[speaker]Tang, Nga-yee, Ivy[/speaker]

Tang, I.; To, KS. ; Weekes, B. Relationship between riddle appreciation and reading comprehension in Chinese children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 2013

Link to HKU Scholars Hub

Abstract:
Using riddles to train inference-making skills for better reading comprehension is effective for English-speaking children. Given the different writing system of Chinese, the goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between riddle appreciation and reading comprehension performance in typically developing Cantonese-speaking children. Methods. Forty Cantonese-speaking children aged between 9;1 and 11;0 (Grade 4) were given tests of reading comprehension and riddle appreciation ability. Chinese character reading and auditory comprehension abilities were also assessed using standardized tests in Hong Kong.  Regression analyses revealed that riddle appreciation explained a significant amount of variance in reading comprehension ability but not in character reading skills after auditory comprehension skills had been controlled for. Lexical, morphological, orthographic, and syntactic riddles were significantly correlated with reading comprehension ability in Chinese speakers. The conclusion is Inference-making abilities predict reading comprehension in Chinese Fourth Graders. Training riddles in reading comprehension training programs may be effective for Chinese speakers.