Developing a Pinyin curriculum for early biliteracy development in a Mandarin-English dual language program

The rapid expansion of Mandarin-English dual language (DL) programs in the U.S. has raised essential questions about biliteracy development, especially regarding the timing and approach for introducing Pinyin – a Romanized phonetic system for Mandarin literacy. Grounded in Chung, Chen, & Geva’s interactive transfer framework (2019), the study adopts a design-based research approach with iterative cycles of curriculum design, implementation, and refinement, focusing on how the curriculum supports students’ cross-linguistic literacy outcomes. Specifically, this study explores the early biliteracy development of students in a first-grade DL classroom over 12 weeks of Pinyin curriculum implementation. In collaboration with a Mandarin Chinese DL teacher, data focusing on Pinyin letter-sound knowledge, Pinyin spelling knowledge, English letter-sound knowledge, and Chinese character reading skills were collected from 13 first-grade DL students from Mandarin, English, and Spanish home-language backgrounds. The study reveals positive shifts in Pinyin literacy, with students demonstrating sizable improvements in Pinyin letter-sound and spelling knowledge, as well as consistently high scores in English letter-sound knowledge. However, Chinese character reading showed limited growth. These findings shed light on the utility of systematic Pinyin instruction in early biliteracy development and highlight the need for additional character-focused support to enhance comprehensive Mandarin literacy.