Orthographic Processing Research Articles

What predicts word reading in Arabic?

Efficient and accurate word reading ability is critical for later reading success. As such, it is important to understand the component skills that underlie strong word reading ability. Although a growing research base points to the importance of phonological processing, morphological processing and orthographic processing for accurate and fluent word reading in Arabic, there are few studies that examine all three areas at one time to better understand their role in word reading. Additionally, it remains unclear whether the contribution of the various processes might differ across the early years when children are learning to read. 1,098 pupils in grades 1-3 participated in this study and took tests for phonological processing, morphological processing, orthographic processing, and word reading accuracy and fluency. According to the findings of regression analyses, the relative contribution of these underlying processes differed according to the method used to test word reading and the student's grade level. Regarding accuracy, several subscales of phonological processing and two measures of orthographic processing accounted for significant differences in word reading accuracy for first graders. For second grade students, nonword repetition, elision, and all three measures of orthographic processing accounted for variance. In third grade, elision and memory for digits, word creation and morpheme identification, and letter/sound identification and orthographic fluency were significant predictors of word reading accuracy. In terms of fluency, two subscales of phonological processing, two measures of orthographic processing, and two measures of morphological processing explained significant differences in word reading fluency for first graders. For second grade students, nonword repetition, elision, RAN-digits, isolation, segmenting and all the measures of orthographic processing and word creation explained unique variance in word reading fluency. In third grade, elision, RAN-letters, RAN-digits and phoneme isolation, all measures of orthographic processing and morphological processing, explained variance in word reading fluency. Implications and future directions in research are discussed.

Rapid Coding of Syllable Structure by Dysfluent Developing Readers

ABSTRACT Purpose The present study investigated whether the number of syllables affects developing readers’ word recognition when controlling for word length and word frequency and, if so, whether the effect is dependent on reading fluency. The target language was Finnish, a language with a transparent orthography and a simple syllable structure. Method Eye movements of 142 third and fourth graders were recorded during silent reading of two stories. Reading fluency was assessed separately. For analyses, a data subset containing words of a certain length (6,7,9 letters) and varying syllable number (2,3,4 syllables) was extracted from the data set. Using linear mixed-effects modeling, the effect of the syllable number on various eye-tracking measures across different levels of reading fluency was studied. Results Results revealed a statistically significant, impeding number of syllables effect in first fixation duration but non-significant effects in the later reading measures. Furthermore, fluent and dysfluent readers did not differ regarding the number of syllables effect. Conclusion These findings suggest that in Finnish developing readers, syllabic parsing is a highly rapid and automatized process, which predominantly takes place during the early holistic orthographic processing of a word, and that qualitatively similar orthographic processing occurs in fluent and dysfluent beginning readers.

Chinese Two-Character Word Orthographic Processing and Adjective-Noun Collocation Comprehension in Sentence Reading.

Reading can be regarded as a combination of lexical decoding and linguistic comprehension (Hoover and Gough in Read Writ Interdiscip J 2:127-160, 1990). In Chinese sentence reading, skilled readers' difficulties in phonological processing significantly enhance the 'wrap-up' effect (Li and Lin in J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ 25(4):505-516, 2020). To examine how orthographic processing in Chinese two-character word recognition might interact with adjective-noun collocation (ANC) comprehension before the wrap-up effect, two experiments were conducted in the same paradigm as used by Li and Lin (J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ 25(4):505-516, 2020). The sentences contained ANCs or semantically inappropriate combinations of adjectives and nouns (nANCs), the adjectives (Experiment 1) or the nouns (Experiment 2) of which were two-character words or corresponding transposed nonwords (T-nonwords). Similar results were obtained in both experiments: difficulties in T-nonword processing and in nANC comprehension collectively lengthened the reading times of the words immediately following. In conclusion, sentence reading likely contains interactions between orthographic processing and linguistic comprehension. As an indication of psycholinguistic significance, skilled readers have to use extra resources to suspend the cognitive vigilance that arises from unexpected demand in lexical decoding, in addition to their main focus of linguistic comprehension.

Stronger functional connectivity during reading contextually predictable words in slow readers

The effect of word predictability is well-documented in terms of local brain activation, but less is known about the functional connectivity among those regions associated with processing predictable words. Evidence from eye movement studies showed that the effect is much more pronounced in slow than in fast readers, suggesting that speed-impaired readers rely more on sentence context to compensate for their difficulties with visual word recognition. The present study aimed to investigate differences in functional connectivity of fast and slow readers within core regions associated with processing predictable words. We hypothesize a stronger synchronization between higher-order language areas, such as the left middle temporal (MTG) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the left occipito-temporal cortex (OTC) in slow readers. Our results show that slow readers exhibit more functional correlations among these connections; especially between the left IFG and OTC. We interpret our results in terms of the lexical quality hypothesis which postulates a stronger involvement of semantics on orthographic processing in (speed-)impaired readers.

