Naming of short words is (almost) the same as naming of alphanumeric symbols: Evidence from two orthographies

Abstract

Throughout reading development, a gradual shift is seen in the processes underlying word identification from serial decoding toward parallel processing or sight word reading. It has been argued that this shift can be detected in the correlations between serial and discrete naming of alphanumeric symbols (digits and letters) and words. In the current study, we examined the relations between alphanumeric symbol naming and reading of monosyllabic and multisyllabic words and nonwords in two languages that differ in orthographic consistency: English and Dutch. A sample of 92 English-speaking Canadian children and 101 Dutch children, all in Grade 5, were assessed on discrete and serial naming of digits and letters and on serial and discrete naming of monosyllabic and multisyllabic words and nonwords. Results showed that discrete naming of alphanumeric symbols closely resembled discrete reading of monosyllabic words, suggesting that these words are processed in parallel in both languages. Both serial and parallel reading processes were found to underlie identification of multisyllabic words as well as monosyllabic nonwords. However, differences between the two languages emerged when processing multisyllabic nonwords. Whereas English-speaking children relied more on parallel reading processes to read multisyllabic nonwords, Dutch-speaking children processed these items serially. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Stability of Deficits in Reading Fluency and/or Spelling

“…We have argued elsewhere (e.g., Bakos, Landerl, Bartling, Schulte-Körne, & Moll, 2018;Moll & Landerl, 2009), that children with RD store and use orthographic representations during reading, but are slow in processing their phonological form. Thus, reading fluency deficits may result from slow visual-verbal access (Lervåg & Hulme, 2009) and inefficient sequential processing (Jones, Obregón, Kelly, & Branigan, 2008;Protopapas, Katopodi, Altani, & Georgiou, 2018;van Den Boer, Georgiou, & de Jong, 2016). This interpretation is supported by strong associations between (deficits in) reading fluency and RAN (Araújo & Faísca, 2019;Araújo, Reis, Petersson, & Faísca, 2015;Kirby, Georgiou, Martinussen, & Parrila, 2010).…”

Is processing of symbols and words influenced by writing system? Evidence from Chinese, Korean, English, and Greek

“…The serial format produces shorter total naming times than discrete naming, that is, a serial advantage is observed, at least for typical readers (Zoccolotti et al, 2013). In addition, it has long been noted that reading fluency correlates more strongly with serial naming than with discrete naming (Wolf & Bowers, 1999); this serial superiority effect has been recently confirmed across languages, for readers past the beginner stage (e.g., de Jong, 2011;Protopapas et al, 2013a;van den Boer, Georgiou, & de Jong, 2016). The crucial distinction between serial and discrete naming is thought to concern sequential processing, that is, skill in the serial processing of successive stimuli.…”

From individual word recognition to word list and text reading fluency.

“…Second, all items in Greek consisted of two-syllable words, while items in English consisted of one-syllable words. Strictly matching items across and within these two languages was impossible, as most single-digit number words are bisyllabic in Greek, but monosyllabic in English (see Georgiou et al, 2016, for previous studies mentioning the same problem). Still, the great similarity in the pattern of results obtained across the two orthographies somewhat alleviates the concern that such differences in materials may have introduced consequential confounds.…”