English orthographic learning, among Chinese-L1 children who were beginning
to learn English as a foreign language, was documented when: (1) only visual memory
was at their disposal, (2) visual memory and either some letter-sound knowledge or some
semantic information was available, and (3) visual memory, some letter-sound knowledge
and some semantic information were all available. When only visual memory was available,
orthographic learning (measured via an orthographic choice test) was meagre. Orthographic
learning was significant when either semantic information or letter-sound knowledge sup-
plemented visual memory, with letter-sound knowledge generating greater significance.
Although the results suggest that letter-sound knowledge plays a more important role than
semantic information, letter-sound knowledge alone does not suffice to achieve perfect ortho-
graphic learning, as orthographic learning was greatest when letter-sound knowledge and
semantic information were both available. The present findings are congruent with a view
that the orthography of a foreign language drives its orthographic learning more than L1
orthographic learning experience, thus extending Share’s (Cognition 55:151–218, 1995)
self-teaching hypothesis to include non-alphabetic L1 children’s orthographic learning of
an alphabetic foreign language. The little letter-sound knowledge development observed in
the experiment-I control group indicates that very little letter-sound knowledge develops
in the absence of dedicated letter-sound training. Given the important role of letter-sound
knowledge in English orthographic learning, dedicated letter-sound instruction is highly rec-
ommended.

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• English Orthographic Learning in Chinese-L1 Young EFL Beginners