Profile of Dr FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 - The Education University of Hong Kong


Assistant Professor	Department of Early Childhood Education

Contact

ORCiD

0000-0003-0024-3988

Phone

(852) 2948 7236

Fax

(852) 2948 7160

ycfong@eduhk.hk

Address

10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

Website

https://pappl.eduhk.hk/rich/web/person.xhtml?pid=182103&name=FONG, Yui Chi

Scopus ID

35990677800

Research Interests

Language and literacy acqustion; language comprehension difficulties

Personal Profile

Dr Cathy FONG Yui Chi is currently an Assistant Professor of the Department of Early Childhood Education, the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Her research interests are in language and literacy development and reading difficulties. For her doctoral dissertation, she conducted a three-year longitudinal study in language and reading development among young Chinese children. She has coauthored journal-article and book-chapter publications on literacy acquisition and reading difficulties. With the completion of her Ph.D. training, she also obtained a professional qualification to practice as educational psychologist in Hong Kong. In the past two years, she had been the project director/postdoctoral research fellow with the READ and WRITE project in the department of psychology at the University of Hong Kong. She leads a project on the development of a new diagnostic tool for students with specific learning difficulties in Hong Kong. She has also provided supporting services for kindergartens and practicing educational psychologists in Hong Kong on early identification of children at risk of reading difficulties.

