Early stage visual-orthographic processes predict long-term retention of word form and meaning: A visual encoding training study

Abstract

Adult learners of Chinese learned new characters through writing, visual chunking or reading-only. Following training, ERPs were recorded during character recognition tasks, first shortly after the training and then three months later. We hypothesized that the character training effects would be seen in ERP components associated with word recognition and episodic memory. Results confirmed a larger N170 for visual chunking training than other training and a larger P600 for learned characters than novel characters. Another result was a training effect on the amplitude of the P100, which was greater following writing training than other training, suggesting that writing training temporarily lead to increased visual attention to the orthographic forms. Furthermore, P100 amplitude at the first post-test was positively correlated with character recall 3 months later. Thus the marker of early visual attention (P100) was predictive of retention of orthographic knowledge acquired in training.

Writing quality predicts Chinese learning

“…Although a more specific explanation requires further research, the current study shows that handwriting (a) increases the quality of the orthographic form and (b) selectively strengthens the connection from orthography to meaning (but not from orthography to phonology) for the population of adult Chinese learners. These findings are supported by a recent fMRI study (Cao et al, 2013a), in which left temporal lobe areas associated with meaning processing, as well as visual-spatial and motor areas, were activated during character reading for characters that had been learned with writing. Together, the studies suggest that meaning-focused learners can use their knowledge of Chinese orthography to complete the orthography-semantics association link.…”

“…The current study along with Guan et al (2011) andCao et al (2013a) extends the writing effects from native Chinese children , native Chinese adults (Flores d'Arcais, 1994;Parkinson et al, 2010), alphabetic readers (Longcamp et al, 2005(Longcamp et al, , 2008 to adult Chinese L2 learners, who must attend to the visual features of the character in association with meaning and pronunciation as the learn characters. Cao et al (2013a) found that the early stage visual processing supports the acquisition of a visual representation that can support meaning and pronunciation connections in long-term memory.…”

“…Cao et al (2013a) found that the early stage visual processing supports the acquisition of a visual representation that can support meaning and pronunciation connections in long-term memory. Our results add the possibility that a high quality orthographic representation is needed to support lexical identity in Chinese and in reading more generally.…”

“…For this group of Chinese L2 learners, when spoken language is not emphasized in instruction, their orthographic-semantic connections are functional well before their orthographic-phonological connections (Liu, Wang, & Perfetti, 2007), and their visual-orthographic path becomes crucial in learning of a logographic Chinese (Cao et al, 2013a). A high quality orthographic representation is critical for either pathway and writing appears to be helpful in acquiring this representation.…”

“…Furthermore, as to how many days is necessary, a recent fMRI study on the similar population (Cao et al, 2013a) suggested handwriting training produced a progressive gain on character form recognition from 60 to almost 90 %, and revealed that writing affects the brain network of reading and that character writing established higher quality representation of the visual-spatial structure of the character and its orthography. But neither 1-day training study (Guan et al, 2011) nor an fMRI study (Cao et al, 2013a) can explore the association between writing quality and reading. Therefore, in this current study, it is necessary to design a fiveday's training to test the association between reading and writing in non-native Chinese learning Chinese.…”