It is generally well accepted that proficient reading requires the assimilation of myriad statistical regularities present in the writing system, including in particular the correspondences between ...words' orthographic and phonological forms. There is considerably less agreement, however, as to how to quantify these regularities. Here we present a comprehensive approach for this quantification using tools from Information Theory. We start by providing a glossary of the relevant information-theoretic metrics, with simplified examples showing their potential in assessing orthographic-phonological regularities. We specifically highlight the flexibility of our approach in quantifying information under different contexts (i.e., context-independent and dependent readings) and in different types of mappings (e.g., orthography-to-phonology and phonology-to-orthography). Then, we use these information-theoretic measures to assess real-world orthographic-phonological regularities of 10,093 mono-syllabic English words and examine whether these measures predict inter-item variability in accuracy and response times using available large-scale datasets of naming and lexical decision tasks. Together, the analyses demonstrate how information-theoretical measures can be used to quantify orthographical-phonological correspondences, and show that they capture variance in reading performance that is not accounted for by existing measures. We discuss the similarities and differences between the current framework and previous approaches as well as future directions towards understanding how the statistical regularities embedded in a writing system impact reading and reading acquisition.
Abstract
This paper examines the choices made at the levels of Ausbau (‘language by development’,
Kloss 1967
: 29–30) and Abstand (‘language by distance’, ibid) during the codification phase of ...Mauritian
Creole. Using the document
Lortograf Kreol Morisien
(
Ministry of Education
and Human Resources 2011
) as its focal point, it studies the co-association between Ausbau and Abstand and connects the
choices made to a broader ideological framework which sets out to ‘promote our country’s language’ (
Hookoomsing 2011
: 9). It explores the implication of adopting a linguistic form which a user can
‘intimately connect with loved ones, community and personal identity’ (
Delpit 2006
: 95)
while simultaneously providing it with the stature traditionally enjoyed by the lexifier. In the final instance it views the
decreasing Abstand of Mauritian Creole as a form of prestige planning (
Haarmann 1986
)
carried out with the possible intention of enhancing its public image.
Whether the simple view of reading (SVR) as incorporated in the componential model of reading (CMR) is applicable to other orthographies than English was explored in this study. Spanish, with ...transparent orthography and Chinese, with opaque orthography were selected because of their diverse characteristics. The first part reports a study of students from grades 2 and 3, whose home language and medium of instruction was Spanish, and were administered tests of decoding, listening, and reading comprehension. A comparison group of 49 children from Grade 2, 54 children from Grade 3, and 55 children from Grade 4, whose home language and instruction was English, were also administered tests of decoding, listening, and reading comprehension. Multiple regression analysis showed that approximately 60% of the variance in reading comprehension of Spanish participants and 50% of the variance in reading comprehension of English participants were explained by decoding and listening comprehension. Furthermore, the performance of third grade Spanish participants resembled that of fourth grade English-speaking participants. In the second study, 102 Chinese students from Grade 2 and 106 students from Grade 4 were administered tasks of Chinese character recognition, reading fluency, listening, and reading comprehension. Multiple regression analyses showed character recognition and listening comprehension accounted for 25% and 42% of the variance in Chinese reading comprehension at Grades 2 and 4 respectively. These results indicate that the simple view of reading is applicable to writing systems other than that of English.
Spelltrack is a practical approach to spelling, developed to help children who have specific difficulties with phoneme awareness, segmenting, blending and phoneme-letter correspondences. It helps to ...maintain a systematic progression through the process of learning to read and spell.
This book presents activities using tracking techniques to help those learners who have particular difficulty in memorizing high frequency words. By circling (tracking) each letter in one continuous movement, at the same time as saying the letter name, the learner is using visual and kinesthetic senses as well as learning the phonic components of the word. Writing out the spelling from memory, saying the letter names or mnemonic as he or she does so, provides reinforcement of correct letter formation and good handwriting.
The workbook focuses on helping children to learn 'tricky' words that are not phonically regular. Words in common everyday sequences have been included too, to give learners confidence with these words as quickly as possible.
Using Spelltrack activities can help children to scan a line of type effectively, improving reading, letter recognition and discrimination skills; correct problems of left-to-right directionality, omissions and reversals; improve visual recognition, matching and selecting; improve graphic knowledge and phoneme/graphic correspondence; work on fine motor control; consolidate phonic skills and early spelling strategies; and learn proofreading skills.
Introduction As children become independent readers, they regularly encounter new words whose meanings they must infer from context, and whose spellings must be learned for future recognition. The ...self-teaching hypothesis proposes orthographic learning skills are critical in the transition to fluent reading, while the lexical quality hypothesis further emphasizes the importance of semantics. Event-related potential (ERP) studies of reading development have focused on effects related to the N170 component—print tuning (letters vs. symbols) and lexical tuning (real words vs. consonant strings)—as well as the N400 reflecting semantic processing, but have not investigated the relationship of these components to word learning during independent reading. Methods In this study, children in grade 3 independently read short stories that introduced novel words, then completed a lexical decision task from which ERPs were derived. Results Like real words, newly-learned novel words evoked a lexical tuning effect, indicating rapid establishment of orthographic representations. Both real and novel words elicited significantly smaller N400s than pseudowords, suggesting that semantic representations of the novel words were established. Further, N170 print tuning predicted accuracy on identifying the spellings of the novel words, while the N400 effect for novel words was associated with reading comprehension. Discussion Exposure to novel words during self-directed reading rapidly establishes neural markers of orthographic and semantic processing. Furthermore, the ability to rapidly filter letter strings from symbols is predictive of orthographic learning, while rapid establishment of semantic representations of novel words is associated with stronger reading comprehension.
The development of literacy in Montenegrin society is a very reliable indicator of the state and level not only of the general culture and education, but also of the social culture. This lends ...immense significance to any work on improving the language culture in Montenegro in all of its diverse manifestations, as well as to the popularisation of the basic principles of good literacy. Orthography has an important place within the entire course of schooling in the Montenegrin language syllabus, and so it is very important to be developing and encouraging skills of linguistic expression among the student population, that is, perfecting their spoken and written use of language. In this paper we will deal with the normative aspect of students’ writing skills in the Montenegrin system of higher education. Our primary goal is to establish the quality of written expression and to highlight omissions in the application of orthographic knowledge of Montenegrin language to further contribute to the enhancement of functional knowledge associated with the orthographical culture of the student population in Montenegro. The sample consists of 100 first-year students from the Department for German Language and Literature of the Faculty of Philology and 100 students from the study programme for Translation (English/Russian and English/French group). Qualitative methodology was used to analyse the prevalence of certain types of mistakes in student tests, and comparative analysis of the tests was aimed at showing the degree of application of orthographical norms by students. It is nothing new that orthographical knowledge among students is not at a satisfactory level, and the results of this study confirm the hypothesis that the level of adoption of orthographical rules is not in line with the defined outcomes of the curriculum for Montenegrin language, as well as there being certain differences between students of different study programmes. Our analysis shows that one of the basic goals of the orthography of the Montenegrin language is not fully realised – the enabling of students to apply standard-level writing rules and the raising of students’ awareness of the importance of standard language norms. It is evident that students adopt orthographical rules that are fragmented and that orthographical principles are not viewed as a system, as evidenced by examples of the deviation from the norms.
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