Spanish Word Recognition Research Articles

Does adding an accent mark hinder lexical access? Evidence from Spanish

Recent research has shown that omitting the accent mark in a Spanish word, which is a language in which these diacritics only indicate lexical stress, does not cause a delay in lexical access (e.g., cárcel [prison] ≈ carcel; cárcel-CÁRCEL ≈ carcel-CÁRCEL). This pattern has been interpreted as accented and nonaccented vowels sharing the abstract letter representations in Spanish. However, adding an accent mark to a nonaccented Spanish word appears to produce a reading cost in masked priming paradigms (e.g., féliz-FELIZ [happy] > feliz-FELIZ). We examined whether adding an accent mark to a non accented Spanish word slows down lexical access in two semantic categorization experiments to solve this puzzle. We added an accent mark either on the stressed syllable (Experiment 1, e.g., cébra for the word cebra [zebra]) or an unstressed syllable (Experiment 2, e.g., cebrá). While effect sizes were small in magnitude, adding an accent mark produced a cost relative to the intact words, especially when the accent mark was added on an unstressed syllable (cebrá > cebra). These findings favor the view that letter identity and (to a lesser extent) accent mark information are encoded during word recognition in Spanish. We also examined the practical implications of these results.

The Children’s English and Spanish Speech Recognition Test (ChEgSS): Normative data

The Children’s English and Spanish Speech Recognition Test (ChEgSS) is a clinical tool for assessing children’s English and Spanish word recognition in a noise or two-talker masker. The English and Spanish versions of the test are acoustically, phonetically, and linguistically similar. The goal of this study was to establish threshold norms for Spanish-English bilingual and English monolingual children, and to evaluate effects of age and language proficiency on performance. Participants were 81 Spanish-English bilingual and 89 English monolingual children (4–17 years) with normal hearing. Children completed word recognition testing using an adaptive, 4AFC procedure with a picture-pointing response. All children completed testing in both a noise and a two-talker masker. Bilingual children were tested in English and in Spanish, and monolingual children were tested in English. Language proficiency was assessed using standardized assessments of receptive vocabulary as well as parent report. Both groups of children performed more poorly in two-talker speech than in speech-shaped noise. Preliminary results indicate that age and receptive vocabulary were significant predictors of word recognition performance in both languages and for both maskers. Performance for balanced bilinguals (i.e., similar language proficiency in Spanish and English) was similar for Spanish and English stimuli.

On the role of the written accent mark in visual word recognition in Spanish

BackgroundPrevious research has shown that syllables are important units in visual word recognition in Spanish. If they are treated as real phonological units, then other related phonological features such as lexical stress (syllable prominence) may also play a role in this process. At times, lexical stress is the only difference between minimal pairs in Spanish (e.g., sábana ‘sheet’ vs sabana ‘savannah’). These words are usually distinguished by an accent mark. This research examines whether lexical stress is used in visual word recognition and the role of the written accent mark in this process.MethodsIn a lexical decision task, words with an irregular stress pattern according to generative phonological rules (e.g., túnel ‘tunnel’ or mitin ‘meeting’) were compared with regular words (e.g., melón ‘melon’ or grifo ‘faucet’).ResultsIrregular words without an accent mark (mitin) were particularly difficult to recognise. However, irregulars that carried an accent mark were identified significantly more quickly and accurately.ConclusionsThese findings are discussed as evidence that lexical stress may be an important cue in visual word recognition in Spanish, as suggested by previous research in the psycholinguistic and educational fields, and that models of visual word recognition should consider the impact of the accent mark in languages such as Spanish.

Spanish Pediatric Picture Identification Test.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a recorded word recognition test for monolingual Spanish-speaking children utilizing a picture board and a picture-pointing task. Design The Spanish Pediatric Picture Identification Test was developed and validated in this study. Test construction steps included (a) producing new digital recordings of word lists created by Comstock and Martin (1984) using a bilingual Spanish-English female, (b) obtaining list equivalency, (c) creating digitally illustrated pictures representing the word lists, (d) validating the pictures using monolingual Spanish-speaking and bilingual Spanish-English children, and (e) re-establishing list equivalency and obtaining performance-intensity functions using a picture-pointing task with monolingual Spanish-speaking children and bilingual Spanish-English adults. Results Normative data for three Spanish word recognition lists were established. Performance-intensity functions at sensation levels from 0 to 40 dB SL in 8-dB steps were obtained, establishing list equivalency for Lists 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions The Spanish Pediatric Picture Identification Test was developed and validated as a picture-pointing task for word recognition with monolingual Spanish-speaking children. The two validated channel recordings include an English translation for ease of testing by clinicians lacking Spanish language skills. Future validation will be conducted with bilingual Spanish-English children with normal hearing and with hearing loss.

