Reading and Reading Disorders in Chinese

This chapter considers some basic characteristics of the Chinese language and script, and discusses how it is learned in different Chinese-speaking regions. It points out the cognitive-linguistic skills that are particularly important for learning to read in Chinese, highlighting implications for the remediation of character and word reading problems. The basic written units of Chinese are characters, which correspond to syllables and usually also to morphemes. Reading development depends on multiple cognitive skills, and it is generally agreed that there are multiple cognitive risk factors for developmental dyslexia in Chinese children and adolescents, some persisting from childhood to young adulthood. Children with dyslexia generally manifest spelling problems that are often more severe and more persistent than their difficulties with reading. The chapter focuses on the development of word recognition skills in Chinese. Interest in specific skills training for Chinese literacy remediation is growing.