How flexible is the orthographic processing of flankers? Effects for letter order and letter identification

AbstractThis study explored the flexibility of the orthographic processing at parafoveal level by manipulating the relationship between flankers and targets in two lexical decision tasks. In the first, we presented the following flankers: (1) the same words as targets (farola farola farola); (2) targets with transposed non-adjacent letters (falora farola falora); (3) the targets with one different letter (fapola farola fapola); and (4) unrelated pseudowords as control stimuli (pilata farola pilata). The results show significant facilitatory effects for all three experimental conditions in comparison to the Unrelated one, as well as differences between the Transposed and One Different Letter when compared to the Identity condition. In the second experiment, the procedure was the same but with the following modifications: the transposed non-adjacent letters were vowels instead of consonants (forala farola forala), and we also presented a condition in which both vowels and consonants were transposed (folara farola folara). The results of the response latencies showed that all the experimental conditions generated facilitatory effects in comparison to the Unrelated condition, with no differences between them, although the analyses of the error rates additionally showed significant differences between the Identity and the Transposed and Vowel and Consonant Transposed conditions. These two experiments are interpreted in terms of a highly flexible orthographic processing of flankers at parafoveal level, both in relation to letter ordering and letter identification.

Dyslexia assessment in Amharic

ABSTRACT This exploratory study aimed at developing a dyslexia assessment tool in the Amharic language and to collect initial reliability and validity data on the tool designed to identify dyslexia in Grade 3. The developed battery consists of 10 tests. Data were collected from 121 Amharic-speaking children, aged 9 -12 years. Evidence of construct validity was obtained through factor analyses. Results showed that letter-naming was the most significant predictor of word-level literacy (WLL) skills in Amharic, followed by word-reading measures. Factor analysis revealed four factors: phonological-naming and decoding, comprehension, verbal short-term memory, and orthographic processing. In Amharic, which uses an alphasyllabary writing system, letter-naming is not only a vital WLL skill but also serves as a necessary foundational prerequisite for the acquisition of other WLL skills. The findings substantiate the account that even if the underlying cognitive factor responsible for dyslexia is similar among humans, its manifestations vary across languages and orthographies.

Orthographic and phonological processing effects on the reading abilities of young children learning to read Malayalam alphasyllabary

Background Learning to read is a complex process that involves phonological and orthographic processing abilities, broader language skills and cognitive processes across all writing systems. Although these components remain common, the pace of acquisition of phonological and orthographic processing and reading abilities differ across writing systems. Methods This study aimed to understand the developmental pattern of reading and phonological processing, assess their interrelationship and study the predictors of reading ability among 175 children, learning to read Malayalam and attending Grades 1–3. They completed various reading (akshara reading, word and nonword reading) and phonological processing (rhyme recognition, syllable deletion, syllable segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme substitution, rapid naming and nonword repetition) tasks. Results Grade and reading level-based analysis was performed to collate the results. Results revealed a significant overlap of phonological processing and reading abilities among children in Grades 2 and 3. Reading scores demonstrated a weak-to-moderate significant correlation with the phonological processing tasks. Although skilled readers performed significantly better on all phonological processing tasks, their scores did not reach ceiling. Syllable-level tasks were easier compared to phoneme-level tasks, and they significantly predicted the reading abilities of children. Conclusions The findings contribute to the existing body of evidence for akshara writing systems, specifically in Malayalam alpha-syllabary. The development of phonological processing and reading in Malayalam extends beyond the third grade, and syllable processing contributed to increased variance in reading accuracy among inexperienced readers.

Priming effects in reading words with vertically and horizontally mirrored letters.

We conducted two masked priming experiments to examine how the orthographic system processes words with mirrored letters. In both experiments, four different primes were used: an identity prime, an unrelated control prime, and two mirror-primes in which letters were either mirrored at their vertical or horizontal axis. Task was varied between experiments: In Experiment 1, we used a lexical decision task, and in Experiment 2, we used a cross-case same-different match task. We expected to see priming effects in both mirror-conditions with stronger effects in the vertically than in the horizontally mirrored letters. In the lexical decision task, we observed only vertical priming effects for words, whereas in the same-different task, priming effects were present in both mirror-conditions and for both words and non-words. We discuss the implications of our findings for extant models of orthographic processing.

