Rosa Kit Wan Kwok

Visual word learning in skilled readers of English.

Three experiments are reported analysing the processes by which adult readers of English learn new written words. Visual word learning was simulated by presenting short (four-letter) and longer (seven-letter) nonwords repeatedly and observing the reduction in naming latencies and the convergence in reaction times (RTs) to shorter and longer items that are the hallmarks of visual word learning. Experiment 1 presented nonwords in ten consecutive blocks. Naming latencies reduced over the first four or five presentations. The effect of length on naming RTs was large in block 1 but non-significant after four or five presentations. Experiment 2 demonstrated some reduction in RTs to untrained nonwords following practice on a trained set, but the reduction was less than for the trained items and RTs to shorter and longer nonwords did not converge. Experiment 3 included a retest after seven days which showed some slowing of RTs compared with the end of the first session but also considerable retention of learning. We conclude that four to six exposures to novel words (nonwords) are sufficient to establish durable lexical representations that permit parallel processing of newly-learned words. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models of reading and word learning.

Visual word learning in adults with dyslexia.

We investigated word learning in university and college students with a diagnosis of dyslexia and in typically-reading controls. Participants read aloud short (4-letter) and longer (7-letter) nonwords as quickly as possible. The nonwords were repeated across 10 blocks, using a different random order in each block. Participants returned 7 days later and repeated the experiment. Accuracy was high in both groups. The dyslexics were substantially slower than the controls at reading the nonwords throughout the experiment. They also showed a larger length effect, indicating less effective decoding skills. Learning was demonstrated by faster reading of the nonwords across repeated presentations and by a reduction in the difference in reading speeds between shorter and longer nonwords. The dyslexics required more presentations of the nonwords before the length effect became non-significant, only showing convergence in reaction times between shorter and longer items in the second testing session where controls achieved convergence part-way through the first session. Participants also completed a psychological test battery assessing reading and spelling, vocabulary, phonological awareness, working memory, nonverbal ability and motor speed. The dyslexics performed at a similar level to the controls on nonverbal ability but significantly less well on all the other measures. Regression analyses found that decoding ability, measured as the speed of reading aloud nonwords when they were presented for the first time, was predicted by a composite of word reading and spelling scores (“literacy”). Word learning was assessed in terms of the improvement in naming speeds over 10 blocks of training. Learning was predicted by vocabulary and working memory scores, but not by literacy, phonological awareness, nonverbal ability or motor speed. The results show that young dyslexic adults have problems both in pronouncing novel words and in learning new written words.

Reading and lexicalization in opaque and transparent orthographies: Word naming and word learning in English and Spanish.

Do skilled readers of opaque and transparent orthographies make differential use of lexical and sublexical processes when converting words from print to sound? Two experiments are reported, which address that question, using effects of letter length on naming latencies as an index of the involvement of sublexical letter–sound conversion. Adult native speakers of English (Experiment 1) and Spanish (Experiment 2) read aloud four- and seven-letter high-frequency words, low-frequency words, and nonwords in their native language. The stimuli were interleaved and presented 10 times in a first testing session and 10 more times in a second session 28 days later. Effects of lexicality were observed in both languages, indicating the deployment of lexical representations in word naming. Naming latencies to both words and nonwords reduced across repetitions on Day 1, with those savings being retained to Day 28. Length effects were, however, greater for Spanish than English word naming. Reaction times to long and short nonwords converged with repeated presentations in both languages, but less in Spanish than in English. The results support the hypothesis that reading in opaque orthographies favours the rapid creation and use of lexical representations, while reading in transparent orthographies makes more use of a combination of lexical and sublexical processing.

Underlying Skills of Oral and Silent Reading Fluency in Chinese: Perspective of Visual Rapid Processing

Reading fluency is a critical skill to improve the quality of our daily life and working efficiency. The majority of previous studies focused on oral reading fluency rather than silent reading fluency, which is a much more dominant reading mode that is used in middle and high school and for leisure reading. It is still unclear whether the oral and silent reading fluency involved the same underlying skills. To address this issue, the present study examined the relationship between the visual rapid processing and Chinese reading fluency in different modes. Fifty-eight undergraduate students took part in the experiment. The phantom contour paradigm and the visual 1-back task were adopted to measure the visual rapid temporal and simultaneous processing respectively. These two tasks reflected the temporal and spatial dimensions of visual rapid processing separately. We recorded the temporal threshold in the phantom contour task, as well as reaction time and accuracy in the visual 1-back task. Reading fluency was measured in both single-character and sentence levels. Fluent reading of single characters was assessed with a paper-and-pencil lexical decision task, and a sentence verification task was developed to examine reading fluency on a sentence level. The reading fluency test in each level was conducted twice (i.e., oral reading and silent reading). Reading speed and accuracy were recorded. The correlation analysis showed that the temporal threshold in the phantom contour task did not correlate with the scores of the reading fluency tests. Although, the reaction time in visual 1-back task correlated with the reading speed of both oral and silent reading fluency, the comparison of the correlation coefficients revealed a closer relationship between the visual rapid simultaneous processing and silent reading. Furthermore, the visual rapid simultaneous processing exhibited a significant contribution to reading fluency in silent mode but not in oral reading mode. These findings suggest that the underlying mechanism between oral and silent reading fluency is different at the beginning of the basic visual coding. The current results also might reveal a potential modulation of the language characteristics of Chinese on the relationship between visual rapid processing and reading fluency.

