Word Morphology And Written Language Acquisition Insights From Typical And Atypical Development In Different Orthographies

This Research Topic explores the processing of morphemes, the smallest units of language that bear meaning and that combine to form more complex words. The articles gathered under this Research Topic investigate typical and atypical morphological processing by children and adolescents in ten different languages. These articles provide cross-linguistic and cross-script evidence of the early sensitivity of children to the morphemic structure of words, irrespective of whether they are struggling readers or typically developing. All in all, the collection allows for a better understanding of how morphological processing skills develop, providing valuable clues as to how this competence can be used as a tool to improve literacy acquisition in struggling readers.

This book presents diverse, original research studies on typical and atypical child language acquisition in monolingual, bilingual and bi-dialectal settings, with a focus on development, assessment and research methodology. Languages investigated in the studies include underrepresented languages, such as Farsi, Greek, Icelandic, isiXhosa, Maltese, Mandarin and Slovene, without excluding representative work in major languages like English and Spanish. The language areas of focus are phonology, lexicon, morphology and syntax and the book incorporates studies in under-researched language impairment, such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome and language impairment in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. The book has practical significance in that it proposes tools and assessment practices that are of universal crosslinguistic relevance while also dealing with language-specific complications. The studies presented enhance existing knowledge and stimulate answers on what the acquisition of disparate languages in different contexts can teach us about language/communication development in the presence or absence of disorder.

One key measure of a country’s status in the world is the literacy of its people; at the same time, global migration has led to increased interest in bilingualism and foreign language learning as topics of research. Literacy Development and Enhancement Across Orthographies and Cultures reviews international studies of the role of literacy in child development, particularly how children learn their first written language and acquire a second written and spoken one. Comparisons and contrasts are analyzed across eight countries and 11 languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hebrew, Dutch, and Catalan. Using qualitative and quantitative, established and experimental methods, contributors trace toddlers’ development of print awareness, clear up common myths regarding parental involvement and non-involvement in their children’s literacy, and suggest how the spelling of words can aid in the gaining of vocabulary. For added relevance to educators, the book includes chapters on early intervention for reading problems and the impact of pedagogical science on teaching literacy. Highlights of the coverage: Letter name knowledge in early spelling development Early informal literacy experiences Environmental factors promoting literacy at home Reading books to young children: what it does—and doesn’t do The role of orthography in literacy acquisition among monolingual and bilingual children Gaining literacy in a foreign language Instructional influences on literacy growth Literacy Development and Enhancement Across Orthographies and Cultures adds significant depth and interest to the knowledge base and should inspire contributions from additional languages and orthographies. It belongs in the libraries of researchers and educators involved in cognitive psychology, language education, early childhood education and linguistics.

This distinctive cross-linguistic examination of spelling examines the cognitive processes that underlie spelling and the process of learning how to spell. The chapters report and summarize recent research in English, German, Hebrew, and French. Framing the specific research on spelling are chapters that place spelling in braod theoretical perspectives provided by cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistic, and writing system-linguistic frameworks. Of special interest is the focus on two major interrelated issues: how spelling is acquired and the relationship between reading and spelling. An important dimension of the book is the interweaving of these basic questions about the nature of spelling with practical questions about how children learn to spell in classrooms. A motivating factor in this work was to demonstrate that spelling research has become a central challenging topic in the study of cognitive processes, rather than an isolated skill learned in school. It thus brings together schooling and learning issues with modern cognitive research in a unique way. testing, children writing strings of letters as a teacher pronounces words ever so clearly. In parts of the United States it can also bring an image of specialized wizardry and school room competition, the "spelling bee." And for countless adults who confess with self-deprecation to being "terrible spellers," it is a reminder of a mysterious but minor affliction that the fates have visited on them. Beneath these popular images, spelling is a human literacy ability that reflects language and nonlanguage cognitive processes. This collection of papers presents a sample of contemporary research across different languages that addresses this ability. To understand spelling as an interesting scientific problem, there are several important perspectives. First, spelling is the use of conventionalized writing systems that encode languages. A second asks how children learn to spell. Finally, from a literacy point of view, another asks the extent to which spelling and reading are related. In collecting some of the interesting research on spelling, the editors have adopted each of these perspectives. Many of the papers themselves reflect more than one perspective, and the reader will find important observations about orthographies, the relationship between spelling and reading, and issues of learning and teaching throughout the collection.

Originally published in 1992. This book brings together the work of a number of distinguished international researchers engaged in basic research on beginning reading. Individual chapters address various processes and problems in learning to read - including how acquisition gets underway, the contribution of story listening experiences, what is involved in learning to read words, and how readers represent information about written words in memory. In addition, the chapter contributors consider how phonological, onset-rime, and syntactic awareness contribute to reading acquisition, how learning to spell is involved, how reading ability can be explained as a combination of decoding skill plus listening comprehension skill, and what causes reading difficulties and how to study these causes.

Most studies on reading have been conducted with English-speaking subjects. It is crucial to also examine studies conducted in different languages, in order to highlight which aspects of reading acquisition and dyslexia appear to be language-specific, and which are universal. Reading Acquisition and Developmental Dyslexia sheds new light on dyslexia and its relationship with reading acquisition, presenting two unique advancements in this area. Looking at studies conducted in different languages, the prerequisites of reading acquisition are examined, and the findings from studies of skilled adult readers are presented. The manifestations of developmental dyslexia and the main contemporary explanations for it are outlined, providing an in-depth, well researched discussion of the topic. The authors conclude by offering a new framework which could explain both reading acquisition and developmental dyslexia. A fascinating book offering a unique insight into the topic of dyslexia, it will be of great interest to students and lecturers in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and psycholinguistics, as well as those with a more everyday involvement with the disorder such as speech and language therapists.

Writing allows people to convey information to others who are remote in time and space, vastly increasing the range over which people can cooperate and the amount they can learn. Mastering the writing system of one's language is crucial for success in a modern society. This book examines how children learn to write words. It provides a theoretical framework that integrates findings from a wide range of age groups--from children who are producing their first scribbles to experienced spellers who are writing complex words. To set the stage for these discussions, early chapters of the book consider the nature of writing systems and the nature of learning itself. The following chapters review various aspects of orthographic development, including the learning of symbol shapes and punctuation. Each chapter reviews research with learners of a variety of languages and writing systems, revealing underlying similarities. Discussions of how orthography is and should be taught are incorporated into each chapter, making the book of interest to educators as well as to psychologists, cognitive scientists, and linguists. This book is unique in the range of topics and languages that it covers and the degree to which it integrates linguistic insights about the nature of writing systems with discussions of how people learn to use these systems. It is written in a scholarly yet accessible manner, making it suited for a wide audience.