The Foundations of Literacy

Learning to read and write in English requires children to master the alphabetic principle, the idea that the letters in printed words represent the sounds in spoken words in a more or less regular manner. Children need at least two skills in order to grasp the alphabetic principle. The first is phonological awareness, or a sensitivity to the sound structure of spoken words. The second is knowledge about letters, including knowledge of letter names and knowledge of letter sounds. Recent research sheds light on these foundational skills, documenting the linguistic factors that affect children's performance and how children put their phonological skills and knowledge of letters to use in learning to read and spell.     

图式教学对阅读理解能力、推理能力与自我效能感的影响

本研究采用自然实验法对吉林省松原市逸夫实验小学160名四、五年级的学生进行了对比实验研究,探讨图式教学对阅读理解能力、推理能力和自我效能感的影响。结果表明:(1)四、五年级实验班学生的阅读理解能力普遍提高,五年级明显。(2)仅五年级实验班学生的推理能力有了显著提高,相对而言,图式教学对五年级学生推理能力的影响要优于四年级。(3)四、五年级实验班学生的自我效能感均明显增强。这说明图式教学比常规教学更能有效地提高学生的阅读理解能力和自我效能感。     

Phonology in the Lexical Processing of Chinese: Priming Tone Neighbors

Using both visual-visual and auditory-visual priming lexical decision tasks, this study investigated phonological processing in reading logographic Chinese. Compound words sharing segmental templates but differing in lexical tones were used as primes and targets while their relative frequency was manipulated. It was found that tone neighbours did not prime each other significantly and the SOA of 100 msec in visual-visual priming. When the SOA was increased to 357 msec, or when primes were presented auditorily, the processing of target words was significantly delayed by their tone neighbours. Larger inhibitory effects were observed for low frequency targets with high frequency primes. It was argued that although phonological information is automatically activated and this activation affects access to semantics in reading Chinese,phonological mediation is not the only or the main ~urce of constraints on semantic activation.     

关于读经的反思

近年来关于读经的讨论尤其是少儿读经的讨论在媒体上进行得非常热烈。事实上,近几年来各地中小学生读经的消息越来越多地见诸报端,尽管社会反响一直是褒贬不一,但此种社会现象的出现颇为耐人寻味且意义深远。本文从经典的内涵、经典的存在根据与意义、读经热的原因及如何读经诸多方面进行了比较全面的反思。     

社会规约性及呈现方式对理解会话中的间接回应的影响

间接回应是语言交流中很常见的形式。该研究采用自定步速阅读范式考察社会规约性及呈现方式对理解间接回应的影响。将社会规约性分为高、中、低三个水平,分别对应直接回应、间接拒绝、间接评价三种回应方式,呈现方式采用整句呈现和逐词呈现两种方式。结果发现,在整句呈现时,三种回应方式的阅读时间随规约性高低呈梯度变化,即直接回应的阅读时间最短,间接拒绝次之,间接评价最长; 而逐词呈现时,对间接拒绝和直接回应的阅读时间没有差异,都长于对间接评价的阅读时间。结果表明了社会规约性及呈现方式对间接回应的理解存在交互影响。     

词汇预测性对中文高、低阅读技能儿童眼动行为的影响

操纵目标词的预测性、词频和阅读技能水平,考察句子阅读中词汇预测性对高、低阅读技能儿童眼动行为的影响,揭示其在儿童阅读发展中的作用。结果显示：儿童对高预测词的跳读率更高、注视时间更短,且预测性与词频交互影响跳读率和注视时间;预测性对高阅读技能儿童早期的跳读率影响更大,而对低阅读技能儿童晚期的再阅读时间具有更大影响。结果表明：词汇预测性影响儿童阅读的眼动行为和词汇加工,且作用大小和发生时程受阅读技能调节。     

词长对中文阅读眼跳目标选择的影响：眼动证据

英文阅读研究发现词长对眼跳目标选择有重要影响,阅读等词长的句子时,长词的偏好眼跳长度比短词更长。但是中文文本没有词间空格,读者难以从副中央凹获取词长信息,所以基于英文阅读得出的结果是否适用于中文阅读尚不清楚。本研究采用等词长句子阅读范式,使用全部由单字词或双字词组成的句子或由各种词长的词汇组成的混合句作为实验材料,考察词长对中文阅读眼跳目标选择的影响。结果发现,中文阅读中的眼跳长度会随词长变化而变化,双字词句的眼跳入长度和眼跳出长度均显著长于单字词句,支持了基于词中心的眼跳长度假设;同时,实验也发现混合句中的双字词的眼跳长度和双字词句中双字词的眼跳长度没有显著差异,支持了基于加工情况的眼跳目标选择策略;综合二者,说明中文阅读中,读者眼跳目标选择可能建立在副中央凹对词长信息加工的基础之上。     

跳读是基于副中央凹词的部分加工还是完全加工？

为探讨词跳读是基于副中央凹词的部分加工还是完全加工,实验选用高预测词作为副中央凹目标词,通过边界范式来操纵目标词的预视：高预测预视（一致预视）、低预测预视、与目标词正字法相似的假字预视、与目标词正字法不相似的假字预视。对目标词的分析发现：（1）正字法相似的假字预视下对目标词的跳读率显著大于正字法不相似的假字预视;（2）高预测预视与低预测预视下对目标词的跳读没有显著差异,但前者总注视时间比后者短。实验结果说明,从副中央凹词提取的正字法预视信息足够使中文读者做出跳读的决定,研究结果在一定程度上支持跳读基于副中央凹词部分加工的观点。     

Developmental changes in neural letter‐selectivity: A 1‐year follow‐up of beginning readers

The developmental course of neural tuning to visual letter strings is unclear. Here we tested 39 children longitudinally, at the beginning of grade 1 (6.45 ± 0.33 years old) and 1 year after, with fast periodic visual stimulation in electroencephalography to assess the evolution of selective neural responses to letter strings and their relationship with emerging reading abilities. At both grades, frequency‐tagged letter strings were discriminated from pseudofont strings (i.e. letter‐selectivity) over the left occipito‐temporal cortex, with effects observed at the individual level in 62% of children. However, visual words were not discriminated from pseudowords (lexical access) at either grade. Following 1 year of schooling, letter‐selective responses showed a specific increase in amplitude, a more complex pattern of harmonics, and were located more anteriorly over the left occipito‐temporal cortex. Remarkably, at both grades, neural responses were highly significant at the individual level and correlated with individual reading scores. The amplitude increase in letter‐selective responses between grades was not found for discrimination responses of familiar keyboard symbols from pseudosymbols, and was not related to a general increase in visual stimulation responses. These findings demonstrate a rapid onset of left hemispheric letter selectivity, with 1 year of reading instruction resulting in increased emerging reading abilities and a clear quantitative and qualitative evolution within left hemispheric neural circuits for reading.