Effects of mora deletion,nonword repetition,rapid naming,and visual search performance on beginning reading in Japanese

This study examined the extent to which mora deletion (phonological analysis), nonword repetition (phonological memory), rapid automatized naming (RAN), and visual search abilities predict reading in Japanese kindergartners and first graders. Analogous abilities have been identified as important predictors of reading skills in alphabetic languages like English. In contrast to English, which is based on grapheme-phoneme relationships, the primary components of Japanese orthography are two syllabaries—hiragana and katakana (collectively termed “kana”)—and a system of morphosyllabic symbols (kanji). Three RAN tasks (numbers, objects, syllabary symbols [hiragana]) were used with kindergartners, with an additional kanji RAN task included for first graders. Reading measures included accuracy and speed of passage reading for kindergartners and first graders, and reading comprehension for first graders. In kindergartners, hiragana RAN and number RAN were the only significant predictors of reading accuracy and speed. In first graders, kanji RAN and hiragana RAN predicted reading speed, whereas accuracy was predicted by mora deletion. Reading comprehension was predicted by kanji RAN, mora deletion, and nonword repetition. Although number RAN did not contribute unique variance to any reading measure, it correlated highly with kanji RAN. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.     

Development of text reading in Japanese: an eye movement study

This study examined age-group differences in eye movements among third-grade, fifth-grade, and adult Japanese readers. In Experiment 1, Japanese children, but not adults, showed a longer fixation time on logographic kanji words than on phonologically transparent hiragana words. Further, an age-group difference was found in the first fixation duration on hiragana words but not on kanji words, suggesting character-type-dependent reading development in Japanese children. Examination of the distributions of saccade landing positions revealed that, like adults, both third and fifth graders fixated more on kanji than on hiragana characters, which suggests that even young children utilize the same oculomotor control strategy (the kanji targeting strategy) as Japanese adults. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the proportion of kanji characters in a text affected adult reading performance. Japanese adults made more refixations and regressions in texts with a high proportion of hiragana characters. The results of both experiments suggest that differences between kanji and kana affect the reading efficiency of school-age children and that maturation of reading skills allows adults to optimize their strategy in reading kanji and kana mixed texts.     

Learning of a formation principle for the secondary phonemic function of a syllabic orthography

It has been observed in Japanese children learning to read that there is an early and rapid shift from exclusive reading of hiragana as syllabograms to the dual-use convention in which some hiragana also represent phonemic elements. Such rapid initial learning appears contrary to the standard theories of reading acquisition that require instruction in nonlexical procedures for learning phonemic elements of an orthography. However, the alternative Knowledge Sources theory implies that the shift would be achievable from lexical input by which the learner acquires an implicit formation principle for this secondary phonemic function of hiragana. In two training experiments (Studies 1 & 2), this hypothesis was examined in transfer tests with 5-year-old Japanese and with 14-year-old English-speaking beginner learners of Japanese. As predicted, relative to phonological controls, very limited lexical training of exemplar hiragana words transferred to phonemic use of other (previously unknown and untrained) hiragana in untrained words, but not in isolation from these words. In Study 3, at both beginning and adult reading levels, novel hiragana symbol combinations were created to represent individual phoneme elements in ways that do not exist in conventional hiragana orthography but are exemplars for induction of a potential generalized formation principle of the secondary phonemic function of the system. At all reading levels there was evidence of use of this generalized formation principle, a result not explained by the standard theories but implied by the alternative theory, which offers a potential universal feature of learning to read.     

