The Experts below are selected from a list of 48 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Brett Kessler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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learning to use an Alphabetic Writing System
Language Learning and Development, 2013Co-Authors: Rebecca Treiman, Brett KesslerAbstract:Gaining facility with spelling is an important part of becoming a good writer. Here we review recent work on how children learn to spell in Alphabetic Writing Systems. Statistical learning plays an important role in this process. Young children learn about some of the salient graphic characteristics of written texts and attempt to reproduce these characteristics in their own productions even before they use letters to represent phonemes. Later, children apply their statistical learning skills to links between phonemes and spellings, including those that are conditioned by context and morphology. Children use what they know about language and about letter names when learning about spelling, and learning to spell in turn influences their ideas about language. Although children learn about some aspects of spelling implicitly, explicit instruction has an important role to play. We discuss some implications of the research for the design of that instruction.
Xuchu Weng - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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chinese and korean characters engage the same visual word form area in proficient early chinese korean bilinguals
PLOS ONE, 2011Co-Authors: Jiane Bai, Jinfu Shi, Yi Jiang, Xuchu WengAbstract:A number of recent studies consistently show an area, known as the visual word form area (VWFA), in the left fusiform gyrus that is selectively responsive for visual words in Alphabetic scripts as well as in logographic scripts, such as Chinese characters. However, given the large difference between Chinese characters and Alphabetic scripts in terms of their orthographic rules, it is not clear at a fine spatial scale, whether Chinese characters engage the same VWFA in the occipito-temporal cortex as Alphabetic scripts. We specifically compared Chinese with Korean script, with Korean script serving as a good example of Alphabetic Writing System, but matched to Chinese in the overall square shape. Sixteen proficient early Chinese-Korean bilinguals took part in the fMRI experiment. Four types of stimuli (Chinese characters, Korean characters, line drawings and unfamiliar Chinese faces) were presented in a block-design paradigm. By contrasting characters (Chinese or Korean) to faces, presumed VWFAs could be identified for both Chinese and Korean characters in the left occipito-temporal sulcus in each subject. The location of peak response point in these two VWFAs were essentially the same. Further analysis revealed a substantial overlap between the VWFA identified for Chinese and that for Korean. At the group level, there was no significant difference in amplitude of response to Chinese and Korean characters. Spatial patterns of response to Chinese and Korean are similar. In addition to confirming that there is an area in the left occipito-temporal cortex that selectively responds to scripts in both Korean and Chinese in early Chinese-Korean bilinguals, our results show that these two scripts engage essentially the same VWFA, even at the level of fine spatial patterns of activation across voxels. These results suggest that similar populations of neurons are engaged in processing the different scripts within the same VWFA in early bilinguals.
Susannah Dillon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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english orthographic forms affect l2 english speech production in native users of a non Alphabetic Writing System
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 2020Co-Authors: Mirjana Sokolovicperovic, Bene Bassetti, Susannah DillonAbstract:There is growing evidence that the orthographic forms (spellings) of second language words affect second language (L2) speech production, but it is not known whether orthography affects L2 phonology in native users of a non-Alphabetic Writing System. To answer this question, this study tested the effects of number of letters on the duration of consonants and vowels in the EnglishL2 speech production of Japanese–English sequential bilinguals. JapaneseL1–EnglishL2 bilinguals and English native speakers (both n = 16) performed a delayed word repetition task, producing 16 English word pairs in which the same consonant or vowel was spelled either with a single letter or with double letters, as in city-kitty. The bilinguals produced the same English sound as longer or shorter depending on the number of letters in its spelling, confirming that L2 orthographic forms affect L2 speakers’ phonological representations of L2 words even when their L1 Writing System is not Alphabetical.
Michelle W Moore - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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reading faces investigating the use of a novel face based orthography in acquired alexia
Brain and Language, 2014Co-Authors: Michelle W Moore, Paul C Brendel, Julie A FiezAbstract:Skilled visual word recognition is thought to rely upon a particular region within the left fusiform gyrus, the visual word form area (VWFA). We investigated whether an individual (AA1) with pure alexia resulting from acquired damage to the VWFA territory could learn an Alphabetic “FaceFont” orthography, in which faces rather than typical letter-like units are used to represent phonemes. FaceFont was designed to distinguish between perceptual versus phonological influences on the VWFA. AA1 was unable to learn more than five face-phoneme mappings, performing well below that of controls. AA1 succeeded, however, in learning and using a proto-syllabary comprising 15 face-syllable mappings. These results suggest that the VWFA provides a “linguistic bridge” into left hemisphere speech and language regions, irrespective of the perceptual characteristics of a written language. They also suggest that some individuals may be able to acquire a non-Alphabetic Writing System more readily than an Alphabetic Writing System.
Rebecca Treiman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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learning to use an Alphabetic Writing System
Language Learning and Development, 2013Co-Authors: Rebecca Treiman, Brett KesslerAbstract:Gaining facility with spelling is an important part of becoming a good writer. Here we review recent work on how children learn to spell in Alphabetic Writing Systems. Statistical learning plays an important role in this process. Young children learn about some of the salient graphic characteristics of written texts and attempt to reproduce these characteristics in their own productions even before they use letters to represent phonemes. Later, children apply their statistical learning skills to links between phonemes and spellings, including those that are conditioned by context and morphology. Children use what they know about language and about letter names when learning about spelling, and learning to spell in turn influences their ideas about language. Although children learn about some aspects of spelling implicitly, explicit instruction has an important role to play. We discuss some implications of the research for the design of that instruction.