FEHD Research
Standing at the forefront of research into education and psychology, the Faculty of Education and Human Development (FEHD) is the leading provider of educational courses and research at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). We conduct high-quality research that addresses educational, social, and policy issues of global significance.
Article of the Month
Discover this month’s featured article, showcasing cutting-edge research and impactful ideas from our Faculty’s experts across disciplines.
July 2026
Smart Readers Need More Than Cognition:
How Cognitive, Ecological, and Psychological Factors Shape Chinese Children’s Word Reading
For a first-grade child entering primary school, learning to read represents a major developmental milestone. In the Chinese language, however, this transition can be particularly demanding. The visual complexity of characters, the large number of homophones, and the absence of consistent grapheme–phoneme correspondence mean that mastering word reading requires more than simple memorisation.
While reading development is often viewed primarily as a matter of cognitive ability, new research suggests that children’s literacy growth unfolds within a broader developmental system shaped by family context and psychological resources.
A study led by Dr Liu Duo (Phil), Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Counselling at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), published in Contemporary Educational Psychology, offers new insights into how cognitive, ecological, and psychological factors work together to influence Chinese children’s word reading. By integrating the Componential Model of Reading with Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, a widely recognised theory which proposes that children develop within interconnected systems ranging from the family to the broader social environment, the research provides a comprehensive framework for understanding early literacy development.
An Empirical Examination of Early Word Reading
The study involved 194 native Chinese-speaking first-grade students in Shenzhen, China. Children completed assessments of working memory, vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, reading accuracy, and reading fluency. Parents provided information about family socioeconomic status, home literacy environment, and children’s psychological characteristics, including reading self-efficacy.
Using path analysis, the research examined how factors from three domains contribute to word reading. The cognitive domain included both general cognitive abilities, represented by working memory, and reading-specific cognitive skills, namely vocabulary and morphological awareness. The ecological domain focused on family socioeconomic status and the home literacy environment. The psychological domain included reading self-efficacy and general psychological traits such as anxiety and inattention.
The Central Role of Reading-Specific Cognitive Skills
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The findings revealed that reading-specific cognitive skills played the most direct role in children’s word reading performance. Vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness significantly predicted both character recognition and reading fluency, even after controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence.
Working memory did not directly predict word reading. Instead, it contributed indirectly by strengthening vocabulary and morphological awareness. This pattern highlights the foundational role of language-based cognitive skills in Chinese literacy development, where understanding morphemic structure and semantic information is particularly critical.
From Family Background to Literacy Development
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Family socioeconomic status did not directly determine children’s reading outcomes. Rather, its influence operated through the home literacy environment. Families with higher socioeconomic resources tended to provide richer literacy interactions at home, including shared reading and literacy-related activities. These experiences supported the development of vocabulary and morphological awareness, which in turn enhanced word reading.
This pathway reflects what developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner described as proximal processes, the everyday interactions between parents and children that drive development. The study demonstrates that literacy-related interactions at home serve as a bridge connecting broader family resources to children’s cognitive growth and reading achievement.
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​The Role of Reading Self-Efficacy
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Children’s beliefs about their own reading ability also played a meaningful role. Reading self-efficacy did not directly predict word reading. Instead, it strengthened reading-specific cognitive skills, which subsequently supported literacy performance. Those who felt confident in their reading ability appeared more likely to develop stronger vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness.
In contrast, general psychological traits such as anxiety and inattention did not show significant associations with word reading in this sample. This finding suggests that reading-specific motivational beliefs may be more closely linked to literacy development than broader behavioural characteristics during the early primary years.
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A Bioecological Perspective on Reading Development
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By integrating ecological, psychological, and cognitive factors within a single model, this study advances understanding of how reading development unfolds in context. It demonstrates that literacy learning is not shaped by cognitive skills alone, but emerges through the interaction of family resources, home experiences, and children’s internal beliefs.
The application of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological framework provides theoretical clarity regarding how distal influences, such as socioeconomic background, shape proximal family interactions, which in turn support cognitive processes essential for reading.
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Implications for Practice and Policy
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Beyond theoretical contribution, the findings offer important practical implications. Supporting children’s vocabulary and morphological awareness remains central to early literacy instruction. At the same time, fostering a rich home and school literacy environment may strengthen the cognitive foundations necessary for reading success.
Encouraging children’s confidence in their reading ability may also indirectly promote literacy development by reinforcing the growth of reading-specific skills. The results further suggest that efforts to reduce disparities in literacy outcomes should consider not only classroom instruction but also family-level resources and experiences.
Dr Liu’s research contributes to the Faculty’s ongoing focus on child development, learning processes, and family influences in educational outcomes. By examining how cognitive, ecological, and psychological systems interact, the study deepens understanding of how children become successful readers within their everyday environments.
This research, titled “Understanding Chinese children's word reading by considering the factors from cognitive, psychological and ecological factors,” is supported by the General Research Fund of the Research Grants Council of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Reference no.: 18602520). To learn more about the study, please visit https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102163
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For enquiries about the research, please contact Dr LIU Duo (Phil) by email at duoliu@eduhk.hk.
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