注重阅读输入,提高英语写作水平--以内容为中心的写作教学新探

写作成果教学法是长期垄断英语写作教学的一种传统方法，在我国写作教学中影响颇具。然而，随着对英语学习者写作能力要求的提高，不足之处已日渐暴露。为此，本文借鉴国外写作过程教学法，通过对本校英语专业40名学生所做的研究统计结果验证，提出以内容为中心的写作教学思路，强调阅读输入，提高学生英语写作水平。     

高校日语阅读课程的有效教学模式

如何在有限教学环节中,既提高学生的应试能力,又能进一步激发学生的阅读兴趣,提高阅读综合能力就成为了摆在日语教学者面前的一项重要课题。文章针对高校日语阅读课存在的难点,从教学内容、教学方法、教师角色的转换等方面,对高校日语阅读课程的教学模式进行分析和探讨。     

Development of literacy skills for Japanese deaf and hard-of-hearing children

We compared the reading development of 77 deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) Japanese children, aged 5–7 (40 females), with 139 of their hearing peers (74 females) in 2018. We assessed each group's phonological awareness (PA), grammar, vocabulary, and reading of hiragana (Japanese orthography children learn first). DHH children showed significant delays in grammar and vocabulary but only a slight delay in PA. Younger DHH children scored better than their hearing peers in reading. Although PA predicted reading for hearing children, reading predicted PA for DHH children. PA partially explained grammar skills for both groups. The results suggest educational intervention for reading acquisition should be based on not only general linguistic features but also each language's unique characteristics.     

大学英语四级考试新题型及相应精读教学方向

大学英语精读教学是整个大学英语教学环节中的核心，在大学英语四级考试新题型的背景下，精读教学应该突出以下四个方面：把词汇的扩大和语法的掌握相结合；把趣味阅读的形成和信息对接能力的提高相结合；多途径在课堂上插入听力训练；把汉译英训练和写作的提高相结合。     

Orthography to Phonology and Meaning: Comparisons Across and within Writing Systems

According to the Universal Writing System Constraint, all writing systems encode language, and thus reflect basic properties of the linguistic system they encode. According to a second universal, the Universal Phonological Principle, the activation of word pronunciations occurs for skilled readers across all writing systems. We review recent research that illustrates the implications of these two universal principles both across and within writing systems. Within the family of alphabetic systems, differences between Korean and English arise in the languages, rather than the orthographies, while the reverse appears to be true for German and English differences. Across writing systems, new Event Related Potentials (ERP) experiments show the robustness of phonology across Chinese and English systems and chart the time course of word reading in Chinese and English for Chinese bilinguals and for English speakers learning Chinese. The ERP results show differences between Chinese and English for both groups and suggest that the time course of word processes and the brain areas identified as sources for the ERP components differ both as a result of writing system and the skill of the reader. We propose the System Accommodation Hypothesis, that reading processes and the neural structures that support them accommodate to specific visual and structural features of a new writing system.The research reported in this paper was made possible by National Science Foundation award BN0113243 to the first author.     

Language,literacy, attentional behaviors,and instructional quality predictors of written composition for first graders

We had two primary purposes in the present study: (1) to examine unique child-level predictors of written composition which included language skills, literacy skills (e.g., reading and spelling), and attentiveness and (2) to examine whether instructional quality (quality in responsiveness and individualization, and quality in spelling and writing instruction) is uniquely related to written composition for first-grade children (N = 527). Children's written composition was evaluated on substantive quality (ideas, organization, word choice, and sentence flow) and writing conventions (spelling, mechanics, and handwriting). Results revealed that for the substantive quality of writing, children's grammatical knowledge, reading comprehension, letter writing automaticity, and attentiveness were uniquely related. Teachers’ responsiveness was also uniquely related to the substantive quality of written composition after accounting for child predictors and other instructional quality variables. For the writing conventions outcome, children's spelling and attentiveness were uniquely related, but instructional quality was not. These results suggest the importance of paying attention to multiple component skills such as language, literacy, and behavioral factors as well as teachers’ responsiveness for writing development.     

