The relationship between vocabulary depth knowledge, word reading, and reading comprehension in Chinese.

Although vocabulary depth (VD) is recognized as a crucial factor in reading comprehension, the investigation of its role in reading comprehension remains insufficient. This study aimed to address two significant research gaps in this domain. First, empirical evidence is needed to explore the construct of VD knowledge, particularly within the Chinese language. Second, the underlying mechanism that connects VD and reading comprehension requires further clarification. In this study, a sample of 326 native Chinese students from Grade 4 participated in a comprehensive battery of tests assessing VD knowledge, word reading, and reading comprehension. Based on theoretical frameworks of VD knowledge, we measured six subtypes of VD knowledge: polysemy, collocation, word register, part-of-speech, semanticassociations, and homonyms. The results of factor analysis revealed that Chinese VD knowledge can be conceptualized as a two-factor construct, encompassing in-depth semantic knowledge (VD-meaning) and knowledge of word usage (VD-usage). Both VD-meaning and VD-usage demonstrated significant direct effects on reading comprehension, highlighting the critical role of VD in determining reading comprehension outcomes in Chinese. Furthermore, our findings indicated an indirect contribution of VD to reading comprehension, specifically through the mediating effect of word reading on the relationship between VD-meaning and reading comprehension. This study represents a pioneering empirical investigation that delved into the construct of VD in Chinese. In addition, we discuss the role of VD knowledge and its interaction with word reading in the context of Chinese reading comprehension, which could significantly enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanism that links vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension.

Lexical Orthographic Knowledge Mediates the Relationship Between Character Reading and Reading Comprehension Among Learners With Chinese as a Second Language.

Reading in Chinese is complex because readers should not only recognize characters by basic units (i.e., characters) but also integrate characters into words when reading text. While many efforts have been devoted to investigating the effect of sub-lexical orthographic knowledge in Chinese character reading, less is known about the role played by lexical orthographic knowledge at word level. A total of 424 secondary learners with Chinese as a second language (CSL) in Hong Kong were assessed with character reading, reading comprehension, and two lexical orthographic knowledge tasks: lexical orthographic choice (OKC) and lexical orthographic choice in context (OKCC). Path analysis results demonstrated that these lexical orthographic skills significantly mediated the effect of character reading on comprehension, in which OKCC was a more critical mediator as its mediating effect was bigger than that of OKC. Further analyses showed that these mediating effects were significant only among students with richer learning experience (i.e., learning Chinese for 4 years or above). Our results illustrate the possible trajectory of CSL learners' literacy development from character reading to reading comprehension and provide pedagogical implications for teaching and learning.