Tracking the evolution of orthographic expectancies over building visual experience

Wegener, Signy; Wang, Hua Chen; Nation, Kate; Castles, Anne

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104912

Cited by 19 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Recent evidence supporting the idea that preliminary orthographic representations are generated as a result of aural instruction led Wegener and colleagues to propose the orthographic skeleton hypothesis (Wegener et al., 2018; Wegener, Wang, Nation, & Castles, 2020). Noting the positive link between children's oral vocabulary and their future reading skills (Duff & Hulme, 2012; McKague, Pratt, & Johnston, 2001; Nation & Cocksey, 2009; Nation & Snowling, 2004), the authors hypothesized that this link could be mediated by a mechanism similar to the one described by Johnston et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gepo with a G, or Jepo with a J? Skilled Readers Generate Orthographic Expectations for Novel Spoken Words Even When Spelling is Uncertain

2022

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English‐speaking children and adults generate orthographic skeletons (i.e., preliminary orthographic representations) solely from aural exposure to novel words. The present study examined whether skilled readers generate orthographic skeletons for all novel words they learn or do so only when the words have a unique possible spelling. To that end, 48 Spanish adults first provided their preferred spellings for all novel words that were to appear in the experiment. Critically, consistent words had only one, while inconsistent words had two possible spellings. Two weeks later, they were trained on the pronunciations of the novel words through aural instruction. They then saw the spellings of these newly acquired words, along with a set of untrained words, in a self‐paced sentence reading task. Participants read previously acquired consistent and inconsistent words presented in their preferred spellings faster than inconsistent words with unpreferred spellings. Importantly, no differences were observed in reading untrained consistent and inconsistent words (either preferred or unpreferred). This suggests that participants had generated orthographic skeletons for trained words with two possible spellings according to their individual spelling preferences. These findings provide further evidence for the orthographic skeleton account and show that initial orthographic representations are generated even when the spelling of a newly acquired word is uncertain.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gepo with a G, or Jepo with a J? Skilled Readers Generate Orthographic Expectations for Novel Spoken Words Even When Spelling is Uncertain

2022

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“…Drawing on Ziegler, Stone, and Jacobs (1997), words were designed to be regular for reading and to have highly predictable spellings based on their phonology. This approach was taken in view of prior findings showing that oral training influences online processing the first time such items are seen in print (Beyersmann, Wegener, et al, 2021;Wegener et al, 2018;Wegener et al, 2020). Items were then split into two sets (Sets 1 and 2) and arranged in 16 different pairs (e.g., item 1 in set 1 [semp] was paired with item 1 in set 2 [deld], etc.).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stronger evidence for the existence of a causal relationship between spoken word knowledge and reading comes from training studies in which participants are first taught novel oral vocabulary before experiencing those items for the first time in print, along with orally unfamiliar items. Studies with children show that orally trained novel words are associated with a reading accuracy advantage (e.g., Duff & Hulme, 2012;Hogaboam & Perfetti, 1978;McKague, Pratt, & Johnston, 2001) and an online processing advantage (e.g., Wegener et al, 2018;Wegener, Wang, Nation, & Castles, 2020) during the first few visual exposures, compared to untrained items. The benefits of prior oral vocabulary knowledge for learning new written words are not unique to individuals at the lower end of the reading proficiency scale.…”

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confidence: 99%

The effect of oral vocabulary training on reading novel complex words

Beyersmann

Wegener

Pescuma

et al. 2022

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Do readers benefit from their knowledge of the phonological form and meaning of stems when seeing them embedded in morphologically complex words for the first time in print? This question was addressed using a word learning paradigm. Participants were trained on novel spoken word stems and their meanings (“tump”). Following training, participants then saw the novel stems for the first time in print, either in combination with a real affix (tumpist, tumpor) or a non-affix (tumpel, tumpain). Untrained items were also included to test if the affix effect was modulated by the prior training of the spoken word stems. First, the complex words were embedded in meaningful sentences which participants read as their eye movements were recorded (first orthographic exposure). Second, participants were asked to read aloud and spell each individual complex novel word (second orthographic exposure). Participants spent less time fixating on words that included trained stems compared to untrained stems. However, the training effect did not change depending on whether stems were accompanied by a real affix or a non-affix. In the reading aloud and spelling tasks, there was no effect of training, suggesting that the effect of oral vocabulary training did not extend beyond the initial print exposure. The results indicate that familiarity with spoken stems influences how complex words containing those stems are processed when being read for the first time. Our findings highlight the flexibility and adaptability of the morphological processing system to novel complex words during the first print exposure.

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“…This idea, first proposed by Stuart and Coltheart ( 1988 ) and known as the Orthographic Skeleton Hypothesis , was directly tested by Wegener and colleagues ( 2018 ; see also Johnston, McKague, & Pratt, 2004 ; Wegener et al, 2020 ). In their eye tracking study, the authors trained a group of fourth-grade children on meanings and pronunciations of novel words without exposing them to words’ spellings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Given the high number of multiple sound-to-spelling mappings, the probability of generating an incorrect skeleton in an opaque language is high. Generating, and storing in memory incorrect orthographic skeletons which then need to be updated when the actual (i.e., correct) spellings are encountered ( Wegener et al, 2020 ), may not be beneficial for the cognitive system. Speakers of opaque languages may therefore refrain from generating skeletons, at least for inconsistent words.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<i>Déjà-lu</i>: When Orthographic Representations are Generated in the Absence of Orthography

Jevtović

Antzaka

Martin

2023

Journal of Cognition

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When acquiring novel spoken words, English-speaking children generate preliminary orthographic representations even before seeing the words’ spellings ( Wegener et al., 2018 ). Interestingly, these orthographic skeletons are generated even when novel words’ spellings are uncertain, at least in transparent languages like Spanish ( Jevtović et al., 2022 ). Here we investigate whether this process depends on the orthographic rules of the language, and specifically, whether orthographic skeletons for words with uncertain spellings are generated even when the probability of generating an incorrect representation is high. Forty-six French adults first acquired novel words via aural instruction and were then presented with words’ spellings in a self-paced reading task. Importantly, novel words were presented in their unique (consistent words) or one of their two possible spellings (preferred and unpreferred inconsistent words). A significant reading advantage observed for aurally acquired words indicates that participants indeed generated orthographic representations before encountering novel words’ spellings. However, while no differences in reading times were found for aurally acquired words with unique and those presented in their preferred spellings, unpreferred spellings yielded significantly longer reading times. This shows that orthographic skeletons for words with multiple spellings were generated even in a language in which the risk of generating an incorrect representation is high. This finding raises a possibility that generating orthographic skeletons during spoken word learning may be beneficial. In line with this conclusion is the finding showing that – in interaction with good phonological short-term memory capacity – generating orthographic skeletons is linked to better word recall.

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Tracking the evolution of orthographic expectancies over building visual experience

Cited by 19 publications

References 51 publications

Gepo with a G, or Jepo with a J? Skilled Readers Generate Orthographic Expectations for Novel Spoken Words Even When Spelling is Uncertain

Gepo with a G, or Jepo with a J? Skilled Readers Generate Orthographic Expectations for Novel Spoken Words Even When Spelling is Uncertain

The effect of oral vocabulary training on reading novel complex words

<i>Déjà-lu</i>: When Orthographic Representations are Generated in the Absence of Orthography

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