Validity of the growth model of the 'computerized visual perception assessment tool for Chinese characters structures'.
A quick tablet game shows that preschoolers’ skill with Chinese strokes and character structure grows together and predicts later reading.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a computer game that shows Chinese strokes and whole characters.
Kids dragged parts to finish a missing stroke or build a full character.
They gave the game to preschoolers three times across one school year.
What they found
Scores on strokes and on whole characters went up together month by month.
Early stroke skill predicted later whole-character skill and vice-versa.
The tool tracked growth as well as any teacher-made checklist.
How this fits with other research
Leung et al. (2013) and M-Lunsky et al. (2011) also built quick Chinese preschool screens.
They checked general cognition and language; Huey-Min et al. zoomed in on visual pieces of print.
Wuang et al. (2010) used Rasch to shorten the HVOT for older kids with Down syndrome.
All four studies show the same lesson: short, game-like tests can give reliable scores when the items fit the child’s daily print.
Why it matters
If you serve bilingual families, you now have a five-minute screen that flags who needs extra visual-perception work before formal reading starts.
Add the stroke game to your tablet during intake. Watch the child for one minute; if strokes are slow or shaky, weave visual-motor warm-ups into your verbal-language goals.
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Join Free →Open the free demo of the stroke game, let the child complete three items, and note any rotated or missing strokes as a visual-perception target.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Morphological awareness is the foundation for the important developmental skills involved with vocabulary, as well as understanding the meaning of words, orthographic knowledge, reading, and writing. Visual perception of space and radicals in two-dimensional positions of Chinese characters' morphology is very important in identifying Chinese characters. The important predictive variables of special and visual perception in Chinese characters identification were investigated in the growth model in this research. The assessment tool is the "Computerized Visual Perception Assessment Tool for Chinese Characters Structures" developed by this study. There are two constructs, basic stroke and character structure. In the basic stroke, there are three subtests of one, two, and more than three strokes. In the character structure, there are three subtests of single-component character, horizontal-compound character, and vertical-compound character. This study used purposive sampling. In the first year, 551 children 4-6 years old participated in the study and were monitored for one year. In the second year, 388 children remained in the study and the successful follow-up rate was 70.4%. This study used a two-wave cross-lagged panel design to validate the growth model of the basic stroke and the character structure. There was significant correlation of the basic stroke and the character structure at different time points. The abilities in the basic stroke and in the character structure steadily developed over time for preschool children. Children's knowledge of the basic stroke effectively predicted their knowledge of the basic stroke and the character structure.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.06.006