Connecting the dots: the contribution of orthographic knowledge to L2 Chinese reading comprehension through serial mediation of word decoding and listening comprehension

Guided by the Simple View of Reading (SVR considers reading comprehension as a product of decoding and listening comprehension) and the self-teaching hypothesis applied to Chinese (Li et al. in Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 24(3):252-263), this research examined (1) whether the SVR is applicable to L2 morphosyllabic Chinese; and (2) whether orthographic knowledge is a unique contributor to L2 Chinese reading comprehension; if yes, how orthographic knowledge, word decoding and listening comprehension jointly contribute to L2 Chinese reading comprehension. Fifty-five L1-alphasyllabary high school beginning-level learners of L2 morphosyllabic Chinese participated in the research and completed a set of paper-and-pencil or digital tasks. The finding suggested that the SVR is partially supported in beginning-level L2 Chinese reading comprehension: word decoding had a direct effect on reading comprehension and an indirect effect via the mediation of listening comprehension. In addition, we found that orthographic knowledge contributed indirectly to L2 Chinese reading comprehension via joint serial mediation of word decoding and listening comprehension.