to one of three separate training groups: DR + MS, DR + MA, and DR alone as a control group: Before and after a 12-week training session, all participating children were tested on a range of Chinese words reading and writing-related skills. The DR + MS group demonstrated the strongest growth in Chinese word reading and writing skills. The DR + MA group showed a trend toward greater improvement in Chinese vocabulary knowledge. These results demonstrated enjoyable ways to develop Chinese early literacy skills. Copyright © 2021 ACTFL.

培養學生高層次閱讀能力，是當前閱讀教學的重要目標，對於小學四年級學生而言尤爲重要，因他們將從「學會閱讀」進入「從閱讀中學習」的階段。過往有不少閱讀策略教學研究，但較少研究聚焦於分析它對提升學生高層次閱讀能力的作用。本研究邀請六所香港本地小學參與研究，在四年級開展教學實驗，實驗班193人，控制班196人，總計389人。實驗班一年中學習六項閱讀策略，控制班無特別安排。對比閱讀前後測結果發現，實驗班成績較控制班進步顯著更大，說明閱讀策略教學可顯著地提升學生高層次閱讀能力。然而，研究也發現，實驗班學生只有在「選取語句」「聯繫經驗」「自提問題」三項策略的應用上有顯著改進。教師教學中出現的一些困難需採取措施加以克服，這凸顯閱讀策略教學成效的複雜性。研究結果可爲將來閱讀教學設計、教師專業發展提供參考。It has long been recognized an important target to develop primary students’ higher-level reading abilities, which is especially true for primary 4 students as they are experiencing the transition from “learn to read” to “read to learn”. Although a large abundant of research have been done on reading strategy, fewer research have focused on its effect on higher level ability. This study has invited six local primary schools to attend a quasi-experiment. Participants were a total of 389 primary 4 students from these schools. Among them, 193 students were classified to experimental classes for which a one-year long intervention of reading strategy instruction was provided, while the remaining 196 students were classified to controlled classes without special arrangement. The results showed that experimental students gained significant higher improvement in reading comprehension performance compared to their controlled counterparts, indicating the positive effect of reading strategy on developing students’ higher-level ability. However, it has also been found that only three out of six taught reading strategy were applied more frequently than before, i.e., selecting sentences, integrating prior experience and self-questioning. Besides, teachers’ concerns were also raised. These suggested the complexity in teaching reading strategy. Nevertheless, findings of this study could be referred to when planning lessons and designing teacher professional development programs in further study. Copyright © 2020 香港教育大學中國語言學系、哥倫比亞大學中文部、中華書局（香港）有限公司.

The present study examined the contributions of vocabulary knowledge, syntactic skills, and oral narrative skills to sentence reading comprehension among Chinese junior elementary school children. Various language and reading measures were administered to 85 Chinese normally-achieving children at Grades 2 and 3 in Hong Kong. Results showed that vocabulary knowledge and oral narrative skills contributed significantly to word order skills, an important syntactic skill in Chinese. Vocabulary knowledge contributed to word recognition directly and contributed to sentence comprehension indirectly through word recognition and syntactic skills; and syntactic skills contributed to sentence comprehension directly. These findings suggest that while vocabulary knowledge is important for Chinese word reading, syntactic word order plays a central role in Chinese sentence comprehension. The implications of these findings for our theoretical understanding of the Simple View of Reading, as well as reading instruction, will be discussed. Copyright © 2020 Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada.

“Hong Kong and Taiwan adopt the same standard of traditional Chinese characters.” “Characters are pronounced only in those ways specified in the dictionary.” These are some simplistic notions that teachers commonly hold about the standard of correctness of characters. But if we closely examine the actual usage of characters in everyday practice, there exists subtle variants of the characters. This paper reports on the results of our project to identify linguistic variation in characters for raising teachers’ awareness in a teacher education course. Our project focused on those characters in the curriculum and, by gathering multiple sources of data, endeavored to find out what categories of variation existed in these characters. Two such categories of variation, namely, variation in written form and variation in stroke order, are explained in full detail. These results have practical implications to teaching since problems often arise when children adopt a variant of characters different from that of the teachers. Knowledge about possible variants of characters is thus necessary for teachers to appropriately respond to the children. Multiple standards, which teachers should interpret as helpful references rather than dogmatic rules, are recommended. We conclude the paper with suggestions for future research on practical linguistic knowledge for teachers. Copyright © 2020 Centre for Language Studies, National University of Singapore