Research Interests

Language and literacy acqustion; language comprehension difficulties

Research Outputs


Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters Chapter in an edited book (author) Leung, A., N.-M., Fong, C. Y.-C., & McBride-Chang, C. (2010). Suicidal ideation and behavior among Asian adolescents. In Kumar, U., & Mandal, M. K. (Eds.), Suicidal Behavior: Assessment & Diagnosis (324-338). New Delhi: Sage Publications. McBride-Chang, C., Lin, D., Fong, C. Y.-C., & Shu, H. (2009). Language and literacy development in Chinese children. In M. H., Bond (Eds.), The Handbook of Chinese Psychology (93-108). New York: Oxford University Press.
Journal Publications Publication in refereed journal Fong, C. Y.-C. (2023). Phonological–semantic flexibility and its role in reading for Chinese kindergarten children. Infant and Child Development, 32, Article e2419. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2419 Fong, C. Y.-C. & Ho C. S.-H. (2022). Executive functions in Chinese kindergarten children with early reading problems. Dyslexia, doi:http://doi.org/10.1002/dys.171. Ng, W.-S., Wong, T. T.-Y., & Fong, C. Y.-C. (2021). Contributions of reading comprehension subskills to arithmetic word-problem solving among Chinese primary school students. Journal of Cognition and Development, 22(4), 585-604. Fong, C. Y. C. & Chung, P. Y. (2020). The role of orthographic flexibility in Chinese word reading among kindergarten children. Educational Psychology, 40(7), 804-819. Fong, C. Y. C. & Ho, C. S. H. (2019). Poor oral discourse skills are the key cognitive-linguistic weakness of Chinese poor comprehenders: A three-year longitudinal study. First Language, 39(3), 281-297. Ho, C. S. H., Fong, C. Y. C., & Zheng, M. (2019). Contributions of vocabulary and discourse-level skills to reading comprehension among Chinese elementary school children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 40(2), 323-349. Fong,C.Y.C., & Ho, C.S.H. (2017). What are the contributing cognitive-linguistic skills for early Chinese listening comprehension?. Learning and Individual Differences, 59, 78-85. McBride-Chang, C., Lam, F., Lam, C., Chan, B., Fong, C. Y.-C., Wong, T. T.-Y., & Wong, S. W.-L. (2014). Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children: Familial history of dyslexia, language delay, and cognitive profiles. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 204-211. Zhang, J., McBride-Chang, C., Tong, X., Wong, A. M.-Y., Shu, H., & Fong, C. Y.-C (2012). Reading with meaning: The contributions of meaning-related variables at the word and subword levels to early Chinese reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 25, 2183-2203. Zhou, Y.-L., McBride-Chang, C., Fong, C. Y.-C., Wong, T. T.-Y., & Cheung, S. K. (2012). A comparison of phonological awareness, lexical compounding, and homophone training for Chinese word reading in Hong Kong kindergartners. Early Education and Development, 23, 475-492. Publication in non-refereed journal Ho, C. S.-H., Fong, C. Y.-C., & Siu, C. T.-S. (2014). Cognitive-linguistic skills contributing to reading comprehension in Chinese: The unique role of morphosyntactic skill. Perspective on Language and Literacy, 40, 25-31.
Conference Papers Refereed conference paper Yuan, H. N. & Fong, C. Y.C. (2024, November). The Contribution of Home Literacy Environment and Home Executive Function Environment to Language and Executive Function Skills in Chinese Preschool. Asian Conference on Education, Tokyo, Japan. Zheng, M., Oakhill, J., Elbro, C., Fong, C. Y.C. & Wong, A. M. Y. (2024, July). Self-Teaching Mechanism in Chinese Children: The Role of Context in Orthographic and Vocabulary Reading. UK Literacy Association International Conference, Brighton, UK. Fong, C. Y.-C., & Ho, C. S.-H (2021, July). The contribution of sound-meaning flexibility to early Chinese reading. Poster presented at the International Congress of Psychology, Prague, Czech Republic. Fong, C. Y.-C., Ho, C. S.-H., & Chung, P.-Y. (2019, June). Executive functions of early poor readers in Chinese. Poster presented at the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, Hersonissos, Crete, Greece. Ho, C. S.-H., Fong, C. Y.-C., Siu, C. T.-S., Chan, K. S.-C., Chan D. W.-O., & Chung, K. K.-H. (2015, April). An extended simple view of reading in Chinese. The Reading and Spelling Development, Disorders and Remediation Conference, Sydney, Australia. Other conference paper Fong, C. Y.-C., Ho, C. S.-H. (2018, July). What are the key cognitive-linguistic weaknesses of first-grade poor comprehenders in Chinese language?. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Brighton, UK. Ho, C. S.-H., Fong, C. Y.-C., Tsang, S.-M., Chan, D. W.-O., Chung, K. K.-H., & Lee, S.-H. (2017, July). Selective impairment in word reading and reading comprehension among Chinese elementary school children. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fong, C. Y.-C., Ho, C. S.-H., Chan, D. W.-O., & Chung, K., K.-H. (2016, July). The unique role of picture rapid naming in predicting Chinese literacy skills. Paper presented at the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading., Porto, Portugal. Ho, C. S.-H., Fong, C. Y.-C., Siu, C. T.-S., Chan, K. S.-C., Chan, D., & Chung, K. (2015, April). An Extended Simple View of Reading in Chinese. Poster presented at the Reading and Spelling Development, Disorders and Remediation Conference organized by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Sydney, Australia. Fong, C. Y.-C., & Ho, C. S.-H (2013) (2013, July). Contribution of oral narrative skills to word reading, sentence and passage reading comprehension in Chinese first graders. Oral presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Hong Kong, China. Fong, C. Y.-C., & Ho, C. S.-H (2012, July). The roles of oral-language and reading-related cognitive skills in early reading comprehension among Chinese preschoolers. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Montreal, Canada. Fong, C. Y.-C., & Ho, C. S.-H (2012, January). The relative contribution of word-specific and word-general knowledge to early word reading and reading comprehension in Chinese preschoolers. Poster presented at the Global Conference on Disorders in Auditory Processing, Literacy, Language and Related Sciences, Hong Kong, China. Fong, C. Y.-C., Wong, T. T.-Y., McBride-Chang, C. (2009, July). The role of phonological awareness in Chinese children’s reading and spelling. Poster presented at the International Conference on the Processing of East Asian Languages & Symposium on Brain and Communication, Beijing, China.
All Other Outputs Other outputs Ho, C. S.-H., Chan, D. W.-O., Chung, K., Tsang, S.-M., Lee, S.-H., & Fong, C. Y.-C. (2016). The Hong Kong Test of Specific Learning Difficulties in Reading and Writing for Primary School Students-Third Edition [HKT-P(III)]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Research Team..