Multiple orthographic codes in reading and writing acquisition

A modified Stroop Test (single-letter, letter-cluster, and whole-word colorinconsistent stimuli) showed greater interference for the more automatic orthographic coding unit—the word—than for the less automatic coding units—single letters and letter-clusters—in developing readers in second, fourth, and sixth grade (N=72, Study 1). A developmental trend was observed from relative skill in word-level orthographic-phonological correspondence in second graders to relative skill in subword level orthographic-phonological correspondences in sixth graders. A previous finding that whole word coding > letter coding > letter cluster coding in relative rate of development was replicated (N=300, Study 2). Multiple orthographic codes—for whole words, single letters, and letter clusters—were correlated with both reading and writing but patterns of correlations with the component reading and writing skills changed from first to third grade; by third grade whole word coding was not correlated with reading and writing skills but letter cluster coding was correlated with all reading and most writing skills. Cue validity —categorization of letters on the basis of differentiating rather than distinctive features—improved from second to sixth grade and may account for developmental gains in letter cluster coding. Level of cue validity was correlated with speed of sentence comprehension (N=60, Study 3). The theoretical and practical significance of multiple orthographic codes for orthographic-phonological connections in word recognition and for literacy acquisition in general is discussed.This research was supported, in part, by Grant No. 25858-01 awarded to the first author from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Study 1 is based on a presentation at the 1990 meeting of the American Education Research Association. Study 2 is based on a presentation at the 1991 meeting of the American Education Research Association. Study 3 is based on a presentation at the 1989 meeting of the American Education Research Association.The authors thank the participating children from the Shoreline Public Schools (Study 1), Bellevue, Northshore and Seattle Public Schools (Study 2), and the Mukiteo Public Schools (Study 3). They also thank Sylvia Mirsepassi for secretarial assistance.     

Phonemic awareness,naming, visual symbol processing,and reading

This study examined differences between adequate and poor readers in phonemic awareness, rapid continuous and confrontation naming, and visual symbol processing. It also investigated which of these skills make independent contributions to word recognition, pseudoword reading, and reading comprehension. Subjects were 170 school referrals of average intelligence, aged 6 to 10 years. The strongest differentiators of adequate and poor readers, with IQ and reading experience controlled, were phonemic awareness, naming speed for letters and pictured objects, and visual symbol processing. Letter naming speed made the largest independent contribution to word recognition, phonemic awareness to pseudoword reading, and object naming speed to reading comprehension. Confrontation picture naming accounted for minimal variance in reading skills, when IQ was controlled. It was concluded that tasks of naming speed, phonemic awareness, and visual symbol processing are valuable components of a diagnostic battery when testing children with possible reading disability.     

Text-based writing of low-skilled postsecondary students: relation to comprehension,self-efficacy and teacher judgments

Summarization and persuasive writing are important in postsecondary education and often require the use of source text. However, students entering college with low literacy skills often find this type of writing difficult. The present study compared predictors of performance on text-based summarization and persuasive writing in a sample of low-skilled adult students enrolled in college developmental education courses. The predictors were general reading and writing ability, self-efficacy, and teacher judgments. Both genre-specific and general dependent variables were used. A series of hierarchical regressions modeling participants’ writing skills found that writing ability and self-efficacy were predictive of the proportion of functional elements in the persuasive essays, reading ability predicted the proportion of main ideas from source text in the summaries, and teacher judgments were predictive of vocabulary usage. General reading and writing skills predicted written summarization and persuasive writing differently; the data showed relationships between general reading comprehension and text-based summarization on one hand, and between general writing skills and persuasive essay writing on the other.     

