ERIC Number: EJ983209
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Dec
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
EISSN: N/A
Shallow and Deep Orthographies in Hebrew: The Role of Vowelization in Reading Development for Unvowelized Scripts
Schiff, Rachel
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v41 n6 p409-424 Dec 2012
The present study explored the speed, accuracy, and reading comprehension of vowelized versus unvowelized scripts among 126 native Hebrew speaking children in second, fourth, and sixth grades. Findings indicated that second graders read and comprehended vowelized scripts significantly more accurately and more quickly than unvowelized scripts, whereas among fourth and sixth graders reading of unvowelized scripts developed to a greater degree than the reading of vowelized scripts. An analysis of the mediation effect for children's mastery of vowelized reading speed and accuracy on their mastery of unvowelized reading speed and comprehension revealed that in second grade, reading accuracy of vowelized words mediated the reading speed and comprehension of unvowelized scripts. In the fourth grade, accuracy in reading both vowelized and unvowelized words mediated the reading speed and comprehension of unvowelized scripts. By sixth grade, accuracy in reading vowelized words offered no mediating effect, either on reading speed or comprehension of unvowelized scripts. The current outcomes thus suggest that young Hebrew readers undergo a scaffolding process, where vowelization serves as the foundation for building initial reading abilities and is essential for successful and meaningful decoding of unvowelized scripts.
Descriptors: Semitic Languages, Reading Comprehension, Scripts, Grade 2, Grade 4, Grade 6, Reading Rate, Reading Ability, Role, Vowels, Decoding (Reading), Reading Processes, Psycholinguistics, Elementary School Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 2; Grade 4; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A