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Orthographic Transparency Enhances Morphological Segmentation in Children Reading Hebrew Words
Laurice Haddad1, Yael Weiss2, Tami Katzir3
1Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Frontiers in Psychology
|February 7, 2018
Summary
Morphological segmentation aids reading in transparent Hebrew orthography, especially for younger children. It does not compensate for non-transparent scripts, contrary to common hypotheses.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Morphological processing of derived words is integral to reading acquisition.
- The influence of morphological segmentation on reading skills is modulated by language characteristics (morphological richness, orthographic transparency) and reader proficiency.
- A common hypothesis suggests morphological segmentation compensates for phonological processing deficits in non-transparent orthographies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between orthographic transparency and morphological segmentation in developing reading skills.
- To test the hypothesis that morphological segmentation is enhanced in non-transparent orthographies.
- To examine developmental differences in morphological processing in Hebrew-speaking children.
Main Methods:
- Hebrew-speaking 2nd and 5th graders (N=56) participated.
- Children read aloud 96 noun words: simple mono-morphemic and derived bi-morphemic words.
- Words were presented in two script versions: transparent (with diacritics) and non-transparent (without diacritics).
Main Results:
- Bi-morphemic words were read more accurately than mono-morphemic words in the transparent script for both age groups.
- In the non-transparent script, the opposite occurred: bi-morphemic words were read less accurately, particularly by 2nd graders.
- 2nd graders read mono-morphemic words faster than bi-morphemic words; correlations with morphological awareness were found only for 2nd graders with bi-morphemic words.
Conclusions:
- Morphological segmentation is most beneficial in transparent orthographies, not as a compensatory mechanism in non-transparent ones.
- Easily segmented morphemic units appear more advantageous for younger readers in morphologically rich languages.
- Morphological and phonological segmentation processes likely occur simultaneously, not as alternative pathways in visual word recognition.
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