The Effect of Length on Word Recognition (in Reading): The Case of Arabic // تأثير طول الكلمة على دقة القراءة: العربية كدراسة حالة

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Bethlehem University Journal

Volume 34

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The Effect of Length on Word Recognition (in Reading): The Case of Arabic // تأثير طول الكلمة على دقة القراءة: العربية كدراسة حالة

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research-article

Author(s): Deia Ganayim , Shireen Ganayim

Publication date (Print): 2017

Journal: Bethlehem University Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Arabic, Word length, Reading, Visual Processing, قراءة كلمات, العربية, معالجة بصرية, طول الكلمة

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Abstract

In this study, two experiments were conducted to assess the role of word length in visual word recognition. In Experiment 1 two lists of Arabic three and five letter words were used in a print word-reading task which measured accuracy and reading time. In Experiment 2, three, four and five letter words were displayed in the center of fixation on a screen in a naming task measuring accuracy and naming time. In reading, two contrasting processes have been suggested: the holistic process and the analytical process. According to the holistic process, the recognition of a word is determined by its global features and configuration. Consequently, reading consists of the simultaneous processing of all the letters of a word in parallel. In contrast, according to the analytical process, reading is a sequential screening of all the letters within a particular word. Length effect—that is, short words are recognized more rapidly and accurately than long words—is the signature of analytical processing of the non-lexical route due to its seriality which is caused by assembled phonology. The results of both experiments revealed that the average reading time of Arabic words from paper and screen was affected by word length, reflecting certain analytical processes and the activation of a non-lexical route, in which letters are processed sequentially.

هدف هذا البحث إلى فححن العلاقة المتبادلة ببن طول الكلمات والعوامل البصرية، مثل القهب العام للكلمة وأحرفها الخاصة وتأثيرها على القراءة في اللغة العربية. وتكونت عينة البحث من طلاب كلية لتأهيل المعلمين والذين يتمتعون بمستوى عي من المهارة في القراءة إذ يألفون الكلمات العربية وائمات على اختلاف أطوالها. تشد القراءة على نوعين متعاكسين من المعالجة البصرية: المعالجة البصرية المتوازية لشكل الكلمة العام وأحرفها بالإضافة إلى المعالجة البصرية التسلسلية المتراكمة لكل واحد ض أحرفها. ويعد تأثير طول الكلمة (ائمات القصيرة تقرأ بشكل أدق وأسرع من ائمات الطوية) دليلا على المعالجة التسلسلية المتراكمة لكل واحد ض أحرف الكلمة. اعتمد هذا البحث على تجربتين تم في التجربة الأولى منها قبإس دقة وزض قراءة قائمتي كلمات تضم ك3£ واحده منهما 20 كلمة وحسب زض قراءتها وفق طولها أي عدد أحرفها (3، 5 حرفا). أما في التجربة الثانية فقد قيست دقة قراءة كلمات أطوال مختلغة (3 أو 4 أو 5 أحرف) تم عرضها على شاشة الحاسوب في مركز الرؤية. أشارت ننائج هاتين التجربتين إلى أن معدل زض قراءة الكلمات عن ورقة وعن شاشة الحاسوب قد تأثر بطول الكلمة حتى عند القارئين الماهرين، إذ إئ معدل قراءة ائمات القصيرة (3 أحرف) كان أقل من معدل قراءة ائمات الطوية (5 أحرف) مما يعكس معالجة غير قائبية للأاحل ف في الكلمة بل معالجتها بشكل تسفسلي.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): bethunivj

Title: Bethlehem University Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 25213695

ISSN (Electronic): 24105449

Publication date (Print): 2017

Volume: 34

Pages: 129-142

Article

Publisher ID: bethunivj.34.2017.0129

DOI: 10.13169/bethunivj.34.2017.0129

SO-VID: b872a749-2552-471a-a80d-d7fdfafeb452

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Education,Religious studies & Theology,Social & Behavioral Sciences,History,Economics,Life sciences

Keywords: Reading,Visual Processing,Word length,قراءة كلمات,العربية,معالجة بصرية,طول الكلمة,Arabic

