Orthographic Effects on Rhyme Detection and Phoneme Counting In

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Orthographic Effects on Rhyme Detection and Phoneme Counting In ORTHOGRAPHIC EFFECTS ON RHYME DETECTION AND PHONEME COUNTING Nadia L. Clement IN FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND ITALIAN Dartmouth College 1.Introduction 3.2 Results: Rhyme Test 4.2 Results: Phoneme Counting This study investigates the effects of orthography on speakers’ ability Accuracy to detect rhymes and count phonemes in response to written stimuli in All languages: accuracy better in French, English, and Italian. It examines variation across differing the same category than in all other categories orthographic conditions within a single language, as well as variation Both English and French: across the differing orthographic depths of the three languages studied. accuracy better for systematic category than for silent category Average accuracy in every category was worse in French than in English and Italian 2. Orthographic Systems Same accuracy was better in English than in Italian, and Accuracy Orthographic depth: the degree to which an orthography deviates from a one- Reaction Time systematic accuracy was slightly Both French and English: same spell no French had fastest reaction time in every category, and English had slowest better in English than in Italian to-one grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence, i.e. the degree to which one can rhyme had worst accuracy English reaction times (from fastest to slowest): same, systematic, silent predict pronunciation from spelling and vice versa. Italian: worse accuracy for rhyming condition than non-rhyming condition English has the deepest orthographic Average accuracy, both overall and in each system of the three languages studied, respective category, was worse in French SHALLOW DEEP 5. Overall Results and Discussion Italian French English and Italian has she shallowest. than in English and Italian Reaction Time Systematic digraph: a two-letter symbol that represents a single phoneme, and French: longest reaction time was for dif Rhyme Test Phoneme Counting that phoneme is nearly always represented with the two letters. For example, SH spell yes rhyme Incongruous conditions had Silent category had lower accuracy than is a systematic digraph in English, representing /ʃ/. English: longest reaction time was for same spell no rhyme significantly lower accuracy and systematic category. Silent letter: a letter that is not required to indicate the correct pronunciation. Average reaction time was longer in French slower reaction times than congruous Across all languages, (if we lump silent and For example, the "B" in English dumb is silent, because the word could be spelled than in English and Italian (exception: same conditions. systematic together into one non-same category), spell no rhyme category, for which French Within the incongruous conditions, accuracy was best in English and worst in "dum" and still be pronounced the same. reaction time was faster than English) accuracy was significantly lower in the French. same spell no rhyme category than in surprising, given orthographic depth of the dif spell yes rhyme category. English vs. Italian 3.1 Experiment 1: Rhyme Test 4.1 Experiment 2: Phoneme Counting Across all languages, within the In Italian and English, reaction times were congruous conditions, accuracy was significantly different across all categories, with Participants in each language were shown pairs of words and asked to judge Participants were shown individual words and asked to type how many highest for English and lowest for same being fastest, then systematic, then silent. whether they rhyme. Word pairs each fell into one of four categories: “sounds” were in the word. The spelling of the words could be classified French. French reaction times were fastest across all 1.dif spell no rhyme = words are spelled with different endings and do not rhyme (e.g. went, three) in one of three categories: surprising, given that Italian has categories and were not significantly 2.dif spell yes rhyme = words are spelled with different endings but do rhyme (e.g. four, more) 1.same = same number of phonemes as letters in the word the shallowest orthography different across categories. 3.same spell no rhyme = words are spelled with the same ending but do not rhyme (e.g. rough, through) 2.systematic = spelling includes a systematic digraph Why was there any difference in the In French, the possible effect of the liaison and 4.same spell yes rhyme = words are spelled with the same ending and do rhyme (e.g. part, tart) 3.silent = spelling includes a silent letter two conditions in Italian? varying pronunciation of word-final schwa Categories 1 and 4 are "congruous," and 2 and 3 are "incongruous." Accuracy (correct/incorrect), participant answer, and reaction time were should be considered. Accuracy (correct/incorrect) and reaction time were recorded. recorded. *One-Way ANOVA tests were performed on the data, and all results mentioned here are statistically significant with p<.05.
