On the need to teach reading to preschool children: Literacy classes in China’s preschool institutions

Abstract

Unlike in other countries, the issue of preschool literacy education in China is a complex and important one to both the government and parents. The issue is particularly serious because of constant changes in official policy for historical reasons, parental anxiety, and the excessive learning load of preschoolers.

The article focuses on the initial stages of literacy acquisition by preschoolers in China. It offers a rationale for the beginning of this period, and focuses on the possibility of literacy education in preschool institutions in China.

China has been engaged in a long-running debate on the necessity and possibility of literacy training for preschoolers. Analysing the position of parents and the recommendations of governmental educational organisations, the author argues that preschool transition classes for Chinese preschoolers learning to read and write are expedient. With the promulgation of the new policy, it appears, at first glance, that China has blocked the preschool transition classes, but in reality, the government is shifting responsibility for the transition from preschool to primary school, emphasizing that the transition must be completed in the first grade so that preschoolers better adapt to primary school.

This article provides a perspective on the order in which Chinese characters and Pinyin are learned based on the evidence from literacy training. (Pinyin is the Chinese phonetic alphabet, a system of letters that conveys the sound form of words.) The author shows how learning Pinyin and Chinese characters interact and complement each other.