The 7th Annual Conference for the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA 2023)

23-24 February, 2023, Held online from Hong Kong

Conference Coordinator : Dr. Kevin Kien Hoa Chung
The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 
 

The 7th annual ARWA Conference is hosted by The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. The Conference will provide an interactive platform for academics, researchers, and students to share their insights and experience on research related to reading and writing. You are cordially invited to deliver presentations across the spectrum of literacy development, literacy impairment, and expert linguistic processing in Asia from related fields such as psychology, education, linguistics and neuroscience.​

The two-day Conference will feature the following activities:

• Keynote Sessions

• Oral Presentations – 15 minutes for each presentation, including audience discussion.

• Poster Presentations – 5 minutes for each presentation, including Q&A.

• Panel Symposium – A symposium provides an opportunity to examine one topic in depth or from different perspectives. Symposium sessions are directed by one chair, with 3-4 presenters of 15-minute oral presentation and audience discussion. Presenters should represent different institutions/laboratories, and we encourage an international mix of contributors.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS (by last name)

Understanding Literacy Development in Korean

Professor Jeung-Ryeul Cho, Kyungnam University, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Korean Hangul is an alphabet, but it is also called an alphasyllabary. Korean language and script not only have the characteristics of English as an alphabet, but also the characteristics of Chinese because Sino-Korean words account for a high proportion of Korean vocabulary. Thus, it is interesting to examine literacy development in Korean. My talk will first review the results of previous studies on the universal and language-specific cognitive demands for Hangul learning. Next, I would like to introduce recent studies focusing on different cognitive strategies for various Korean language learners, including Korean children and Chinese adults who learn Korean as a foreign language, to read and write Korean words. Specifically, these participants tend to use phonological processing skills in spelling of phonologically consistent syllables in Korean. On the other hand, they tend to use vocabulary and metalinguistic skills such as orthographic and morphological awareness to spell phonologically inconsistent targets. In addition, Korean children who were deaf and hard of hearing showed different reading and spelling strategies compared to their typical hearing peers. Finally, I will review recent training studies on Korean kindergarten children with or without reading difficulties. And I conclude with some suggestions for future research.

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From Home to Higher Education in Different Language Environments:

The Questions That (sometimes) Keep Me Awake at Night

Professor Rauno Parrila, Macquarie University, Australia

Abstract

Over the last 30 years, I have been exceptionally fortunate to work with many talented colleagues in different parts of the world on factors affecting typical and atypical reading development from early childhood to young adults. In this keynote, I will first present the metatheoretical model that has helped me to interpret and frequently also integrate the seemingly unrelated findings. I will then briefly discuss three research topics that I consider related, insufficiently studied, and very important for the progress of reading research in service of the poor readers, their parents and teachers. These are agency in early childhood, persistently poor readers (“treatment resistors”) in primary school, and compensation in secondary school and beyond.

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Learning to Read in Vietnamese: Language Precursors and Contributing Factors

Dr Giang Thuy Pham, San Diego State University, USA

Abstract

Cross-national studies of transparent orthographies have shown that most children learn to read rapidly following formal instruction. However, a subset of readers will continue to have difficulty. Research on transparent orthographies is primarily based on Indo-European languages. Vietnamese, a new language to the reading acquisition literature, has a transparent orthography yet is from the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet with diacritics to represent its six tones and certain vowel singletons and combinations. Formal reading instruction in Vietnam begins in first grade. This presentation focuses on the reading performance of a sample of children from Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, who completed language and literacy measures in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Based on the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990), we examine relations between kindergarten precursors, first grade decoding, and reading comprehension (e.g., Pham & Snow, 2020; Ho, Pham, & Dam, 2021). Precursors include phonological awareness, rapid automized naming, and vocabulary. Related factors such as reading attitudes are also considered. These initial studies pave the way for future investigation of Vietnamese literacy development. Findings have implications for educational instruction and intervention for struggling readers.

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ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

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• For Oral and Poster presentations, please submit your abstract (in 250 words) online: https://bit.ly/3fALxvg

• For those who would like to do a symposium, please contact the conference secretariat at arwacon2023@gmail.com.

• Abstract submission deadline:  Extended to 15 December 2022

• Acceptance notification: by 9 January 2023 

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CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

• ARWA’s paying members are eligible to join the 2023 conference for free. Membership registration: https://www.arwasia.org/registration

• ​​Please register after receiving acceptance notification and ensure that all presenters (including the co-authors) register by 30 January 2023.

PRESENTATION FORMAT

Oral sessions

• For each session, there will be 3 to 4 presentations on the same or a similar area of research. All presentations are 15 minutes in length, including discussion.

• The speakers should use their real names when they present.

• The presentation slides should have a 16:9 ratio (screen size format) with landscape/horizontal orientation. Texts and figures should be big enough, and images should be high quality.

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Poster sessions

• Poster presenters will be organized into groups based on topics and keywords. Each presenter will present the poster for 3-5 minutes with Q&A session.

• The poster should be a single slide with a 16:9 ratio, landscape/horizontal orientation.

• The poster should include the presentation title, and names and affiliations of all the contributing authors. The name and affiliation of the presenting author should be indicated.

• Texts and figures should be big enough, and images should be high quality.

• Presenters are requested to send the pdf version of the poster to: arwacon2023@gmail.com by 9 February 2023.

• Presenters may choose to prepare a 3-minute video walk-through of the poster presentation. Please make sure that the video can be accessed worldwide.

• Please note that the poster uploaded will be public, citable, shareable, licensed to the presenter, and available online during the conference period.

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IMPORTANT DATES (HKT, GMT+8)

• Abstract submission deadline: 21 November 2022

• Acceptance notification: by 9 January 2023

• Registration deadline: 30 January 2023 (for presenters); 16 February 2023 (for attendees)

• Submission of poster (in pdf format; for poster presentations only): 9 February 2023
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STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP

Conference scholarships are available for top student researchers in Asia who delivers a presentation at the ARWA conference. For details, please visit: https://www.arwasia.org/scholarships

SPECIAL ISSUES IN READING AND WRITING: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

The journal Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal is accepting submissions to the ARWA 2023 special issue.

• Deadline for submission: 1 May 2023

• Link: https://www.editorialmanager.com/read/default.aspx

• After login, click “submit a new manuscript”

• Select “SI: ARWA 2023’ in the dropdown list for “Article Type”

• Then follow the instructions to submit the manuscript

• You may also refer to the link https://www.springer.com/journal/11145/submission-guidelines?IFA for the submission guidelines before submitting.

ENQUIRY

arwacon2023@gmail.com 

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Conference Coordinator:

• Dr. Kevin Kien Hoa Chung, Centre for Child and Family Science and Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK)

Conference Secretariat:

• Centre for Child and Family Science, EdUHK

Members of the Scientific Program:

• Dr. William Choi, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong

• Dr. Phil Liu, Department of Special Education and Counselling, EdUHK

• Dr. Sisi Liu, Department of Special Education and Counselling, EdUHK

• Dr. Xiuhong Tong, Department of Psychology, EdUHK

• Dr. Patcy Yeung, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong

• Dr. Angus Wang, Department of Special Education, National Tsing Hua University

Members of the Technical Support:

• Dr. Kevin Chan, Centre for Child and Family Science, EdUHK

• Dr. Alfred Lee, Centre for Child and Family Science, EdUHK

• Dr. Catrina Liu, Centre for Child and Family Science, EdUHK