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The role of transcription skills and oral language skills in Chinese writing among children in upper elementary grades

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

PUI-SZE YEUNG ,
CONNIE SUK-HAN HO ,
DAVID WAI-OCK CHAN  and
KEVIN KIEN-HOA CHUNG
PUI-SZE YEUNG
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong
CONNIE SUK-HAN HO*
Affiliation:
University of Hong Kong
DAVID WAI-OCK CHAN
Affiliation:
Chinese University of Hong Kong
KEVIN KIEN-HOA CHUNG
Affiliation:
Education University of Hong Kong
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Connie Suk-han Ho, Psychology Department, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. E-mail: shhoc@hku.hk
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Abstract

This study examined the role of transcription skills (including spelling and handwriting fluency) and oral language skills in Chinese writing development among upper elementary grade students in Hong Kong. Measures assessing verbal working memory, spelling, handwriting fluency, oral narrative skills, syntactic skills, and written composition were administered to 97 students in Grade 4 (n = 47) and Grade 6 (n = 50). Hierarchical multiple regression results showed that spelling and oral narrative skills were unique predictors of Chinese writing performance. The significant interaction effect of grade and spelling showed that transcription skills played a more important role in Chinese writing performance among sixth graders than among fourth graders. Together, the present results provide important support for the “simple view of writing” model and underscore the importance of transcription skills and oral narrative skills in children's writing development in Chinese.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 211 - 231
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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