References

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Balota, D. A. (1994). Visual word recognition: The journey from features to meaning. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 303–358). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Belaid, A., & Choisy, C. (2006). Human Reading Based Strategies for off-line Arabic Word Recognition. In Doermann, D. & Jaeger, S. (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series: Vol. 4768. Arabic and Chinese Handwriting Recognition (36–56). New York, NY: Springer.
Berent, I., & J., Shimron, (1997). The representation of Hebrew words: Evidence from the obligatory contour principle. Cognition , 64, 39–72.
Bradshaw, J. L., Nettleton, N. C., & Taylor, M. J. (1981). The use of laterally presented words in research into cerebral asymmetry: Is directional scanning likely to be a source of artifact? Brain and Language , 14, 1–14.
Cattell, J. M. (1896). The time taken up by cerebral operations. Mind , 11, 377–392.
Coltheart, M. (2005). Modeling Reading: The dual-route approach. In M. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 6–23). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., & Ziegler, J. (2001). DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Psychological Review , 108(1), 204–256.
Ehri, L. (2005). Development of sight word reading: Phases and findings. In Snowling M., & Hulme C. (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 135–154). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Ehri, C. L., & Snowling, J. M. (2005). Developmental variations in word recognition. In C. A. Stone, R. E. Silliman, J. B. Ehren & K Apel (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders (pp. 433–460). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Eviatar, Z., & Zaidel, E. (1991). The effects of word length and emotionality on hemispheric contribution to lexical decision. Neuropsychologia , 29, 415–428.
Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In K. E. Patterson, J. C. Marashall & M. Coltheart (Eds.), Surface dyslexia (pp. 301–330). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gough, P. B. (1972). One second of reading. In J. F. Kavanagh, & I. G. Mattingly (Eds.), Language by ear and by eye Cambridge, MA: IT Press.
Iacoboni, M., & Zaidel, E. (1996). Hemispheric independence in word recognition: Evidence from unilateral and bilateral presentations. Brain and Language , 53, 121–140.
Jordan, T. R., Patching, G. R., & Milner, A. D. (2000). Lateralized word recognition: Assessing the role of hemispheric specialization, modes of lexical access and perceptual asymmetry. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance , 26, 1192–1208.
Joseph, H. S. S. L., Liversedge, S. P., Blythe, H. I., White, S. J., & Rayner, K. (2009). Word length and landing position effects during reading in children and adults. Vision Research , 49, 2078–2086.
LaBerge, D, & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information Processing in Reading. Cognitive Psychology , 6, 293–323.
Lavidor, M. (2011). Whole-word shape effect in dyslexia. Journal of Research in Reading , 34(4), 443–454.
Leybaert, J., & Content, A. (1995). Reading and spelling acquisition in two different teaching methods: A test of the independence hypothesis. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal , 7, 65–88.
Lindell, A. K., Nicholls, M. E. R., Kwantes, P. J. K., & Castles, A. (2005). Sequential processing in hemispheric word recognition: The impact of initial letter discriminability on the OUP naming effect. Brain & Language , 93, 160–172.
Montant, M., Nazir, T. A., & Poncet, M. (1998). Pure alexia and the viewing position effect in printed words. Cognitive Neuropsychology , 15, 93–140.
Nazir, T. A. (2000). Traces of print along the visual pathway. In A. Kennedy, R. Radach, D. Heller, & J. Pynte (Eds.), Reading as a perceptual process (pp. 3–23). Amsterdam: North-Holland: Elsevier.
New, B., Ferrand, L., Pallier, C., & Brysbaert, M. (2006). Re-examining word length effects in visual word recognition: New evidence from the English Lexicon Project. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review , 13, 45–52.
Plummer, P., & Rayner, K. (2012). Effects of parafoveal word length and orthographic features on initial fixation landing positions in reading. Attention Perception & Psychophysics , 74, 950–963.
Rayner, K., Foorman, B., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky, D., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2002). How should reading be taught? Scientific American , 286, 84–91.
Rayner, K., Slattery, T. J., Drieghe, D., & Liversedge, S. P. (2011). Eye movements and word skipping during reading: Effects of word length and predictability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance , 37, 514–528.
Reichle, E. D., Rayner, K., & Pollatsek, A. (2006). E–Z Reader: A cognitive-control, serial-attention model of eye-movement control during reading. Cognitive Systems Research , 7, 4–22.
Stuart, M., Masterson, J., Dixon, M., & Quinlan, P. (1999). Inferring sublexical correspondences from sight vocabulary: Evidence from 6- and 7-year-olds. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A , 52(2), 353–366.
Tanaka, J. W., & Gauthier, I. (1997). Expertise in object and face recognition. In Goldstone R.L., Schyns P.G., and Medin D.L., (Eds.), Mechanisms of Perceptual Learning: Vol. 36. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation (pp. 83–125). San Diego: Academic.
Vellutino, F. R., Fletcher, J. M., Snowling, M. J., & Scanlon, D. M. (2004). Specific reading disability (dyslexia): What have we learned in the past four decades? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 45(1), 2–40.
Whitney, C. (2001). How the brain encodes the order of letters in a printed word: The SERIOL model and selective literature review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 8(2), 221–243.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Aghababian, V., & Nazir, T.A. (2000). Developing normal reading skills: Aspects of the visual processes underlying word recognition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 76, 123–150.

[2] Balota, D. A. (1994). Visual word recognition: The journey from features to meaning. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 303–358). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

[3] Belaid, A., & Choisy, C. (2006). Human Reading Based Strategies for off-line Arabic Word Recognition. In Doermann, D. & Jaeger, S. (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series: Vol. 4768. Arabic and Chinese Handwriting Recognition (36–56). New York, NY: Springer.

[4] Berent, I., & J., Shimron, (1997). The representation of Hebrew words: Evidence from the obligatory contour principle. Cognition , 64, 39–72.

