index by author
index by subject
| |
home index by author index by subject |
Thursday stream 6 Session 09.00 - 11.10 Length 50 minutes
Ian Smythe and John Everatt , Connie Ho , Eva Gyarmathy , Takako Amano , Masha Gueva
(1)University of Surrey, (2) Hong Kong University, (3) Institute for Psychology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, (4) University of Central Lancashire (5) ian.smythe@ukonline.co.uk
Abstract
This research will discuss the identification of dyslexia amongst individuals learning alphabetic or non-alphabetic scripts, and how an understanding of dyslexia-related issues across different script types may lead to a better understanding of the underlying factors leading to reading/writing difficulties. Dyslexia is usually viewed as a difficulty with the acquisition of reading and writing. This has been hypothesised as due to a deficit in the processes involved in converting the written word into a sound form; a process which has been found to be predictive of literacy skills amongst those learning an alphabetic script. However, the same may not be true of those learning a non-alphabetic script - ie, one where symbols do not represent individual sounds. Consistent with this view, previous research has argued that dyslexia is rare in Chinese and Japanese learners. The present studies investigate this view and presents findings which indicate that literacy difficulties do exist amongst individuals required to learn non-alphabetic scripts. The reported studies also question whether variations in the features presented by learners of different alphabetic scripts are simply due to the level of grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence found within a script. The findings of the reported studies will be discussed with reference to hypothesised predictors of literacy ability across languages and models of reading/writing.
 |
 |