Projects


Orthographic Executive Functions: A Missing Component for Understanding Early Writing Ability in Chinese? Chinese is one of the most challenging writing systems to learn due to its complex orthographic characteristics. Orthographic knowledge – the understanding of how orthographic units are structurally combined to form characters – is thus an essential foundation for early writing development. However, whether orthographic knowledge alone is sufficient for young children to handle the complexity of Chinese characters remains largely unknown. In this study, a novel concept – orthographic executive functions (EF) – is proposed to represent a crucial yet overlooked cognitive aspect of orthographic competence. We propose that successful young writers not only need to be equipped with orthographic knowledge, but they also need to exercise EF skills for coordinating such a complex system of orthographic knowledge during the process of writing. To test our hypothesis, we will develop tasks to assess four potential types of orthographic EF skills – orthographic working memory, orthographic inhibition control, orthographic cognitive flexibility, and orthographic planning – of 160 kindergarten children aged 4.5 to 6 years. If these EF skills are found to have a unique and significant contribution to children’s word writing ability after controlling for a range of writing-related factors, our findings will provide an important contribution to the theoretical understanding of Chinese early writing development.Apart from examining the importance of orthographic EF as a unique predictor of word writing, our study also aims to examine how orthographic EF may be related to the ability to copy characters, which is traditionally considered as a necessary pre-requisite for word writing. In this study, a cross-lagged autoregressive model is proposed to systematically examine the development of orthographic knowledge, orthographic EF, and copying ability in relation to each other longitudinally from K2 to K3. Cross-lagged panel analysis will be conducted to clarify whether copying ability indeed has a causal role in facilitating the orthographic components of writing as traditionally assumed. Ultimately, the contribution of the interaction between orthographic EF skills and copying ability to word writing will be studied. Project Start Year: 2025, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi
Parent-child Book Reading: A Structured Home Context to Stimulate Executive Functions of Kindergarten Children? The current project examines the use of parent-child shared book reading to nurture EF skills among preschoolers. Shared reading is one of the most popular educational tools widely adopted by parents around the world. However, the potential effect of shared reading on stimulating EF skills was not well studied. We take the initiative to identify the types of shared reading behaviors of parents (stimulation, scaffolding, sensitivity, control) that are specifically related to EF. A three-year longitudinal study will be conducted in which 250 Chinese preschool children (aged 3.5 to 5.5) and their parents will participate. We aim to examine the unique contribution of parental behaviors to children’s EF and the mechanism(s) that underlie such contribution over time. Moreover, a theoretical model demonstrating the structural relationship among shared reading behaviors, EF skills, and later academic and behavioral outcomes of children is constructed and examined. Given the complexity of human cognition, the interplay between EF skills and other cognitive mechanisms (language, theory of mind, and problem-solving) are also considered in the theoretical model. The findings are expected to provide a novel and comprehensive understanding of the relationship between parent-child shared reading and EF skills. Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi
Parent-child Book Reading: A Structured Home Context to Stimulate Executive Functions of Kindergarten Children? .. Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈
Parent-child Book Reading: A Structured Home Context to Stimulate Executive Functions of Kindergarten Children? .. Project Start Year: 2021, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈
Chinese Language Enhancement Programme for Kindergarten Teachers - Foundation .. Project Start Year: 2020, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Ho Cheong 林浩昌 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)
