Teaching Chinese Phonetic Radicals Enhances Reading Fluency in Chinese-Speaking Children With Hearing Loss

Children with hearing loss (HL) experience challenges in sound-related knowledge and techniques for manipulating sounds, which can affect their reading fluency. This study aims to use the unique phonetic, semantic, and visual integration of Chinese characters to access phonological information through visual representation, thereby helping Chinese-speaking children with HL improve their reading fluency.

Forty-eight children with HL participated in the study and were divided into two groups. The experimental group received specialized training in Chinese phonetic radicals, while the control group did not. The changes in reading fluency between the pretest and posttest were compared by statistical analysis between the two groups.

The control group, which did not receive the specialized training in Chinese phonetic radicals, showed no significant difference in reading fluency between the pretest and posttest. In contrast, the experimental group demonstrated a significant improvement in reading fluency in the posttest after receiving the specialized training.

Utilizing the unique phonetic, semantic, and visual integration of Chinese characters, specialized training in Chinese phonetic radicals can significantly enhance the reading fluency of Chinese-speaking children with HL.