Letter visual similarity of Japanese hiragana and katakana based on reaction times

AbstractLetter similarity (i.e., perceptual distance) is a critical measure to better understand letter perception and literacy development. Despite its importance, however, measurements of letter similarity for non-alphabetic scripts are limited, and the shortage of letter similarity for non-alphabetic script interferes with the identification of the universality and the uniqueness of letter perception systems across different scripts. In the present study, we provide a comprehensive matrix of letter similarity for Japanese kana letters (hiragana and katakana). We obtained the discrimination reaction times for simultaneously presented letter pairs and calculated the perceptual distance of 4,278 letter pairs by inversing the time. The matrix showed significant correlations with previously obtained letter similarity for hiragana and katakana. An additional experiment showed that letter pairs for the same sounds (え–エ) produced significantly slower responses compared with those for different sounds (え–コ). However, the differences in reaction times between the same and different sound conditions were smaller than the sequentially presented conditions, suggesting that the matrix was partially attributable to knowledge-based factors (e.g., letter-sound knowledge). This first comprehensive matrix of letter similarity (i.e., perceptual distance) for Japanese kana letters (hiragana and katakana) will be useful for researchers interested in letter perception and literacy development.

Bilingualism, Deafness, and Literacy

Deaf students commonly leave high school with no higher than a fourth-grade reading level. This commonality may prompt certain assumptions regarding deaf children's strengths and weaknesses, particularly relating to reading development as well as broader academic and professional endeavors. The following review examines reading development among deaf, native sign language users as a bilingual process. Specifically, four common assumptions surrounding deaf learners' potential for ASL-English bilingual development are addressed including those relating to phonological accessibility, English-based signed system efficacy, ASL-English transference of language proficiency, and strategies for emergent literacy development in young, deaf learners. Finally, suggestions for future research endeavors are posed by the author.

Writing With Emergent Bilingual Students

The aim of this chapter is to provide teachers with an understanding of who emergent bilingual students are and how they can adapt their practices in order to use students' home language as a resource rather than as a deficit. The chapter will share findings from a study conducted with emergent bilingual students in a kindergarten writing workshop. It will also focus on how teachers can adopt an additive approach to language that expands children's linguistic, social, and cultural resources while supporting learning a new language as well and literacy development.

Literacy Development, Higher Education, and the Achievement Gap

This chapter will explore the challenges of students entering college who have gaps in their literacy development. Historical events within education that have led to some of these skills set gaps will be reviewed. Additionally, causes and current remedies to help students as they try to navigate higher education while needing additional support with their literacy skills will be discussed. Finally, the issue of how colleges are forced to react to students who do not have the skills to compete with the expected academic rigor and steps needed to help both high school educators and professors remedy these instructional challenges will be reviewed.

Literacy Development in L1 in Bilingual Education

This chapter explores literacy development in the mother tongue (L1) in bilingual education programs. To explore the impact of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on literacy development in L1, a large-scale study was conducted in a monolingual autonomous community (Castilla-La Mancha) located in central Spain. Scores obtained by CLIL and non-CLIL (n=4,231) learners aged 9-10 in a writing task and in a reading comprehension test were compared. Results showed CLIL was not detrimental for literacy development in L1, since no significant differences were detected between both groups in their overall proficiency in written production and reading comprehension. However, a differential achievement was observed depending on the type of instruction CLIL/non-CLIL in some areas. Significant differences were observed in favour of CLIL students in receptive vocabulary, expressive richness and spelling, whereas the non-CLIL group was ahead in critical reading, planning strategies, and use of text typologies.