Role of metalinguistic awareness in young learners of Chinese as a second language in character reading and spelling: a one-year longitudinal study

This one-year longitudinal study examined the impact of metalinguistic awareness on character reading and spelling among young learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL). Assessments of orthographic, morphological, and phonological awareness, character and word reading, spelling, and oral vocabulary were conducted with 204 ethnic minority students at two time points. Longitudinal path analysis controlling for age, nonverbal intelligence, and oral vocabulary accounted for 62–86% of the variance in reading and spelling. Orthographic awareness made the strongest and most consistent contributions to both skills, while the influence of phonological awareness declined over time. Morphological awareness showed only a limited effect, predicting character reading at the first time point but not later. Oral vocabulary predicted reading and spelling and was associated with later phonological and morphological awareness, but not with orthographic awareness. A reciprocal effect from earlier reading to later orthographic awareness was also found. The findings highlight the central role of orthographic awareness and the relations among metalinguistic skills, oral language, and literacy development in young CSL learners, emphasising the need for an integrated approach to CSL literacy instruction.