[5] Bradshaw, J. L., Nettleton, N. C., & Taylor, M. J. (1981). The use of laterally presented words in research into cerebral asymmetry: Is directional scanning likely to be a source of artifact? Brain and Language , 14, 1–14.

[6] Cattell, J. M. (1896). The time taken up by cerebral operations. Mind , 11, 377–392.

[7] Coltheart, M. (2005). Modeling Reading: The dual-route approach. In M. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 6–23). Oxford, England: Blackwell.

[8] Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., & Ziegler, J. (2001). DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Psychological Review , 108(1), 204–256.

[9] Ehri, L. (2005). Development of sight word reading: Phases and findings. In Snowling M., & Hulme C. (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 135–154). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

[10] Ehri, C. L., & Snowling, J. M. (2005). Developmental variations in word recognition. In C. A. Stone, R. E. Silliman, J. B. Ehren & K Apel (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders (pp. 433–460). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

[11] Eviatar, Z., & Zaidel, E. (1991). The effects of word length and emotionality on hemispheric contribution to lexical decision. Neuropsychologia , 29, 415–428.

[12] Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In K. E. Patterson, J. C. Marashall & M. Coltheart (Eds.), Surface dyslexia (pp. 301–330). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

[13] Gough, P. B. (1972). One second of reading. In J. F. Kavanagh, & I. G. Mattingly (Eds.), Language by ear and by eye Cambridge, MA: IT Press.

[14] Iacoboni, M., & Zaidel, E. (1996). Hemispheric independence in word recognition: Evidence from unilateral and bilateral presentations. Brain and Language , 53, 121–140.

[15] Jordan, T. R., Patching, G. R., & Milner, A. D. (2000). Lateralized word recognition: Assessing the role of hemispheric specialization, modes of lexical access and perceptual asymmetry. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance , 26, 1192–1208.

[16] Joseph, H. S. S. L., Liversedge, S. P., Blythe, H. I., White, S. J., & Rayner, K. (2009). Word length and landing position effects during reading in children and adults. Vision Research , 49, 2078–2086.

[17] LaBerge, D, & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information Processing in Reading. Cognitive Psychology , 6, 293–323.

[18] Lavidor, M. (2011). Whole-word shape effect in dyslexia. Journal of Research in Reading , 34(4), 443–454.

[19] Leybaert, J., & Content, A. (1995). Reading and spelling acquisition in two different teaching methods: A test of the independence hypothesis. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal , 7, 65–88.

[20] Lindell, A. K., Nicholls, M. E. R., Kwantes, P. J. K., & Castles, A. (2005). Sequential processing in hemispheric word recognition: The impact of initial letter discriminability on the OUP naming effect. Brain & Language , 93, 160–172.

[21] Montant, M., Nazir, T. A., & Poncet, M. (1998). Pure alexia and the viewing position effect in printed words. Cognitive Neuropsychology , 15, 93–140.

[22] Nazir, T. A. (2000). Traces of print along the visual pathway. In A. Kennedy, R. Radach, D. Heller, & J. Pynte (Eds.), Reading as a perceptual process (pp. 3–23). Amsterdam: North-Holland: Elsevier.

[23] New, B., Ferrand, L., Pallier, C., & Brysbaert, M. (2006). Re-examining word length effects in visual word recognition: New evidence from the English Lexicon Project. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review , 13, 45–52.

[24] Plummer, P., & Rayner, K. (2012). Effects of parafoveal word length and orthographic features on initial fixation landing positions in reading. Attention Perception & Psychophysics , 74, 950–963.

[25] Rayner, K., Foorman, B., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky, D., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2002). How should reading be taught? Scientific American , 286, 84–91.

[26] Rayner, K., Slattery, T. J., Drieghe, D., & Liversedge, S. P. (2011). Eye movements and word skipping during reading: Effects of word length and predictability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance , 37, 514–528.

[27] Reichle, E. D., Rayner, K., & Pollatsek, A. (2006). E–Z Reader: A cognitive-control, serial-attention model of eye-movement control during reading. Cognitive Systems Research , 7, 4–22.

[28] Stuart, M., Masterson, J., Dixon, M., & Quinlan, P. (1999). Inferring sublexical correspondences from sight vocabulary: Evidence from 6- and 7-year-olds. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A , 52(2), 353–366.

[29] Tanaka, J. W., & Gauthier, I. (1997). Expertise in object and face recognition. In Goldstone R.L., Schyns P.G., and Medin D.L., (Eds.), Mechanisms of Perceptual Learning: Vol. 36. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation (pp. 83–125). San Diego: Academic.

[30] Vellutino, F. R., Fletcher, J. M., Snowling, M. J., & Scanlon, D. M. (2004). Specific reading disability (dyslexia): What have we learned in the past four decades? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 45(1), 2–40.

[31] Whitney, C. (2001). How the brain encodes the order of letters in a printed word: The SERIOL model and selective literature review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 8(2), 221–243.