Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school

While extensive research has explored student’s problems in reading comprehension, studies specifically examining the problems faced by child learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) in reading comprehension have been relatively scarce. This research aimed to examine reading comprehension pro...

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Main Authors: Zhong, Kai, Wong, Ling Yann, Yong, Mei Fung, Ng, Boon Sim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Human Resource Management Academic Research Society 2024
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/1/119948.pdf
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author Zhong, Kai
Wong, Ling Yann
Yong, Mei Fung
Ng, Boon Sim
author_facet Zhong, Kai
Wong, Ling Yann
Yong, Mei Fung
Ng, Boon Sim
author_sort Zhong, Kai
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description While extensive research has explored student’s problems in reading comprehension, studies specifically examining the problems faced by child learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) in reading comprehension have been relatively scarce. This research aimed to examine reading comprehension problems in CFL children at an international school in Malaysia. Forty-four child learners of CFL were evaluated on their knowledge in character, morpheme, vocabulary, grammar, and passage reading comprehension abilities. Through descriptive and error analysis, this study revealed several key issues: participants failed to identify the target characters even when contextual clues were provided, overgeneralized character knowledge, were unfamiliar with extended morpheme meanings, incorrectly discriminated between morphemes based on their position in vocabulary, mistreated disyllables with similar structures as synonyms, struggled to order sentences in serial verb constructions (SVS), and made more errors on implicit than explicit questions in the passage reading. The conclusions of the study are presented along with implications for pedagogy and suggestions for further research.
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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
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spelling upm-1199482025-09-19T03:31:59Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/ Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school Zhong, Kai Wong, Ling Yann Yong, Mei Fung Ng, Boon Sim While extensive research has explored student’s problems in reading comprehension, studies specifically examining the problems faced by child learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) in reading comprehension have been relatively scarce. This research aimed to examine reading comprehension problems in CFL children at an international school in Malaysia. Forty-four child learners of CFL were evaluated on their knowledge in character, morpheme, vocabulary, grammar, and passage reading comprehension abilities. Through descriptive and error analysis, this study revealed several key issues: participants failed to identify the target characters even when contextual clues were provided, overgeneralized character knowledge, were unfamiliar with extended morpheme meanings, incorrectly discriminated between morphemes based on their position in vocabulary, mistreated disyllables with similar structures as synonyms, struggled to order sentences in serial verb constructions (SVS), and made more errors on implicit than explicit questions in the passage reading. The conclusions of the study are presented along with implications for pedagogy and suggestions for further research. Human Resource Management Academic Research Society 2024-06-11 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/1/119948.pdf Zhong, Kai and Wong, Ling Yann and Yong, Mei Fung and Ng, Boon Sim (2024) Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 13 (3). pp. 705-725. ISSN 2226-6348 https://hrmars.com/index.php/IJARPED/article/view/21828/Reading-Comprehension-Problems-in-Chinese-among-Children-in-a-Malaysian-International-School 10.6007/IJARPED/v13-i3/21828
spellingShingle Zhong, Kai
Wong, Ling Yann
Yong, Mei Fung
Ng, Boon Sim
Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school
title Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school
title_full Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school
title_fullStr Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school
title_full_unstemmed Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school
title_short Reading comprehension problems in Chinese among children in a Malaysian international school
title_sort reading comprehension problems in chinese among children in a malaysian international school
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119948/1/119948.pdf