Recommended publications
  • The Effect of Orthographic Systems on the Developing Reading System: Typological and Computational Analyses
    Psychological Review © 2020 American Psychological Association 2021, Vol. 128, No. 1, 125–159 ISSN: 0033-295X http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rev0000257 The Effect of Orthographic Systems on the Developing Reading System: Typological and Computational Analyses Alastair C. Smith Padraic Monaghan Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics Lancaster University Falk Huettig Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and Radboud University Orthographic systems vary dramatically in the extent to which they encode a language’s phonological and lexico-semantic structure. Studies of the effects of orthographic transparency suggest that such variation is likely to have major implications for how the reading system operates. However, such studies have been unable to examine in isolation the contributory effect of transparency on reading because of covarying linguistic or sociocultural factors. We first investigated the phonological properties of languages using the range of the world’s orthographic systems (alphabetic, alphasyllabic, consonantal, syllabic, and logographic), and found that, once geographical proximity is taken into account, phono- logical properties do not relate to orthographic system. We then explored the processing implications of orthographic variation by training a connectionist implementation of the triangle model of reading on the range of orthographic systems while controlling for phonological and semantic structure. We show that the triangle model is effective as a universal model of reading, able to replicate key behavioral and
    [Show full text]
  • Shallow Vs Non-Shallow Orthographies and Learning to Read Workshop 28-29 September 2005
    A Report of the OECD-CERI LEARNING SCIENCES AND BRAIN RESEARCH Shallow vs Non-shallow Orthographies and Learning to Read Workshop 28-29 September 2005 St. John’s College Cambridge University UK Co-hosted by The Centre for Neuroscience in Education Cambridge University Report prepared by Cassandra Davis OECD, Learning Sciences and Brain Research Project 1 Background information The goal of this report of this workshop is to: • Provide an overview of the content of the workshop presentations. • Present a summary of the discussion on cross-language differences in learning to read and the future of brain science research in this arena. N.B. The project on "Learning Sciences and Brain Research" was introduced to the OECD's CERI Governing Board on 23 November 1999, outlining proposed work for the future. The purpose of this novel project was to create collaboration between the learning sciences and brain research on the one hand, and researchers and policy makers on the other hand. The CERI Governing Board recognised this as a risk venture, as most innovative programmes are, but with a high potential pay-off. The CERI Secretariat and Governing Board agreed in particular that the project had excellent potential for better understanding learning processes over the lifecycle, but that ethical questions also existed. Together these potentials and concerns highlighted the need for dialogue between the different stakeholders. The project is now in its second phase (2002- 2005), and has channelled its activities into 3 networks (literacy, numeracy and lifelong learning) using a three dimensional approach: problem-focused; trans-disciplinary; and international.
    [Show full text]
  • Running Head: ORTHOGRAPHIC DEPTH and ORTHOGRAPHIC PROCESSING 1
    Running head: ORTHOGRAPHIC DEPTH AND ORTHOGRAPHIC PROCESSING 1 This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article accepted in "Reading and Writing". The final authenticated version will be available at link.springer.com. The Effect of Orthographic Depth on Letter String Processing: The Case of Visual Attention Span and Rapid Automatized Naming Alexia Antzaka (ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3975-1122) Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009, San Sebastián, Spain Departamento de Lengua Vasca y Comunicación, UPV/EHU, 48940, Leioa, Spain Clara Martin (ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2701-5045) Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009, San Sebastián, Spain Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013, Bilbao, Spain Sendy Caffarra (ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3667-5061) Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009, San Sebastián, Spain Sophie Schlöffel Running head: ORTHOGRAPHIC DEPTH AND ORTHOGRAPHIC PROCESSING 1 Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009, San Sebastián, Spain Departamento de Lengua Vasca y Comunicación, UPV/EHU, 48940, Leioa, Spain Manuel Carreiras (ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6726-7613) Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009, San Sebastián, Spain Departamento de Lengua Vasca y Comunicación, UPV/EHU, 48940, Leioa, Spain Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013, Bilbao, Spain Marie Lallier (ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4340-1296) Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009, San Sebastián, Spain Author note The authors acknowledge financial support from the Basque Government (PRE_2015_2_0049 to A.A, PI_2015_1_25 to C.M, PRE_2015_2_0247 to S.S), the European Research Council (ERC-2011-ADG-295362 to M.C.), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PSI20153653383P to M.L., PSI20153673533R to M.
    [Show full text]
  • Does Romaji Help Beginners Learn More Words?