The number of Chinese children living in poverty has risen steadily in Hong Kong, China. However, little is known on the longitudinal effects of family socioeconomic status (SES) on cognitive-linguistic skills, word reading and writing in children from low-SES backgrounds. This study examines differences in cognitive-linguistic skills and word reading and writing across kindergarteners from the low- and middle-SES groups. It also investigates the direct link between SES and children's concurrent Chinese literacy skills and how cognitive-linguistic skills mediate the longitudinal associations between SES and word reading and writing. One hundred and nine children were assessed at Kindergarten K2 (Time 1) and reassessed at Kindergarten K3 (Time 2). Children were administered the measures of vocabulary knowledge, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, executive functioning, Chinese word reading, and Chinese word dictation at both time points. Results revealed that low-SES children performed less well on Chinese word reading and dictation than their middle-SES peers at both time points. Moreover, hierarchical regression and mediation analyses suggested that SES had a direct relation with Chinese word reading at Time 1 after controlling for age and cognitive-linguistic skills, and an indirect link with Chinese word dictation at Time 2 which was fully mediated by phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at Time 1. The results highlight that SES may exert an impact on children's early Chinese reading and writing and suggest the benefit of improving phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge of low-SES children. Copyright ©Springer Netherlands.

The present study investigated the executive functioning of working memory, inhibition, shifting, and planning in Chinese adolescent readers with dyslexia and how they related to Chinese (L1) and English (L2) reading comprehension. Fifty-seven Hong Kong Chinese students at Grade 7 were compared with 57 typically developing readers of chronological-age-matched controls on their performance on working memory, inhibition, shifting, planning, vocabulary knowledge, rapid naming, and reading comprehension in Chinese and English. Results from the multivariate analysis of variance showed that readers with dyslexia performed worse than the typical readers in executive functioning, vocabulary knowledge, rapid naming, and reading comprehension. Hierarchical regressions indicated that working memory, inhibition, and vocabulary knowledge were significant predictors of reading comprehension in L1 after controlling for age, IQ, and group membership. Furthermore, working memory, inhibition, shifting, vocabulary knowledge, and rapid naming contributed uniquely to reading comprehension in L2. Taken together, these findings suggest executive functioning difficulties in Chinese readers with dyslexia and highlight the differential contributions of executive functioning to Chinese and English reading comprehension; working memory and inhibition appear to play an important role in reading comprehension across different languages. Copyright ©Springer Netherlands.

Demand for second-language (L2) Chinese education for kindergarteners has grown rapidly, but little is known about these kindergarteners' L2 skills, with existing studies focusing on school-age populations and alphabetic languages. Accordingly, we developed a six-subtest Chinese character acquisition assessment to measure L2 kindergarteners' abilities to make associations among the forms, sounds, and meanings of 40 Chinese characters, and administered it to 173 five- and six-year-old L2 kindergarteners in Hong Kong. We found a high model-to-data fit using the two-parameter logistic item response theory model (MSsubscript infit] = 0.87 to 1.07, ps > 0.41). Of the 40 items, 36 exhibited a range of difficulty and good discrimination. Internal consistency reliability and inter-rater reliability were also high. The children scored highest in the category of meaning-sound associations, followed by mapping from meaning to form. The results demonstrate that the instrument is adequately valid and reliable for assessing L2 kindergarteners' character acquisition and imply that child L2 learners may develop abilities to map meanings and sounds prior to their development of form-related mapping. With minor modifications, the developed instrument can be used in various child Chinese L2 programs around the world. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

This study is based on the data analysis of reading assessment of PIRLS 2016 in Hong Kong, students were found to have poor performance in both reading behavior and attitudes, ranking low compared with international levels. Reading fluency is directly related to this low ranking. This paper discusses the three elements of reading fluency which are accuracy, automaticity, and prosody, and includes suggestions for improvements. The repeated reading training methods is also advised. In addition, this paper also focuses on the importance of enhancing prosody awareness in reading. It is hoped that the Education Bureau in Hong Kong can advocate, and support the primary and secondary schools to pay attention to fostering students' prosody awareness in the Chinese reading class in order to improve the reading fluency of students in Hong Kong. Improving reading fluency will result in improved reading literacy, which in turn is an important factor in the development and competitiveness construction of the country and individuals.本文通過對香港PIRLS 2016閱讀測評中的相關數據分析後發現：香港學生存在嚴重的閱讀行為態度問題，在PIRLS 2016的排名中處於國際末尾。而這一問題的存在與學生的閱讀流暢性程度高低有直接關聯。鑒於此，本研究進一步提出如何完善閱讀流暢性三要素（準確性、自動化和韻律）方面的培養，及增加「重複閱讀訓練」的方法。此外，本研究還提出提升韻律意識在閱讀中的重要性。寄希望於香港教育局可以將對學生韻律意識的培養放到中文閱讀課堂中來，以此提升香港學生的閱讀流暢性，進而提高其閱讀素養能力，這反過來又是國家和個人發展和競爭力建設的重要因素。Copyright © 2019 文藻外語大學.