Background: In opaque orthographies, such as English, children with low reading skills tend to rely more on semantic information due to their inadequate acquisition of sub-lexical knowledge. This tendency has also been reported for kanji, a non-alphabetic and opaque Japanese orthography. However, previous studies on this phenomenon have had…

Students in grades 5-9 (N = 29) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) (dysgraphia, dyslexia, or oral and written language learning disability, OWL LD) were asked to take notes and handwrite or type summaries of social studies texts about world geography and cultures that they read or heard. This activity required activating knowledge of…