Vocabulary of 2-Year-Olds Learning English and an Additional Language: Norms and Effects of Linguistic Distance

Typically-developing bilingual children usually underperform relative to monolingual norms when assessed in one language only. We measured vocabulary with Communicative Development Inventories for 372 24-month-old toddlers learning British English and one Additional Language out of a diverse set of 13 (Bengali, Cantonese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi-Urdu, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Welsh). We furthered theoretical understanding of bilingual development by showing, for the first time, that linguistic distance between the child’s two languages predicts vocabulary outcome, with phonological overlap related to expressive vocabulary, and word order typology and morphological complexity related to receptive vocabulary, in the Additional Language. Our study also has crucial clinical implications: we have developed the first bilingual norms for expressive and receptive vocabulary for 24-month-olds learning British English and an Additional Language. These norms were derived from factors identified as uniquely predicting CDI vocabulary measures: the relative amount of English versus the Additional Language in child-directed input and parental overheard speech, and infant gender. The resulting UKBTAT tool was able to accurately predict the English vocabulary of an additional group of 58 bilinguals learning an Additional Language outside our target range. This offers a pragmatic method for the assessment of children in the majority language when no tool exists in the Additional Language.

IV: RESULTS FOR STUDIES 2 AND 3: THE UKBTAT MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION TO NONTARGET ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS: STUDIES 2 AND 3: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE UKBTAT

This article is part of the issue “Vocabulary of 2-Year-Olds Learning English and an Additional Language: Norms and Effects of Linguistic Distance” Floccia, Sambrook, Delle Luche, Kwok, Goslin, White, Cattani, Sullivan, Abbot-Smith, Krott, Mills, Rowland, Gervain, and Plunkett (Issue Authors). For a full listing of articles in this issue, see: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mono.v83.1/issuetoc.

V: GENERAL DISCUSSION.

This article is part of the issue “Vocabulary of 2-Year-Olds Learning English and an Additional Language: Norms and Effects of Linguistic Distance” Floccia, Sambrook, Delle Luche, Kwok, Goslin, White, Cattani, Sullivan, Abbot-Smith, Krott, Mills, Rowland, Gervain, and Plunkett (Issue Authors). For a full listing of articles in this issue, see: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mono.v83.1/issuetoc.

Vocabulary of 2-year-olds learning English and an additional language: norms and effects of linguistic distance. II: METHODS

T HE PROCEDURE and methods used in the initial examinations of all cohorts have been described in detail (Keys et al., 1967, pp. 24-54). Except for additional items in the protocol, noted below, the same procedures and methods were used in the reexaminations five years later, and with few exceptions the same professional and assisting staff conducted the work both times. On the second as on the first occasion, the great majority of the examinations were made in the mornings before the men had indulged in any strenuous work although most of them had eaten their usual breakfast before reporting for examination. The sequence of events in the examinations started with registration by an assistant, native to or at least greatly familiar with the area and its population, who recorded any changes in family and occupational status and in personal habits, including smoking. That assistant, usually a nurse or medical technician but sometimes a physician, filled out the London School of Hygiene Cardiovascular Questionnaire (see Rose and Blackburn 1968, Annex 6). After disrobing to underwear and socks, measurements of height, weight, and thickness of the skinfolds over the triceps muscle and over the tip of the scapula were made with the same standardized methods as used in the entry examinations. Respiratory function tests, which will not be reported here, preceded the medical history and physical examinations, two internists taking alternate subjects for this latter purpose. Blood pressure was recorded at least twice at that stage. The forms for initial data, medical history, and physical examination are reproduced in the Appendix of this report. The 12-lead electrocardiogram was recorded in supine rest on multichannel machines, with routine control of calibration and paper speed (25 mm/sec). Except where there was manifest heart disease or other contraindication, a three-minute exercise test was made with repetition of the ECG