    Yoshiko Okuyama 355 CALL Vocabulary Learning in Japanese: Does Romaji Help Beginners Learn More Words? YOSHIKO OKUYAMA University of Hawaii at Hilo ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects of using Romanized spellings on beginner- level Japanese vocabulary learning. Sixty-one first-semester students at two uni- versities in Arizona were both taught and tested on 40 Japanese content words in a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program. The primary goal of the study was to examine whether the use of Romaji—Roman alphabetic spellings of Japanese—facilitates Japanese beginners’ learning of the L2 vocabulary. The study also investigated whether certain CALL strategies positively correlate with a greater gain in L2 vocabulary. Vocabulary items were presented to students in both experimental and control groups. The items included Hiragana spellings, colored illustrations for meaning, and audio recordings for pronunciation. Only the experimental group was given the extra assistance of Romaji. The scores of the vocabulary pretests and posttests, the types of online learning strategies and questionnaire responses were collected for statistical analyses. The results of the project indicated that the use of Romaji did not facilitate the beginners’ L2 vocabulary intake. However, the more intensive use of audio recordings was found to be strongly related to a higher number of words recalled, regardless of the presence or absence of Romaji. KEYWORDS CALL, Vocabulary Learning, Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL), Romaji Script, CALL Strategies INTRODUCTION Learning a second language (L2) requires the acquisition of its lexicon. How do American college students learn basic L2 vocabulary in a CALL program? If the vocabulary is written in a nonalphabetic L2 script, such as Japanese, is it more efficient to learn the words with the assistance of more familiar Roman-alphabetic symbols? This experimental study explored these questions in the context of Japa- nese CALL vocabulary learning.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Orthographic Depth on Learning to Read Alphabetic, Syllabic, and Logographic Scripts
    RRQ4-04 Ellis 9/22/04 11:51 AM Page 438 Reading Research Quarterly Vol. 39, No. 4 October/November/December 2004 © 2004 International Reading Association (pp. 438–468) doi:10.1598/RRQ.39.4.5 The effects of orthographic depth on learning to read alphabetic, syllabic, and logographic scripts NICK C. ELLIS, MIWA NATSUME, KATERINA STAVROPOULOU, LORENC HOXHALLARI, VICTOR H.P. VAN DAAL, NICOLETTA POLYZOE, MARIA-LOUISA TSIPA, MICHALIS PETALAS University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom he problem of how to represent spoken language in writing has historically been solved in different ways (Daniels & Bright, 1996; Gaur, 1992). One distinction is whether to “write what you mean” or “write what you say.” Logographic systems such as Chinese and Japanese kanji use symbols to represent meaning directly and have no or comparatively few cues to pronunciation. Other writing systems repre- sent speech sounds. The characters of syllabic systems such as the Japanese kana Tcorrespond with spoken syllables, whereas those of alphabetic systems correspond with separate phonemes. However, alphabetic orthographies vary in the degree to which they are regular in their representation of sound. The writing systems of Serbo-Croatian, Finnish, Welsh, Spanish, Dutch, Turkish, and German are on the whole much more regular in symbol–sound correspondences than those of English and French. The former are referred to as transparent or shallow orthographies in which sound–symbol correspondences are highly consistent, while the latter are re- ferred to as opaque or deep orthographies that are less consistent because each let- ter or group of letters may represent different sounds in different words.
