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Word learning deficit among Chinese dyslexic children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2006

CONNIE SUK-HAN HO
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam
DAVID W. CHAN
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
SUK-MAN TSANG
Affiliation:
Education and Manpower Bureau, Hong Kong SAR Government
SUK-HAN LEE
Affiliation:
Education and Manpower Bureau, Hong Kong SAR Government
KEVIN K. H. CHUNG
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam

Abstract

The present study examined word learning difficulties in Chinese dyslexic children, readers of a nonalphabetic script. A total of 105 Hong Kong Chinese children were recruited and divided into three groups: Dyslexic (mean age 8;8), CA control (mean age 8;9), and RL control (mean age 6;11). They were given a word learning task and a familiar word writing task. It was found that the Dyslexic group performed less well than the RL group in learning irregular words over trials but not the regular ones. Error analyses showed that the Dyslexic group made more orthographic and word association errors but less intra-wordlist interference errors than the RL control group. The Dyslexic group also performed significantly less well than both control groups in writing familiar words (e.g. their own name). These findings suggest that Chinese dyslexic children have difficulty learning new words, especially irregular ones, and retaining overlearned words in long-term memory. We conclude that Chinese dyslexic children have a specific impairment in word learning like their alphabetic counterparts.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The present study was supported by the Quality Education Fund (#1999/2742) in Hong Kong. The authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents in this study.