In this article, we provide a cross-linguistic perspective on the universals and particulars in learning to read across seventeen different orthographies. Starting from the assumption that reading reflects a learned sensitivity to the systematic relationships between the surface forms of words and their meanings, we chose a broad group of…

Purpose: To assess strengths and weaknesses of the reading level (RL) match approach and its potential to generate insights regarding the cognitive foundations of reading ability and disability. Method: We applied RL-match design to a sample of 2nd-6th graders reading a consistent orthography, Russian, using an "extreme phenotype"…

In polysyllabic languages the assignment of stress is crucial for understanding the reading process. Here we review empirical evidence, drawn mainly from studies on Italian, and discuss critical issues in understanding reading. We first discuss the lexical and sublexical mechanisms responsible for stress assignment and propose that the former is…

This book provides a unique and accessible account of current research on reading and dyslexia in different orthographies. While most research has been conducted in English, this text presents cross-language comparisons to provide insights into universal aspects of reading development and developmental dyslexia in alphabetic and non-alphabetic…

Examines the effects of onset and rime awareness on children's recognition of spelling patterns in written words. Reports that onset-rime awareness was associated with word ending similarities, whereas word beginning analogies appeared to involve higher-level phonological skills. Suggests longitudinal research regarding the issue. (SG)

Major theories of how skilled readers recognize, understand and pronounce written words include processes for phonological recoding (i.e., translating segments of print to their corresponding segments of sound) and processes by which direct access is achieved from printed words to their meanings. If these are the processes employed in skilled…

Finds (1) positive phonemic-masking effects occurred for dominant homophones; (2) null phonemic-masking effects occurred for subordinate homophones; and (3) subordinate homophones were much more likely to be falsely identified as their dominant mate. Suggests the source of these null phonemic-masking is itself a phonology effect. Concludes…

Finds that an onset/rime analogy explanation accounted for the children's correct recodings of pseudowords better than a phoneme blending explanation, that the number of pseudowords children recoded correlated with the number of conventional words they recoded, and that children who were better able to conserve parts and wholes recoded more…

Reviews the evidence for alternative explanations of the underlying system of English orthography and discusses their feasibility as a basis for teaching young beginners. (HOD)

Examines whether the conscious use of phonological knowledge is associated with invented spelling and whether a relation exists between invented spelling and reading. Finds a relation between spelling ability and conscious use of phonological knowledge; however, word reading appears to be a related (but separate) ability from word writing. (RS)

Concludes that the regularity effect is phonologically, not orthographically, mediated; that good readers use a predominantly phonological strategy in lexical decisions, while poor readers do not; and that for the best readers-spellers, orthographically and phonologically irregular words have a special status, allowing them to gain fast and…

Investigates the extent to which phoneme and grapheme-phoneme contrasts between English and Spanish are associated with word decoding problems in Spanish speaking adults who are early readers of English. (FL)

A growing reliance on research to guide decisions about reading instruction has resulted in a swing toward approaches that emphasize phoneme awareness and the relations between speech and alphabetic writing. Because this is a time of innovation and experimentation in the schools, and because the new emphasis has not won universal acceptance, there…

Literature related to orthography, phonology, and reading is reviewed and synthesized in order to develop a rationale for a "goodness of fit" hypothesis. This hypothesis asserts that a writing system which is more consistently fit to the phonological structure of a particular language is more likely to facilitate learning to read.…

This paper deals with the assessment of children's acquisition of phonological competence. Phonological competence refers to the idealized speaker/hearer's ability to understand the linguistic structure underlying phonetic input/output. Under the Jakobsonian assumption that the learning of phonological opposition follows a regular sequence, an…