    [Show full text]
  • Can a Logographic Script Be Simplified? Lessons from the 20Th Century Chinese Writing Reform Informed by Recent Psycholinguistic Research*
    Can a Logographic Script be Simplified? Lessons from the 20th Century Chinese Writing Reform Informed by Recent Psycholinguistic Research* Zev Handel University of Washington, Seattle In the 1950s and 1960s, the government of the People’s Republic of China undertook, in two stages, a carefully planned “simplification” of the logographic Chinese script. Drawing on a variety of historical precedents, over 2,000 individual graphs were modified in an attempt to make the script easier to learn and use. This was the first significant change in the official form of the Chinese script in nearly two millennia, and resulted in the script variety that is widely used today in mainland China, commonly termed “simplified Chinese characters.” Drawing on recent psycholinguistic experiments that attempt to characterize the cognitive functions involved in Chinese script processing, this study revisits long-standing questions about the efficacy of character simplification and provides some additional theoretical insights into the nature of logographic writing. The central conclusion of this study is that meaningful simplification of a logographic script is possible, but that today’s simplified character script cannot be characterized as an effective reform by any reasonable metric—it is only “simpler” in the crudest of senses. After evaluating the results of recent studies on the cognitive processing of Chinese characters, I introduce the concept of semantic orthographic depth and argue that a true simplification of a logographic script should be based on regularization of semantic and phonetic components, rather than on reduction of the number of graphs or the reduction of the number of strokes per graph.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading in a Regular Orthography: an Fmri Study Investigating the Role of Visual Familiarity
    Reading in a Regular Orthography: An fMRI Study Investigating the Role of Visual Familiarity Anja Ischebeck1, Peter Indefrey2,3, Nobuo Usui4, Izuru Nose5, Frauke Hellwig2,3, and Masato Taira4 Downloaded from http://mitprc.silverchair.com/jocn/article-pdf/16/5/727/1758172/089892904970708.pdf by guest on 18 May 2021 Abstract & In order to separate the cognitive processes associated with the three different stimulus types (familiar, unfamiliar, and phonological encoding and the use of a visual word form pseudoword) were found to activate selectively different brain lexicon in reading, it is desirable to compare the processing of regions previously associated with phonological encoding and words presented in a visually familiar form with words in a word retrieval or meaning. Compatible with the predictions of visually unfamiliar form. Japanese Kana orthography offers this the dual-route model for reading, pseudowords and visually possibility. Two phonologically equivalent but visually dissim- unfamiliar words, which have to be read using phonological ilar syllabaries allow the writing of, for example, foreign assembly, caused an increase in brain activity in left inferior loanwords in two ways, only one of which is visually familiar. frontal regions (BA 44/47), as compared to visually familiar Familiarly written words, unfamiliarly written words, and words. Visually familiar and unfamiliar words were found to pseudowords were presented in both Kana syllabaries (yield- activate a range of areas associated with lexico-semantic ing six conditions in total) to participants during an fMRI processing more strongly than pseudowords, such as the left measurement with a silent articulation task (Experiment 1) and and right temporo-parietal region (BA 39/40), a region in the a phonological lexical decision task (Experiment 2) using an left middle/inferior temporal gyrus (BA 20/21), and the event-related design.
    [Show full text]
  • Information to Users
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter free, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Infonnation Compaiy 300 NorthZeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received. 52 UMI THE EFFECTS OF PRIMING ON RECOGNITION LATENCIES TO FAMILIAR AND UNFAMILIAR ORTHOGRAPHIC FORMS OF JAPANESE WORDS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University by Kim Ainsworth-Damell, M.A., BA.
    [Show full text]
  • Dyslexia Profiles Across Orthographies Differing in Transparency: an Evaluation of Theoretical Predictions Contrasting English and Greek
    Scientific Studies of Reading ISSN: 1088-8438 (Print) 1532-799X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hssr20 Dyslexia Profiles Across Orthographies Differing in Transparency: An Evaluation of Theoretical Predictions Contrasting English and Greek Vassiliki Diamanti, Nata Goulandris, Ruth Campbell & Athanassios Protopapas To cite this article: Vassiliki Diamanti, Nata Goulandris, Ruth Campbell & Athanassios Protopapas (2018) Dyslexia Profiles Across Orthographies Differing in Transparency: An Evaluation of Theoretical Predictions Contrasting English and Greek, Scientific Studies of Reading, 22:1, 55-69, DOI: 10.1080/10888438.2017.1338291 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2017.1338291 Published with license by Taylor & Francis View supplementary material Group, LLC© 2017 Vassiliki Diamanti, Nata Goulandris, Ruth Campbell, and Athanassios Protopapas Published online: 25 Jul 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 344 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=hssr20 SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF READING 2018, VOL. 22, NO. 1, 55–69 https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2017.1338291 Dyslexia Profiles Across Orthographies Differing in Transparency: An Evaluation of Theoretical Predictions Contrasting English and Greek Vassiliki Diamantia,b, Nata Goulandrisa†, Ruth Campbella, and Athanassios Protopapasb aUniversity College London; bUniversity of Oslo ABSTRACT We examined the manifestation of dyslexia in a cross-linguistic study con- trasting English and Greek children with dyslexia compared to chronologi- cal age and reading-level control groups on reading accuracy and fluency, phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, orthographic choice, and spelling.