高级日语课程教学法探究——小议直接法与讲授式教学法之利弊及互补的可能性

近年来,随着中日经济、文化层面的交流日渐深化,高校中日语教育的规模也随之不断扩大,在师资充裕的条件下,日籍教师已不单纯教授口语、视听、写作等课程,也普遍地担任起精读课的教学任务。众所周知,精读课是培养＂听说读写译＂五种能力的综合性课程,而且,其与母语有着难以切断的联系。由此,备受外语教育界青睐的＂直接法＂出现了局限。到底在高级日语课程的教学过程中直接法与讲授式教学法各有着怎样的利弊呢？笔者将在自身有限的教学经验下尝试对两者进行比较,并探讨其互补的可能性。     

Eye-movement parameters and reading speed

This study addressed the relationship between four eyemovement parameters and reading speed of 20twelve-year-old children during silent and oralreading. The results indicated that each of theparameters correlated significantly with speed ofsilent reading. In fact, reading speed could bepredicted by the following variables: recognitionspan, average fixation duration, and number ofregressive saccades. Moreover, the relationshipbetween silent and oral reading speed, on one hand,and between reading fluency and reading errors in oralreading speed, on the other, was examined. The resultsindicated that in terms of reading speed, significantinterrelationships existed between silent and oralreading. Furthermore, fluency and errors wereintercorrelated phenomena, but only fluency wassubstantially related to oral reading speed.     

Assessing the importance of subvocalization during normal silent reading

A concurrent speaking paradigm was used to assess the importance of subvocalization during the reading of lengthy natural prose passages. Experiment 1 showed that having subjects count aloud while reading interfered with their comprehension and recall of the text's details as well as its gist, but did not affect the durability of the memory trace. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and established the validity of using concurrent speaking as a technique to interfere with speech-specific processes during silent reading. By pitting concurrent speaking against a nonverbal concurrent task, Experiment 2 provided evidence that its detrimental effect on comprehension was due to a competition for speech-related resources rather than a general competition for cognitive resources. Interfering with speech recoding during silent reading led to an average decrement of 10–12% in comprehension performance. However, Experiment 2 also showed that there were substantial individual differences in the magnitude of the speech interference effect and that these differences were systematically related to subjective reports about the concurrent speaking manipulation.     

Extending the theoretical foundations of multimedia learning: Activation,integration, and validation occur when processing illustrated texts

BackgroundText illustrated by pictures (i.e., multimedia material) is often used to improve learning outcomes. To support learning, it is essential to understand and specify the ongoing cognitive processes when processing illustrated texts.AimsWe focus on three cognitive processes identified when processing non-illustrated texts: activation, integration, and validation. In three experiments, we investigated whether the three processes occur during the processing of illustrated texts and whether the processes differ between illustrated and non-illustrated texts.SamplesExperiment 1 had 170 participants, Experiment 2 had 221 participants, and Experiment 3 had 132 participants.MethodAll experiments used an adapted version of the contradiction paradigm. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants read texts that contained information that was consistent vs. inconsistent with a later sentence (target sentence). It was additionally varied whether a picture illustrated the consistent vs. inconsistent information. In Experiment 3, only the pictures were consistent or inconsistent with the target sentence. We measured reading times for the target sentence and the following sentence (spillover sentence).ResultsIn all three experiments, reading times were significantly longer in the inconsistent than in the consistent conditions. This prolongation of reading times was not affected by the picture in Experiments 1 and 2.ConclusionOur results indicate that activation, integration, and validation processes are similar when processing non-illustrated and illustrated texts (Experiments 1 and 2) and also occur when information is presented across text and picture (Experiment 3). We discuss the implications for the theoretical foundations of multimedia learning.     

Let's eat grandma: Awareness of punctuation and capitalization rules' violations predicts the development of reading comprehension

An increasing body of evidence indicates that reading and writing are interconnected, but more studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms through which these two skills are associated. In this paper we report a study where we explored the relationship between second grade students' awareness of punctuation and capitalization rules' violations (a component of writing process) and their reading comprehension. The results showed that students' awareness of punctuation and capitalization rules’ violations was moderately corelated with reading comprehension (r = .64) and predicted reading comprehension tested in Spring after accounting for reading comprehension tested in Fall, word decoding fluency, listening comprehension, general cognitive ability, and demographic variables. Our findings outline an under-researched association between reading and writing and point out to a potential new avenue to improve reading comprehension.