Spelling deficits in children with intellectual disabilities: Evidence from a regular orthography.

In individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), efficient reading and writing skills promote social integration, self-autonomy, and independence. However, research has mainly focused on reading skills, while evidence on spelling skills is scarce and mostly on English-speaking subjects. In the present research project, we compared the spelling skills of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) learning in Italian, a regular orthography, to those of typically developing children matched for school level. In the first study, the performance on a Passage Dictation Test of forty-four children with ID attending regular classrooms from 4th to 8th grades (mean age = 12.16 years; SD = 1.57) were compared with controls matched for sex and grade. In the second study, a Words and Nonwords Dictation Test was administered (with stimuli varying for lexicality, orthographic complexity, regularity of transcription, and the presence of different types of phonetic-phonological difficulties) to twenty-two children with ID attending regular classrooms from 4th to 8th grades (mean age = 12.2 years; SD = 1.37) and 22 controls matched for sex and grade. In both studies, an error analysis was performed to characterize types of misspellings. Separate ANOVAs were performed on z scores. Children with ID generally had a lower performance than controls. In the Passage Dictation Test, they showed a higher number of phonological (and phonetic-phonological) errors than phonologically plausible ones, indicating, as a group, predominant phonological difficulties as compared to lexical-orthographic ones. In the Words and Nonwords Dictation Test, they performed poorly on regular stimuli presenting specific types of phonetic-to-phonological difficulties (geminates, non-continuant consonants) and committed more minimal distance, context-sensitive and simple conversion misspellings. However, deficits in the orthographic-lexical procedure, as indicated by a low performance in words with unpredictable spelling, were present in a high percentage of children. It is concluded that children with ID have significant spelling difficulties not confined to the orthographic process but also in phoneme-to-grapheme mapping that, in a regular orthography like Italian, should be acquired early and easily.

The age of acquisition effect in processing second language words and its relationship with the age of acquisition of the first language

AbstractThe present study investigated the age of acquisition (AoA) effect in processing second language (L2) words and how it is related to the AoA of the corresponding first language (L1) words. We adopted a lexical decision task in three experiments. The filler words were orthographically illegal in Experiment 1 to elicit more word form processing, while Experiment 2 used legal fillers to shift the bias toward semantic processing. In Experiment 3, we used a larger amount of stimuli containing more longer words with legal fillers. Our results showed that L2 AoA has a weak effect at the orthographical processing level and a stable effect at the semantic processing level. The L1 AoA modulates the L2 AoA effect at the semantic processing level, which is more likely to appear in long words. These results suggest that it is important to take bilingual representation and activation into consideration to explain the L2 AoA effect.

Decision times in orthographic processing: a cross-linguistic study

Reading comparisons across transparent and opaque orthographies indicate critical differences that may reveal the mechanisms involved in orthographic decoding across orthographies. Here, we address the role of criterion and speed of processing in accounting for performance differences across languages. We used binary tasks involving orthographic (words–pseudowords), and non-orthographic materials (female–male faces), and analyzed results based on Ratcliff’s Diffusion model. In the first study, 29 English and 28 Italian university students were given a lexical decision test. English observers made more errors than Italian observers while showing generally similar reaction times. In terms of the diffusion model, the two groups differed in the decision criterion: English observers used a lower criterion. There was no overall cross-linguistic difference in processing speed, but English observers showed lower values for words (and a smaller lexicality effect) than Italians. In the second study, participants were given a face gender judgment test. Female faces were identified slower than the male ones with no language group differences. In terms of the diffusion model, there was no difference between groups in drift rate and boundary separation. Overall, the new main finding concerns a difference in decision criterion limited to the orthographic task: English individuals showed a more lenient criterion in judging the lexicality of the items, a tendency that may explain why, despite lower accuracy, they were not slower. It is concluded that binary tasks (and the Diffusion model) can reveal cross-linguistic differences in orthographic processing which would otherwise be difficult to detect in standard single-word reading tasks.

Orthographic processing of proper Names: A proposal to investigate the orthographic cue for second language readers

A standard treatment of proper names in second language (L2) vocabulary analyses is to categorize them as known items. This treatment is often supported by the assumption that the form of the proper name (i.e., the initial capital letter) and the context will indicate to the L2 reader that the item is a proper name. The aim of this work-in-progress report is to propose a methodological approach for investigating the claim that form facilitates proper name recognition for L2 readers, in particular for those whose first language (L1) employs a different orthography and writing system than English. While previous research has looked at the orthographic processing of proper names for L1 users, a gap exists in the literature for L2 readers. The assumption that L2 readers are skilled at identifying proper names from the initial capital warrants investigation as there are implications for the processing load in both pedagogical and testing situations. A proposed method to investigate the initial capital letter as a cue for L2 English proper name recognition is a name decision task, a variation on a lexical decision task, using English proper names and common nouns that are familiar to Japanese participants. Reaction times and error percentages to proper names with case type as a factor (i.e., initial capital letter or all lowercase) will be submitted to a linear mixed effects analysis.

