Supporting data for "Fourth Graders’ Literacy among Cities in the Greater Bay Area: An Investigation of Literacy Attainment, Socio-emotions and Strategy Use"

The major impetus of this study is to undertake one of the first documentation efforts regarding the literacy performance of fourth graders across GBA cities. Additionally, the study seeks to enhance comprehension of students’ literacy achievement by examining the relationship between curriculum guidelines and literacy outcomes, specifically focusing on reading comprehension levels and writing proficiency dimensions.

The study includes 783 fourth-grade students from the GBA region, comprising 597 students (mean age = 10.37, 50.20% female) from three cities in Guangdong (Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai) and 186 students (mean age = 10.07, 69.59% female) from Hong Kong. Literacy attainment is assessed through two reading comprehension tasks adopted from PIRLS and a continuation writing task developed by the researcher. Student questionnaires capture socio-economic status, socio-cognitive factors, and strategy use regarding reading and writing.

The key findings reveal differences in literacy performance between Hong Kong and Guangdong students. Hong Kong students demonstrate superior skills in informational reading, while vice versa, Guangdong students excel in literary reading. Guangdong students are more advanced in higher-order processes involving integration and evaluation, such as comparing and contrasting information. In terms of writing performance, although the two regions’ students performed comparably overall, Guangdong students exhibit strengths in organization and linguistic expression. Regarding socio-cognitive factors, regression analyses showed intrinsic motivation is a significant predictor of Guangdong students’ reading performance, while extrinsic motivation is the significant predictor of Hong Kong students’ reading performance. Writing strategy use significantly predicted Guangdong students’ writing performance, but not Hong Kong.

Regarding curriculum analysis, both Hong Kong and mainland Chinese curriculum guidelines emphasize comprehensive language education and critical thinking skills. However, they differ in focus areas: the mainland Chinese curriculum prioritizes cultural confidence and specific language requirements, while the Hong Kong Chinese curriculum adopts a more holistic approach to language literacy, integrating broader educational goals and critical thinking development for a well-rounded education. Findings of the quantitative and qualitative data triangulate and corroborate each other.

These findings underscore the importance of understanding literacy attainment dynamics to inform curriculum implementation and instructional strategies. Moreover, they highlight the potential for enhancing educational communication and exchanges within the GBA, offering insights into Chinese literacy learning and instructional practices.