Shawn Hemelstrand

Making Sense of Literacy

Welcome to my article series Making Sense of Literacy. Here I write about trends in literacy research in a format that trims the "fat" of science articles and gives you the main insights of current research. I also include editorials I have written for different outlets. Click on the titles to read each one.

It's Morphin Time! Why Morphological Awareness is an Important Skill for Reading Chinese

Why is it that native speakers of Chinese intuitively combine these characters into words? Can non-native speakers achieve the same thing? How is this accomplished? Read more to find out.

Listen Up! We Need to Talk About Listening Comprehension

We all know that listening is important. But what connection does listening comprehension have with reading ability? And how does it translate to second language learners? Read more here.

Some (Not So) Radical Thoughts on Literacy

An understanding of radicals is paramount to understanding how to read and write in Chinese. Here we take a deep dive into why this matters for early acquisition.

Editorial: What Hong Kong Educators Can Learn From the Pandemic

Here I wrote an editorial to South China Morning Post about skills-based training in literacy education and how my recent research relates to those foundations in literacy.

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