Having learned Chinese myself, I should say that I see little connection
between learning to write and read Chinese, and using different phonetic
systems to represent English or European languages.

I needed a phonetic script when I learned Chinese because I had not heard
these words before. I suspect that Chinese children have already heard most
of the words they learn in school. Of course as they learn newer more
obscure characters they need a phonetic script since there is no regular or
reliable connection between the characters and their pronunciation, although
there are some hints. And there are at least 4,000 characters to learn.(At
least I learned 4,000 of them).

In English there is a pattern, albeit irregular, connecting the written word
and its pronunciation. The more words we have heard, the easier it is for us
to read them. The more we read, the easier it is to guess at the
pronunciation of previously unseen words. So a great deal of reading and
listening are a great boon to literacy. And we only have to learn 26
characters or letters.

I wonder if your beginner Chinese learners are not just better schooled, and
have already had quite a bit of English at school, but just cannot say much
in the language. Also, if they have had the pin yin phonetic system in
school, they are familiar with the alphabet. This might not be the case with
an Arab student, or a not very literate Hispanic.

Steve Kaufmann
www.lingq.com
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