Linking the shapes of alphabet letters to their sounds: the case of Hebrew.

Reading and Writing
Rebecca TreimanBrett Kessler

Abstract

Learning the sounds of letters is an important part of learning a writing system. Most previous studies of this process have examined English, focusing on variations in the phonetic iconicity of letter names as a reason why some letter sounds (such as that of b, where the sound is at the beginning of the letter's name) are easier to learn than others (such as that of w, where the sound is not in the name). The present study examined Hebrew, where variations in the phonetic iconicity of letter names are minimal. In a study of 391 Israeli children with a mean age of 5 years, 10 months, we used multilevel models to examine the factors that are associated with knowledge of letter sounds. One set of factors involved letter names: Children sometimes attributed to a letter a consonant-vowel sound consisting of the first phonemes of the letter's name. A second set of factors involved contrast: Children had difficulty when there was relatively little contrast in shape between one letter and others. Frequency was also important, encompassing both child-specific effects, such as a benefit for the first letter of a child's forename, and effects that held true across children, such as a benefit for the first letters of the alphabet. These f...Continue Reading

References

Sep 8, 1998·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·R Treiman, V Broderick
Jan 23, 1999·Child Development·R TreimanD J Francis
Oct 27, 2005·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Iris LevinOrnit Asif-Rave
Nov 3, 2005·Psychological Science·Mary Ann Evans, Jean Saint-Aubin
Oct 19, 2006·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Rebecca TreimanBrett Kessler
Aug 19, 2007·Cognition·Rebecca TreimanRichard Boada
Jan 11, 2008·Behavior Research Methods·Lawrence LockerJames A Bovaird
Aug 5, 2008·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Michelle R EllefsonBrett Kessler
Jan 26, 2010·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Shayne B Piasta, Richard K Wagner
Jan 1, 2009·Applied Psycholinguistics·Sarah Robins, Rebecca Treiman
Sep 6, 2011·Written Language and Literacy·Rebecca Treiman, Brett Kessler

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Citations

Oct 12, 2012·Behavior Research Methods·Ian C SimpsonSylvia Defior
Jul 17, 2012·Journal of Learning Disabilities·Brett KesslerCláudia Cardoso-Martins
Feb 23, 2020·Behavior Research Methods·Sami BoudelaaManuel Carreiras

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