The graded effect of valence on word recognition in Spanish.

The influence of emotional content on language processing remains unclear. Previous research conducted in English has obtained contradictory results regarding the effects of valence on word recognition. Whereas some studies indicate that valence predicts recognition latencies such that negative words are processed more slowly than positive words, other studies indicate facilitation of responses to emotional (both positive and negative) compared to neutral words. The authors examined the influence of valence and arousal on word recognition reaction time (RT) using large-scale word naming and lexical decision data-sets in Spanish. They found that linear mixed-effects model estimates revealed a valence but not an arousal effect on reading latencies. The influence of valence was better captured by a graded (RTs to positive words < neutral < negative) than by a categorical (positive < negative) valence effect. A categorical emotional versus neutral effect was not reliably observed. In an advance on previous research, the authors' analyses showed that the valence effect is substantially more prominent in lexical decision than in pronunciation. These results mirror some of those reported previously in English, adding evidence to support their validity, and demonstrating important parallels in word recognition processes in orthographically shallow as well as deep languages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for The Graded Effect of Valence on Word Recognition in Spanish

Supplemental Material for The Graded Effect of Valence on Word Recognition in Spanish

The Role of Semantics in Spanish Word Recognition: an Insight from Lexical Decision and Categorization Tasks

AbstractThis study examines the factors affecting word recognition in a language with a consistent system to map letters into sounds; Spanish. The influence of semantics on the recognition of words in languages with inconsistent mappings, such as English, is well documented. Not much is known for other languages. A lexical decision task and two category verification tasks with varying levels of semantic complexity were used. In contrast to English, none of the semantic variables entered into the analyses had a significant impact on lexical decision latencies or errors. Imageability showed an influence on responses to both category verification tasks while the effect of connectivity was marginally significant in the category verification task with the greatest semantic complexity. Results indicate that word recognition decisions can be made without the involvement of central components of the semantic system. The role of semantics in word recognition in languages with consistent spelling systems will be discussed.

Formation of Orthographic Representations in Spanish Dyslexic Children: The Role of Syllable Complexity and Frequency.

Recent studies have suggested that Spanish children with dyslexia have difficulty storing orthographic representations of new words. But given that the syllable plays an important role in word recognition in Spanish, it is possible that the formation of orthographic representations is influenced by the characteristics of the syllables that make up the words. The objective of this study was to determine whether syllabic frequency and syllabic complexity influence orthographic learning in children with dyslexia. We compared the performance of a group of dyslexic children with that of a group of typical readers on a task that involved reading short and long pseudowords six times; we manipulated the frequency and complexity of the syllables from which the pseudowords were constructed. The results showed that dyslexic children do not benefit from syllabic simplicity or frequency when it comes to storing orthographic representations as the length effect in the dyslexic group remained was unchanged after repeated readings, regardless of stimulus characteristics. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Syllable Frequency and Spoken Word Recognition: An Inhibitory Effect.

Research has shown that syllables play a relevant role in lexical access in Spanish, a shallow language with a transparent syllabic structure. Syllable frequency has been shown to have an inhibitory effect on visual word recognition in Spanish. However, no study has examined the syllable frequency effect on spoken word recognition. The present study tested the effect of the frequency of the first syllable on recognition of spoken Spanish words. A sample of 45 young adults (33 women, 12 men; M = 20.4, SD = 2.8; college students) performed an auditory lexical decision on 128 Spanish disyllabic words and 128 disyllabic nonwords. Words were selected so that lexical and first syllable frequency were manipulated in a within-subject 2 × 2 design, and six additional independent variables were controlled: token positional frequency of the second syllable, number of phonemes, position of lexical stress, number of phonological neighbors, number of phonological neighbors that have higher frequencies than the word, and acoustical durations measured in milliseconds. Decision latencies and error rates were submitted to linear mixed models analysis. Results showed a typical facilitatory effect of the lexical frequency and, importantly, an inhibitory effect of the first syllable frequency on reaction times and error rates.

