Is Chinese Special? Four Aspects of Chinese Literacy Acquisition that Might Distinguish Learning Chinese from Learning Alphabetic Orthographies

Some aspects of Chinese literacy development do not conform to patterns of literacy development in alphabetic orthographies. Four are highlighted here. First, semantic radicals are one aspect of Chinese characters that have no analogy to alphabetic orthographies. Second, the unreliability of phonological cues in Chinese along with the fact that word building relies heavily on lexical compounding in Chinese makes morphological awareness particularly important for early reading development. Third, two different scripts (simplified, traditional) have different characteristics and strengths and weaknesses in relation to teaching and learning Chinese. Fourth, learning Chinese may strengthen both segmental and suprasegmental phonological sensitivity and even promote basic visual skills, potential cognitive advantages. Collectively, these aspects of Chinese make it important to consider as a unique orthography for understanding universals and specifics in the process of learning to read and write.