    [Show full text]
  • Cognitive Underpinnings of Multidimensional Japanese Literacy and Its Impact on Higher‑Level Language Skills Sadao Otsuka* & Toshiya Murai
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Cognitive underpinnings of multidimensional Japanese literacy and its impact on higher‑level language skills Sadao Otsuka* & Toshiya Murai This study aimed to identify the cognitive underpinnings of Japanese kanji abilities and clarify the contributions of kanji acquisition to the development of higher‑level language skills based on a three‑ dimensional view of kanji abilities encompassing reading accuracy, writing accuracy, and semantic comprehension. First, a series of regression analyses was used to identify the multifactorial models of each dimension of Japanese kanji acquisition. These models suggest that, among basic cognitive skills, naming speed, visuospatial processing, and syntactic processing underpin kanji abilities in a dimension‑specifc manner, whereas phonological processing is a common factor. Second, although all the dimensions of kanji abilities predicted acquired verbal knowledge equally, writing skills on the text level, measured as idea density, were only predicted by the writing dimension (indirectly via acquired knowledge). Our fndings represent the frst evidence of the dimension‑specifc relationships of the three dimensions of Japanese kanji abilities with their cognitive predictors, as well as with higher‑ level language skills. They suggest the importance of handwriting acquisition during school years for the development of language skills through to adulthood. Finally, taking the seminal “Nun study,” which suggests that higher idea density is protective against dementia, into account, we propose a theoretical framework for the lifelong trajectory of literacy acquisition. Japanese literacy and kanji abilities. Te Japanese writing system is composed of two types of script, i.e., kana and kanji. Te former is phonographic, in which a letter is mapped onto a unit of sound, as in English.
    [Show full text]
  • How Psychological Science Informs the Teaching of Reading
    Full Article, Sixty Page Monogram (public access by: PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST) Reformated by C. Arthur 12/18 HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE INFORMS THE TEACHING OF READING Keith Rayner,1 Barbara R. Foorman,2 Charles A. Perfetti,3 David Pesetsky,4 and Mark S. Seidenberg5 1Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts; 2Department of Pediatrics and the Center for Academic and Reading Skills, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, Houston, Texas; 3Department of Psychology and the Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 4Department of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and 5Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin VOL. 2, NO. 2, NOVEMBER 2001 p. 31-74 Abstract—This monograph discusses research, theory, and practice relevant to how children learn to read English. After an initial overview of writing systems, the discussion summarizes research from developmental psychology on children’s language competency when they enter school and on the nature of early reading development. Subsequent sections review theories of learning to read, the characteristics of children who do not learn to read (i.e., who have developmental dyslexia), re- search from cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience on skilled reading, and connectionist models of learning to read. The implications of the research findings for learning to read and teaching reading are discussed. Next, the
    [Show full text]
  • "English Orthography and Reading" In
    English Orthography and Reading RYAN T. MILLER Framing the Issue One of the most fundamental aspects of learning to read is understanding how printed text relates to spoken language (Perfetti, 2003). When learning to read in English, a learner must view printed letters (graphemes), decode their sounds, and combine those sounds together to form words. For example, to read the word cat, a beginning reader must understand that the grapheme c makes a [k] sound, the grapheme a makes an [æ] sound, and the grapheme t makes a [t] sound, before combining them into [kæt], a word which they already know the meaning of orally. This process of decoding graphic forms into phonological forms is a key compo- nent of word recognition, which itself is a key component of learning to read. The specific patterns of correspondences between the graphic and phonological forms are the orthography of a language. Each language has its own unique orthography. Thus, all learners who are learning to read in English, no matter their first lan- guage background, need to develop their knowledge of the orthography of English. The writing system of a language is a related concept, but is distinct from its orthography. A language’s writing system defines the linguistic unit that is repre- sented by the graphemes of a language. There are three main types of writing systems: alphabetic, syllabic, and morphographic (Coulmas, 2003). In alphabetic languages, graphemes represent phonemes or individual sounds. English is an alphabetic language, like many other European languages such as Spanish, German, French, and Italian, but also languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Korean hangul.
    [Show full text]