Accent mark and visual word recognition in Spanish

The present research aims at determining to what extent an orthographic error related to the accent mark affects the visual recognition of Spanish words. For this, we conducted two experiments of visual lexical decision (with no word production), in which Spanish-speaking participants were instructed to ignore the presence or the absence of the accent mark. Stimuli were composed of words originally without accent mark ( OrNA for ‘originally no accent’; Experiment 1) and words originally with an accent mark ( OrWA for ‘originally with accent’; Experiments 1 and 2). OrNA words were presented in three conditions: correctly spelled (e.g., dulce ‘sweet’), with an added accent mark on the lexically stressed vowel ( dulce ) and with a misplaced accent mark on the lexically non-stressed vowel ( dulce ). Along the same line, OrWA words were also presented in three conditions: correctly spelled (e.g., lapiz ‘pen’), without the accent mark ( lapiz ) and with a misplaced accent mark ( lapiz ). Taken together, the results showed that the accent mark plays a role in the visual word recognition in Spanish. More specifically, the addition and/or the misplacement of an accent mark significantly slow down the visual recognition of the words, whereas the omission of the accent mark does not. The findings are discussed within the framework of dual-route models.

Development of word reading fluency along primary education: a six-year follow-up / El desarrollo de la fluidez en la lectura de palabras en educación primaria: un seguimiento longitudinal de seis años

Word reading fluency is a key component in the process of reading. In order to understand its acquisition it is crucial to conduct longitudinal studies. The aim of this work was to describe the development of word recognition in Spanish, considering accuracy and speed, from a longitudinal perspective. A group of 31 children were followed for six years. Reading performance was assessed with a list of 72 stimuli in which lexicality, frequency and length were manipulated. Results show that initial gains in reading accuracy occurred very rapidly. However, the growth of reading speed was found to be more difficult and complex, and automatic word recognition remains low at the end of Grade 6. Low frequency, long words were the most difficult stimuli. High stability in reading speed was observed and it was a relevant indicator that differentiates between good and poor readers. The findings also highlighted the need to develop training programs with the specific aim of improving word reading fluency throughout primary education.

Age of Acquisition and Sensitivity to Gender in Spanish Word Recognition

Speakers of gender-agreement languages use gender-marked elements of the noun phrase in spoken-word recognition: A congruent marking on a determiner or adjective facilitates the recognition of a subsequent noun, while an incongruent marking inhibits its recognition. However, while monolinguals and early language learners evidence this gender-marking effect, late learners do not (Guillelmon & Grosjean 2001). The goals of this study were to determine whether early learners who are not dominant in the gender-marking language (Spanish) can use gender cues in spoken-word recognition and whether the ability of both early and late learners to do so is a function of the noun’s gender-marking transparency. Results of a word-repetition task, completed by 32 native Spanish speakers and 64 English-dominant early and late learners of Spanish indicate that both types of learners make use of gender cues during spoken-word recognition, and that gender-marking transparency may influence this process.

Dialectal Effects on a Clinical Spanish Word Recognition Test

American Spanish dialects have substantial phonetic and lexical differences. This study investigated how dialectal differences affect Spanish/English bilingual individuals’ performance on a clinical Spanish word recognition test. Forty Spanish/English bilinguals participated in the study—20 dominant in Spanish and 20 in English.Within each group, 10 listeners spoke the Highland dialect, and 10 spoke the Caribbean/Coastal dialect. Participants were maximally matched between the 2 dialectal groups regarding their demographic and linguistic background. Listeners were randomly presented 4 lists of Auditec Spanish bisyllabic words at 40 dB SL re: pure-tone average. Each list was randomly assigned with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of quiet, +6, +3, and 0 dB, in the presence of speech-spectrum noise. Listeners responded orally and in writing. Dialect and language dominance both significantly affected listener performance on the word recognition test. Higher performance levels were obtained with Highland than Caribbean/Coastal listeners and with Spanish-dominant than English-dominant listeners. The dialectal difference was particularly evident in favorable listening conditions (i.e., quiet and +6 dB SNR) and could not be explained by listeners’ familiarity with the test words. Dialects significantly affect the clinical assessment of Spanish-speaking clients’ word recognition. Clinicians are advised to consider the phonetic features of the dialect when scoring a client’s performance.

Processing inflectional and derivational morphology: Electrophysiological evidence from Spanish

The goal of this paper is to study possible differences between the processing of inflectional vs. derivational morphology in Spanish word recognition using electrophysiological measures. A lexical decision task to target words preceded by morphological-related (or unrelated) primes was used. The orthographic and phonological overlap and the grammatical class for the two experimental conditions were exactly the same. Examples of the related conditions were, for inflection, NIÑO-NIÑA (“girl”-“boy”), and for derivation, RAMO-RAMA (“bunch”-“branch”). These conditions were compared with unrelated pairs without orthographic, phonological or semantic relationships. An attenuation of the N-400 component was found for both related conditions from 300 ms until 450 ms (until 500 ms for inflections only). In addition, different locations were suggested by the source analysis. These findings are consistent with accounts that argue for differences between the processing of inflections and derivations.

