Construction of the Scale

First, the relevant literature was reviewed to analyze the assessment content and factors influencing Chinese character orthographic knowledge awareness. The connotation and extension of Chinese character orthographic knowledge awareness in children aged 6–12 years were defined by integrating qualitative interviews and expert consultation. Subsequently, the scale dimensions were preset, and an item pool with 850 items was established. A preliminary selection of items was conducted via group discussion on the target population and expert consultation to form a draft scale of 637 items. The scale consisted of stroke awareness testing, radical awareness testing, and left–right reversal testing. The scale was divided into three versions based on the grade level of the children: grades 1–2, 210 items; grades 3–4, 207 items; and grades 5–6, 220 items.

The scale includes three levels of structure: stroke, radical, and whole character. The first level examines stroke awareness, including stroke form error (bhA), stroke combination error (bhB), stroke increase (bhC), and stroke reduction (bhD). The second level measures radical awareness, including component addition (bjA), component reduction (bjB), change in component position (bjC), change in the ontological structure of a component (bjD), and assimilation error (bjE). The third level investigates whole-character awareness to distinguish left–right reversal, which includes left–right structural characters (zfA), up–down structural characters (zfB), and other structural characters (zfC) (upper-, middle-, and lower-structure characters, except for the left–right and up–down structures, semi-enclosed structures, single-character structures, and so on.). The details are listed in Table 2.

Contents in the item pool of the orthographic knowledge scale for children aged 6–12 years.

Examples of items are provided in Table 2, in which the chinese charaters marked in red are the incorrect forms of the target answer and the correct forms of the target answer are in parentheses.

The items in the stroke awareness test were set based on the stroke content investigated. Each item was a multiple-choice question with four choices, including one inspected character (created non-characters) and three matching characters (true characters). The subjects were asked to select the non-characters. The characters selected for inspection were high-frequency characters. Among the inspected characters were basic and anamorphic strokes. Basic strokes included points, horizontal lines, vertical lines, apostrophes, lifts, folds, and hooks; anamorphic strokes are strokes formed when the basic strokes are in different positions or combined. Matching characters were selected from low-frequency characters in the basic Chinese character database used in primary schools. The criteria for selecting matching words were as follows: (1) similar to the character being examined, that is, identical or similar component/radical, identical or similar number of strokes, or identical or similar font structure, and (2) similar in pronunciation to the character being examined. In the radical awareness test, the items were set based on the radical content investigated. Each item was a multiple-choice question with four choices, including one inspected character (created non-characters) and three matching characters (true characters). The subjects were asked to select the non-characters. The characters selected for inspection were high-frequency characters. The inspected characters included radicals from modern common character radicals and name specifications. The position of radicals contains 22 common combinations of Chinese radicals. Matching characters were selected from the basic information base of Chinese characters used by primary school students; moreover, the criteria for selecting matching characters were identified with stroke awareness.

Items in the left–right reversal discrimination test were set in accordance with the whole-character content investigated. Each item is a multiple-choice question with four choices, including one inspected character (created non-characters) and three matching characters (true characters). The subjects were asked to select the non-characters. The items were set based on the whole character content investigated. The left–right reversal test has a mirror image relationship at the spatial level. For instance, “始” is reversed to “台女”. The selected characters (created left–right reversal) were high-frequency characters from the list of frequently used Chinese characters. These characters were in the Chinese curriculum standards for compulsory primary education formulated by the Ministry of Education. The characters for inspection were mainly left–right and top–bottom structures. The matching characters should be selected from the information base of Chinese characters used by primary school students, and the criteria for selecting matching characters were identified with stroke awareness.

Convenience sampling was used to select an ordinary primary school in Maanshan City, Jiangsu Province. A total of 300 children met the inclusion criteria and thus were selected for pre-testing. On the basis of the survey data, different methods of screening items were used, producing three versions for grades 1–2, 3–4, and 5–6. Ultimately, 510 items were found in the scale; 170 items in each grade (including 50 items in the stroke), 65 items in the radical, and 55 items in the left–right reversal.

Random sampling was employed to select one ordinary primary school in Nantong City and another in Lianyungang City in Jiangsu Province. All these schools were of medium teaching level and scale in the city. The inclusion or exclusion of the research objects was determined based on the list of all children in grades 1–6 in primary schools and their basic information. Stratified sampling by grade and gender was subsequently performed; 25 boys and girls in each grade were selected using the random number table method, and 300 students in grades 1–6 were selected. A total of 600 students were thus selected from the 2 schools. The items were further screened based on the survey data, and initial reliability and validity tests were conducted to produce a formal scale with 360 items in 2 dimensions. The formal scale consisted of three levels: grades 1–2, 3–4, and 5–6, each of which had 120 items. The formal scale consisted of two dimensions: identification of left–right reversal at the stroke and radical levels (80 items) and the left–right reversal at the whole-character level (40 items).

Stratified random sampling was used to select 5 cities with different levels of economic development and geographic locations in Jiangsu Province: Changzhou, Lianyungang, Nantong, Xuzhou, and Yangzhou. From each urban area, a primary school with a medium teaching level and scale was randomly selected. From each grade, 25 boys and 25 girls were selected by using the random number table method. A total of 50 students from each grade comprised the 300 students selected from each school. Overall, 1,500 students were chosen from the five primary schools combined. From each school, 60 students were retested at intervals of 2 weeks, for a total of 300 students. The reliability, validity, and differentiation of the scale were evaluated based on the survey data.

Before conducting the survey, the researchers explained the purpose and significance of the study to the parents and teachers of the students. Signed informed consent was then obtained from each student. Questionnaires containing questions on the basic living and learning conditions of the children were distributed to the parents and teachers of the children. The rules for filling out the questionnaire were explained in detail to the respondents. After the questionnaires were accomplished, the researcher collected the questionnaire and conducted logical checks and rechecks to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data.

The investigators of the combined Raven test, orthographic knowledge awareness scale test, and literacy test were uniformly trained. They were familiar with the testing tool instructions and precautions. After filling in the questionnaire, the researcher collected the questionnaires and performed logical checks and rechecks to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data. The investigators of the joint Raven test, Glabra, and literacy tests were trained uniformly. All testers were trained to familiarize themselves with the testing tool instructions and precautions. Questionnaires were distributed by the testers at the site. After completion, the questionnaires were checked and recovered in the test, and the omitted and erroneous parts of the questionnaire were promptly corrected.