A commentary on four papers in the second language vocabulary learning strand for the JALT Vocabulary SIG

In this commentary, the following four papers have been reviewed and discussed: Vocabulary Learning Outside of the Classroom: Institutional Use of a Spaced Repetition Vocabulary Learning App (Mueller & Hays, 2022), Developing a Discipline-Specific Corpus and High-Frequency Word List for Science and Engineering Students in the Graduate School (Uehara et al., 2022), Rasch-based Instrument Validations for an Augmented Reality Vocabulary Acquisition Experiment (Dabrowski, 2022), and Orthographic Processing of Proper Names: A Proposal to Investigate the Orthographic Cue for Second Language Readers (Klassen, 2022).

Lexical and sublexical cortical tuning for print revealed by Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) in early readers.

There are multiple levels of processing relevant to reading that vary in their visual, sublexical, and lexical orthographic processing demands. Segregating distinct cortical sources for each of these levels has been challenging in EEG studies of early readers. To address this challenge, we applied recent advances in analyzing high-density EEG using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) via data-driven Reliable Components Analysis (RCA) in a group of early readers spanning from kindergarten to second grade. Three controlled stimulus contrasts-familiar words versus unfamiliar pseudofonts, familiar words versus pseudowords, and pseudowords versus nonwords-were used to isolate coarse print tuning, lexical processing, and sublexical orthography-related processing, respectively. First, three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left vOT, dorsal parietal, and primary visual cortex were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Second, we segregated distinct cortical sources for the other two levels of processing: lexical fine tuning over occipito-temporal/parietal regions; sublexical orthographic fine tuning over left occipital regions. Finally, exploratory group analyses based on children's reading fluency suggested that coarse print tuning emerges early even in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level lexical processing emerge only in children with sufficient reading knowledge. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Cognitive processes underlying coarse print tuning, sublexical, and lexical fine tuning were examined in beginning readers. Three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left ventral occipito-temporal (vOT), left temporo-parietal, and primary visual cortex-were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Responses to sublexical orthographic fine tuning were found over left occipital regions, while responses to higher-level linguistic fine tuning were found over occipito-temporal/parietal regions. Exploratory group analyses suggested that coarse print tuning emerges in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level linguistic fine tuning effects emerge in children with sufficient reading knowledge.

Lateralization of orthographic processing in fixed-gaze and natural reading conditions.

Lateralized processing of orthographic information is a hallmark of proficient reading. However, how this finding obtained for fixed-gaze processing of orthographic stimuli translates to ecologically valid reading conditions remained to be clarified. To address this shortcoming, here we assessed the lateralization of early orthographic processing in fixed-gaze and natural reading conditions using concurrent eye-tracking and EEG data recorded from young adults without reading difficulties. Sensor-space analyses confirmed the well-known left-lateralized negative-going deflection of fixed-gaze EEG activity throughout the period of early orthographic processing. At the same time, fixation-related EEG activity exhibited left-lateralized followed by right-lateralized processing of text stimuli during natural reading. A strong positive relationship was found between the early leftward lateralization in fixed-gaze and natural reading conditions. Using source-space analyses, early left-lateralized brain activity was obtained in lateraloccipital and posterior ventral occipito-temporal cortices reflecting letter-level processing in both conditions. In addition, in the same time interval, left-lateralized source activity was found also in premotor and parietal brain regions during natural reading. While brain activity remained left-lateralized in later stages representing word-level processing in posterior and middle ventral temporal regions in the fixed-gaze condition, fixation-related source activity became stronger in the right hemisphere in medial and more anterior ventral temporal brain regions indicating higher-level processing of orthographic information. Although our results show a strong positive relationship between the lateralization of letter-level processing in the two reading modes and suggest lateralized brain activity as a general marker for processing of orthographic information, they also clearly indicate the need for reading research in ecologically valid conditions to identify the neural basis of visuospatial attentional, oculomotor and higher-level processes specific to natural reading.

