Section Editor:	Becky Xi Chen-Bumgardner, Ph.D. (xchenbumgardner@oise.utoronto.ca) Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto 9-221, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1V5 Canada
Articles:	Identification and Classification Prevalence and Causes Interventions
Printable Version:	(requires Acrobat Reader, available for free from Adobe)

What do we know?
 
Reading disabilities can occur in children who speak both Western (i.e., English, German) and Asian (i.e., Chinese, Korean) languages. As Chinese has different linguistic characteristics than English, identification and classification of reading disabilities may be different than for English-speaking children.
 
There is a lack of standardized assessment tools for identifying children with reading disabilities in Mainland China. However, there are screening and assessment tools for reading disability developed and utilized in Hong Kong. Researchers have proposed a two-stage model for identification of children with reading disabilities in Hong Kong:

1. Screening, in which teachers or parents identify, with the use of checklists, based on observed behaviours, who may be at risk for reading disability; and
2. Comprehensive assessment, which aims to diagnose and determine what forms of intervention will be required.

Alternatively, a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) approach can be used to link assessment to intervention, monitoring progress over the course of treatment.
 
In both China and Hong Kong, more boys than girls are affected by reading disabilities. Of the main types of dyslexia (surface and phonological), recent studies indicate that surface dyslexia, referring to difficulties reading irregularly spelled words that cannot be easily sounded out (i.e., yacht), represents a significant portion of Chinese reading disabilities. Like in alphabetic languages, Chinese children with dyslexia experience difficulties with the accuracy and speed of recognition of both characters and words.
 
An awareness of tone and sounds within and between words is important for character recognition. Likewise, spelling, sound combinations and character components are also important for acquiring reading skills. As a result, deficits in (1) phonological awareness (an awareness of the sounds of a language and how they can be combined), (2) naming-speed (the speed at which an individual can name objects presented in a sequence) and (3) orthographic processing (the ability to form, store and access orthographic representations or spelling of words) are particularly characteristic of dyslexia in Chinese children.
 
Early intervention is important for treatment of developmental dyslexia. Predictors of difficulties in the acquisition of reading skills include vocabulary knowledge, grammar, word recognition, story comprehension, and morphological awareness. For intervention, it is important to recognize that in Chinese, letter-sound correspondence is regular; in English, it is completely irregular. Because of its regularities, phonological awareness is more advanced, given that many children receive direct instruction on these phonetic coding systems. However, as is different from English, phonological awareness interventions do not have a strong effect on character learning. A focus on syllable awareness can be more beneficial. Likewise, explicit instruction of the structure and meaning of compound characters and words (the teaching of phonological strategies and morphological awareness) allows students to improve their reading and writing skills. Dialogic reading (a form of book reading between an adult and a child involving a shared discussion) has also been suggested to be helpful.
 
What can be done?
 
Parents and Educators

• Increased engagement of children in language play, story telling, story reading and word games have been proven to be beneficial for children with reading disabilities.

• For Chinese children with surface dyslexia, orthographic-based interventions (referring to spelling), as well as multisensory approaches (including the use of colour and pairing sounds with character meanings to teach stories), have been suggested to be the most effective.

• Specific teaching of regularities within Chinese, as well as its exceptions, is also thought to be beneficial.

Policymakers

• Few studies exist to examine difficulties with spelling and reading disabilities; a greater understanding of these difficulties would be beneficial.

• More research is required to help to understand the role of cognitive function and dysfunction in reading for Chinese children.

• Potential treatment routes, such as identification and treatment for at-risk students prior to receiving reading instruction, should be explored.

• The effects of family and educational environments on reading acquisition for children with dyslexia are not fully understood.

• Best practices for intervention for reading difficulties still remain unknown and should be further examined.

• Little information is known about reading difficulties and appropriate treatment for Chinese children learning English as a second language.