Effects of Reading-specific Cognitive Flexibility Training on Chinese Word Reading in Preschool Children Cognitive flexibility (CF), one of the sub-components of executive functions (EF), refers to the ability to manage multiple aspects of a stimulus and actively switch between them during performing a task. CF may be critical for learning to read since written words contain multiple aspects of linguistic information (e.g., orthographic, phonological, and semantic information) which may need to be managed by readers with flexibility. This may be especially the case for Chinese, which has complicated mappings between sound and meaning. Despite the theoretical significance of CF, little is known about the specific role of CF in Chinese reading acquisition, and whether CF training may practically promote word reading skills among Chinese preschool children. To address the above limitations, an experimental intervention study is currently proposed. 150 Chinese preschool children aged 5 to 6 will participate in a pretest, a posttest, and training sessions between the tests. The tests contain a range of individually-administered measures, including CF (basic CF and sound-meaning flexibility) and other basic EF skills (working memory and inhibition), metalinguistic awareness (phonological and morphological awareness), and Chinese word reading. For the training, the 150 participants will be randomly assigned into one of five experimental groups, in which the participants will receive different trainings on CF (i.e., basic CF and/or sound-meaning flexibility) and/or other controlled skills (i.e., basic EF skills and metalinguistic awareness). Overall, our training study is expected to, theoretically, address the unique and casual role of CF in Chinese word reading; and practically, to provide practical evidence that CF training is effective and provide insights to improve reading instruction in preschool classrooms. Project Start Year: 2019, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈
Provision of Services for “Professional Development Programme on Catering for Students with Diverse Needs in Kindergartens: Basic and Advanced (Theory and Practice) Courses ” for the 2018/19 School Year -EDB ref: L/M (1) in EDB(EPS/K)/22-35/3(3) This programme aims to provide kindergarten teachers with an overview of the diverse developmental needs of children in kindergartens and promote teachers’ understanding of the importance of early identification and intervention through equipping them with knowledge and skills in supporting kindergarten children with developmental and learning needs, including those at risk for developmental delay. This programme also has a practical orientation and focuses on building the capacity of teachers on curricula and instructional strategies adaptation and also how to work with families and other professionals in the community. Project Start Year: 2018, Principal Investigator(s): CHU, Sing Wa, Steven (FONG, Yui Chi as Co-Investigator)
Language and Literacy Cluster .. Project Start Year: 2018, Principal Investigator(s): TONG, Xiuhong 佟秀紅 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Team Member)
The Unique Role of Cognitive Flexibility in Chinese Reading Acquisition among Hong Kong Preschooler Learning to read is a complex process that requires one to flexibly manage multiple features of print (e.g., orthography, sound, meaning). Among all languages, Chinese is an opaque language that has extremely complicated mappings among the features of print. A high level of flexibility is thereby demanded for processing these features. Despite this challenge, children in Hong Kong start to learn reading Chinese words early at preschool ages (4 to 6 years old). Cognitive flexibility (CF) – defined as the mental ability to manage multiple dimensions of a stimulus at one time and actively switch between them during a task performance – is thus hypothesized to play a significant role in preschool reading. It is known that CF emerges in children at age 4 when they begin able to manage multiple dimensions of objects (e.g., color-shape flexibility); however, whether Chinese preschoolers further develop reading-specific CF (e.g., sound-meaning flexibility) remains largely unknown. Furthermore, the role of CF in Chinese word reading acquisition, as well as whether it is a key to reading success, have yet been examined. The current project takes the initiative to examine the unique contribution and underlying mechanism of CF in word reading skills among Chinese preschoolers. In addition to prove the theoretical significance of CF, the current project also aims to demonstrate the practical effectiveness of CF training in improving Chinese word reading skills. These will be achieved by two empirical studies – a cross-sectional correlational study (Study 1, 200 participants) and an interventional training study (Study 2, 150 participants) – with Chinese preschool children aged 5 to 6. In study 1, a path model regarding the structural relationship among CF, linguistic skills, and word reading in Chinese will be constructed using path analysis method. One major focus of the model will be on testing whether CF has a direct path to word reading via facilitating the flexible use of sound-meaning information of words. In Study 2, a total of five experimental groups will be administered in which participants will receive different trainings on CF and/or other controlled skills. The study will demonstrate the cause-and-effect relationship between CF and word reading, as well as provide practical evidence that CF training is effective. Overall, the findings of the two studies have important practical implications for early diagnostic assessment and reading instruction for Chinese preschool children. Project Start Year: 2018, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈
