Abstract:

The main purpose of the present study was to probe into the predictive power of Chinese phonetic symbol learning in preschool and home literacy activity to elementary school students’ academic achievement from first grade to third grade. The research subjects are the first graders from a public elementary school of Kaohsiung city in Taiwan and their parents. The total number of subjects is 400. The methodology of this study combined survey research and data collection research methods. Instruments of measurement were Questionnaire of Background Information about children of learning Chinese phonetic symbol in preschool and home literacy activity. The main data is School Achievement Test Scores from first grade to second grade. The questionnaire data, analysis and test are undergone by means of the statistic methods such as percentage frequently distribution, univariate analysis of variance, and multiple regression.
The results of the present study show that:
I. The degree of learning Chinese phonetic symbol in preschool is the most powerful predictor of the academic achievement after Chinese phonetic symbol learning for 10 weeks at the beginning of Grade 1. The degree of learning Chinese phonetic symbol in preschool is not predictive of the academic achievement at the end of Grade 2.
II. The time spending in learning Chinese phonetic symbol in preschool is the most powerful predictor of the academic achievement at the beginning of Grade 1. But the time spending in learning Chinese phonetic symbol in preschool is not predictive of the academic achievement at the end of Grade 1.
III.The score of preschool home literacy activity is the second powerful predictor of the academic achievement at the beginning of Grade 1. But the predictive power of the score of preschool home literacy activity diminished gradually from the beginning of Grade 1 to the beginning of Grade 3.
IV. The score of home literacy activity at the beginning of Grade 2 is the most powerful predictor of the academic achievement from the beginning of Grade 2 to the end of Grade 2.The score achieves the strongest forecast strength at the end of Grade 2.
V. The score of home literacy activity at the beginning of Grade 3 is the most powerful predictor of the academic achievement at the beginning of Grade 3.
VI. In conclusion，the score of Chinese phonetic symbol learning for 10 weeks can predict the academic achievement at Grade 1 most. The score of home literacy activity at the beginning of Grade 2 can predict the academic achievement at Grade 2 most. The score of home literacy activity at the beginning of Grade 3 can predict the academic achievement at Grade 3 most.
From the results, we can draw a conclusion that students having learned Chinese phonetic symbol in preschool demonstrated significantly higher academic achievement at the beginning of Grade 1, but the advantage disappeared at the end of Grade 2. However, the variable of having continuing home literacy activity becomes an important factor of effecting the academic achievement at Grade 2 and Grade 3. The students having continuing home literacy activity were demonstrated significantly higher academic achievement at Grade 2 and Grade 3.

Keywords:

Chinese phonetic symbol, home literacy, academic achievement.