Reading, Writing, and Context: New Directions for Understanding Children's Literary Development

Prof. Catherine McBride-Chang
Ph.D., University of Southern California
Professor, Department of Psychology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Seminar

Literacy development can be understood as a function of the interaction between individuals' cognitive skills and the environments in which they learn to read and write. In this talk, I will highlight some aspects of environment and some aspects of cognition that may contribute to reading and writing acquisition in children. Environmental factors related to literacy skill can be as broad as country-level wealth and as specific as parents' input into children's learning. Cognitive variables to be highlighted in this talk include sensitivity to syllable and lexical tone (aspects of phonological awareness) and morphological awareness. Some practical implications of this research for Hong Kong educators interested in identifying children potentially at-risk for reading difficulties and for training young children to boost their literacy skills will be reviewed.