In Search of Early Predictors of Reading Comprehension Difficulties in Chinese The aims of this proposed project are threefold: (a) to find out what preschool cognitive-linguistic skills predict later reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese; (b) to chart the cognitive profile of children with reading comprehension difficulties for enabling the effective development of intervention materials and strategies for Chinese poor comprehenders; (c) to develop a comprehensive model of reading comprehension in Chinese for helping us understand Chinese children’s reading development over time as well as why some children fail to acquire adequate comprehension skills; (d) to examine the relations among the different components in the model and skills specifically important for Chinese. Project Start Year: 2017, Principal Investigator(s): HO, Connie Suk Han (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)
Literacy Acquisition The purpose of the cluster fund is to create a mutual helping system to advance members’ research work and enhance their research capacity in the following three directions: 1. To conduct cutting-edge research on reading and writing related topics that will contribute to the scientific understanding of literacy acquisition. 2. To conduct applied research for both typical and atypical developing children and benefit children in Hong Kong and beyond. 3. To disseminate information about research-based practices related to literacy learning and instruction to the community including students, teachers, parents, and policy makers. Project Start Year: 2017, Principal Investigator(s): LIN, Dan 林丹 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)
Provision of Services for a “Professional Development Programme on Catering for Students with Diverse Needs in Kindergartens” for the 2017/18 School Year This programme aims to provide kindergarten teachers with an overview of the diverse developmental needs of children in kindergartens and promote teachers’ understanding of the importance of early identification and intervention through equipping them with knowledge and skills in supporting kindergarten children with developmental and learning needs, including those at risk for developmental delay. This programme also has a practical orientation and focuses on building the capacity of teachers on curricula and instructional strategies adaptation and also how to work with families and other professionals in the community. Project Start Year: 2017, Principal Investigator(s): LAM, Ho Cheong 林浩昌 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)
An Exploratory Study on the Predictors of Reading Comprehension Skills in Autistic Children .. Project Start Year: 2017, Principal Investigator(s): WONG, Kwok Shing Richard 黃國成 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)
Examining domain-general and reading-specific executive functioning: Relations to reading abilities in Chinese kindergarteners This project aims to examine the role of executive functioning in early reading abilities among Chinese kindergarteners. In particular, we aims to explore some reading-specific EF skills (those for goal-oriented processing of sound, meaning, and orthographic forms of Chinese characters or words) that may be importantly involved in the processes of learning to read in Chinese. Project Start Year: 2016, Principal Investigator(s): FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈
NO HKJ: Support for Ethnic Minority Students in Local Kindergarten for Effective Learning of Chinese - Professional Development Programmes and Scholarships for Multicultural Teaching Assistants ("MTA") The mission is to give all multicultural learners equal opportunity to receive education and care in an inclusive environment in kindergartens in Hong Kong. The project aims to fill in the gaps to foster these children's learning of Chinese and to facilitate their early integration into the local education system and the community. Based on the concept of capacity building, the designated team from The Education University of Hong Kong will focus on the development and professional training of four particular groups of practitioners, namely social service professionals (P), school leaders (L), educators (E), and multicultural teaching assistants (M). The PLEM capacity building is expected to support inclusive education in local ECE settings through a home-school-community model taking the cultural responsive approach. Project Start Year: 2016, Principal Investigator(s): CHUNG, Kevin Kien Hoa 鍾杰華 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)
Language Acquisition The language acquisition project aims: to conduct cutting-edge research on language and literacy related topics that will contribute to the scientific understanding of language acquisition; to conduct applied research for both typical and atypical developing children and youth and benefit students in Hong Kong and beyond; to disseminate information about research-based practices related to language and literacy acquisition and instruction to the community including students, teachers, parents, and policy makers. Project Start Year: 2014, Principal Investigator(s): LIN, Dan 林丹 (FONG, Yui Chi 方蕊慈 as Co-Investigator)