Helping Children with Reading Disability in Chinese: The Response to Intervention Approach with Effective Evidence-Based Curriculum

Abstract

To accomplish effective evidence-based intervention for children with reading disability (RD), it is important to integrate basic and applied research findings and take into consideration some language-specific learning demands. In this chapter, research findings regarding the cognitive profile of Chinese RD are reported and the relevance of the profile for teaching Chinese children with RD is discussed. In particular, a Chinese tiered intervention model with core reading instruction curriculum, which we have developed and implemented in 37 primary schools in Hong Kong, is introduced. This Chinese model has successfully improved the various cognitive skills, literacy skills, and learning motivation of the children in the Program Schools. In particular, 18–58 % of poor readers in Tier 2 and 7 % dyslexic readers in Tier 3 remedial groups, who originally fell below the benchmark, reaching the benchmark of Chinese literacy after receiving the intervention for 1–2 years. Comparing the core reading components in Chinese and the Big Five in English suggests that different cognitive demands are needed for reading diverse orthographies—phonological training is essential for learning to read English, whereas orthographic and morphological training is significant for reading success in Chinese.