Intact reading ability despite lacking a canonical visual word form area in an individual born without the left superior temporal lobe

ABSTRACT The visual word form area (VWFA), a region canonically located within left ventral temporal cortex (VTC), is specialized for orthography in literate adults presumbly due to its connectivity with frontotemporal language regions. But is a typical, left-lateralized language network critical for the VWFA’s emergence? We investigated this question in an individual (EG) born without the left superior temporal lobe but who has normal reading ability. EG showed canonical typical face-selectivity bilateraly but no wordselectivity either in right VWFA or in the spared left VWFA. Moreover, in contrast with the idea that the VWFA is simply part of the language network, no part of EG’s VTC showed selectivity to higher-level linguistic processing. Interestingly, EG’s VWFA showed reliable multivariate patterns that distinguished words from other categories. These results suggest that a typical left-hemisphere language network is necessary for acanonical VWFA, and that orthographic processing can otherwise be supported by a distributed neural code.

An ex-Gaussian analysis of eye movements in L2 reading

AbstractSecond language learners’ reading is less efficient and more effortful than native reading. However, the source of their difficulty is unclear; L2 readers might struggle with reading in a different orthography, or they might have difficulty with later stages of linguistic interpretation of the input, or both. The present study explored the source of L2 reading difficulty by analyzing the distribution of fixation durations in reading. In three studies, we observed that L2 readers experience an increase in Mu, which we interpret as indicating early orthographic processing difficulty, when the L2 has a significantly different writing system than the L1 (e.g., Chinese and English) but not when the writing systems were similar (e.g., Portuguese and English). L2 readers also experienced an increase in Tau, indicating later-arising processing difficulty which likely reflects later-stage linguistic processes, when they read for comprehension. L2 readers of Chinese also experienced an additional increase in Tau.

Socioeconomic dissociations in the neural and cognitive bases of reading disorders

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) strongly predicts disparities in reading development, yet it is unknown whether early environments also moderate the cognitive and neurobiological bases of reading disorders (RD) such as dyslexia, the most prevalent learning disability. SES-diverse 6–9-year-old children (n = 155, half with RD) completed behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks engaging phonological and orthographic processing, which revealed corresponding double-dissociations in neurocognitive deficits. At the higher end of the SES spectrum, RD was most strongly explained by differences in phonological skill and corresponding activation in left inferior frontal and temporoparietal regions during phonological processing—widely considered the “core deficit” of RD. However, at the lower end of the SES spectrum, RD was most strongly explained by differences in rapid naming skills and corresponding activation in left temporoparietal and fusiform regions during orthographic processing. Findings indicate that children’s early environments systematically moderate the neurocognitive systems underlying RD, which has implications for assessment and treatment approaches to reduce SES disparities in RD outcomes. Further, results suggest that reliance on high-SES convenience samples may mask critical heterogeneity in the foundations of both typical and disordered reading development.

Parafoveal preview benefit in a conflicting sentential context: Evidence from ERPs.

In natural reading, the reader's processing of a word starts when the word is located in parafoveal vision. Relative to a situation with an invalid preview, fixations are significantly shorter after a fully valid, identical preview. Although research on the identity preview benefit has been ongoing for more than 40 years, the mechanism of this preview benefit, the level of lexical processing it occurs, and its relationship to the sentential context remain unclear. This study employed EEG brain component analysis technology to address these questions in Chinese sentence reading. We manipulated the sentential context to make the target word plausible or not plausible with the sentence and manipulated the target word present or not present in preview. EEG results showed that the identity preview benefit can affect not only the early preview positivity, reflecting the early orthographic processing of words, but also the N400 and LPC components, reflecting the late and in-depth semantic processing of words. Conflicting sentential context, in which the target word is implausible and cannot be integrated into the sentence, can interfere temporarily with these processes. These findings suggest that in the process of sentence reading, an identical preview word can promote the subsequent reading process at multiple levels, and its role is modulated by contextual information.

Reduced pattern similarity in brain activation during orthographic processing in children with developmental dyslexia

Intra-individual variability of neural response has been found to be negatively associated with cognitive proficiency and automaticity. However, whether developmental dyslexia (DD) is marked by greater intra-individual neural variability remains unclear. Using a multivariate approach and dual-control group design, the current study aims to examine whether the pattern similarity of brain activation during a visual spelling task is abnormal in children with DD compared to age control and reading control children. We found that there was reduced intra-subject pattern similarity at the left occipito-temporal regions in children with DD than both control groups, suggesting a neural signature of DD. Furthermore, we found that pattern similarity was positively associated with stability of reaction time and reading fluency in both children with DD and typical control children, suggesting that neural stability supports behavioral stability and automaticity during reading.