Spanish/English Bilingual Listeners on Clinical Word Recognition Tests: What to Expect and How to Predict

The current study was an attempt to provide initial evidence on how to predict the optimal language in which to conduct speech perception testing for Spanish/English (S/E) bilingual listeners. Thirty normal-hearing S/E listeners differing in age of language acquisition, length of immersion, daily language use, self-rated listening proficiency, and language dominance were evaluated on the English and Spanish word recognition tests in quiet and in speech-spectrum noise. Performance on the English and Spanish tests was not correlated for any conditions. English word recognition was most significantly correlated with age of English acquisition. Logistic regression analyses further demonstrated age of English acquisition to be a good predictor of listeners' relative success on the 2 tests in quiet and at +6 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). At 0 dB SNR, language dominance had the highest predictive specificity, whereas the combination of age of English acquisition and Spanish listening proficiency had the highest sensitivity. A Spanish word recognition test would likely yield more favorable results for S/E bilingual listeners who were Spanish-dominant or who acquired English at 10 years of age or older. It may be necessary for listeners who acquired English at 7-10 years of age to be evaluated in both English and Spanish.

The contribution of prefixes to morphological processing of Spanish words

Three series of priming experiments were conducted to probe the morphological and phonological contributions to visual word recognition in Spanish. Prefixed, e.g., INCAPAZ (incapable), and pseudoprefixed, e.g., INDUSTRIA (industry) target words were presented for recognition following a prefixed, e.g., infeliz (unhappy), or pseudoprefixed, e.g., insulto (insult), prime starting with the same syllable as the target, at masked short or long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). At long SOAs the recognition of prefixed targets was facilitated by prefixed primes and inhibited by pseudoprefixed ones, whereas both prefixed and pseudoprefixed primes facilitated the recognition at short SOAs. In contrast, the recognition of pseudoprefixed targets was unaffected by the kind of prime presented, even when we used pairs of words overlapping in syllables that cannot be prefixes in Spanish. These results support a special status for morphological elements in access to meaning in reading.

Neighborhood density effects in spoken word recognition in Spanish

The present work examined the relationships among familiarity ratings, frequency of occurrence, neighborhood density, and word length in a corpus of Spanish words. The observed relationships were similar to the relationships found among the same variables in English. An auditory lexical decision task was then performed to examine the influence of word frequency, neighborhood density, and neighborhood frequency on spoken word recognition in Spanish. In contrast to the competitive effect of phonological neighborhoods typically observed in English, a facilitative effect of neighborhood density and neighborhood frequency was found in Spanish. Implications for models of spoken word recognition and language disorders are discussed.

Crossing borders: Recognition of Spanish words by English-speaking children with and without language impairment

We introduce an objective method for classifying phonological overlap between Spanish and English translation equivalents. This method then is exploited to examine spoken word recognition using stimuli with graded levels of phonological overlap. Performance by typical English-only speaking (EO) children and English-only children with primary language impairment (LI) is compared to a control group of bilingual Spanish–English peers (BI). Response time and accuracy separated groups, with the BI group outperforming the EO group, who in turn outperformed the LI group. Children with more severe LI are slower than those with mild LI, and LI severity is significantly correlated with speed. The two groups of monolingual children and the LI subgroups respond in a qualitatively similar way to decreasing phonological overlap.

Are syllables phonological units in visual word recognition?

A number of studies have shown that syllables play an important role in visual word recognition in Spanish. We report three lexical decision experiments with a masked priming technique that examined whether syllabic effects are phonological or orthographic in nature. In all cases, primes were nonwords. In Experiment 1, latencies to CV words were faster when primes and targets shared the first syllable (ju.nas-JU.NIO) than when they shared the initial letters but not the first syllable (jun.tu-JU.NIO). In Experiment 2, this syllabic overlap could be phonological+orthographical (vi.rel-VI.RUS) or just phonological (bi.rel-VI.RUS). A syllable priming effect was found for CV words in both the phonological+orthographical and the phonological condition. In Experiment 3 we compared a “phonological-syllable” condition (bi.rel-VI.RUS) with two control conditions (fi.rel-VI.RUS and vir.ga-VI.RUS). We found faster latencies for the phonological-syllabic condition than for the control conditions. These results suggest that syllabic effects are phonological in nature.

Multicultural Issues In Audiology

Multicultural Issues In Audiology