Reading acquisition reorganizes the phonological awareness network only in alphabetic writing systems

Abstract

It is unknown how experience with different types of orthographies influences the neural basis of oral language processing. In order to determine the effects of alphabetic and nonalphabetic writing systems, the current study examined the influence of learning to read on oral language in English and Chinese speakers. Children (8–12 years olds) and adults made rhyming judgments to pairs of spoken words during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Developmental increases were seen only for English speakers in the left hemisphere phonological network (superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior parietal lobule, and inferior frontal gyrus). The increase in the STG was more pronounced for words with conflicting orthography (e.g. pint-mint; jazz-has) even though access to orthography was irrelevant to the task. Moreover, higher reading skill was correlated with greater activation in the STG only for English speaking children. The effects suggest that learning to read reorganizes the phonological awareness network only for alphabetic and not logographic writing systems because of differences in the principles for mapping between orthographic and phonological representations. The reorganization of the auditory cortex may result in better phonological awareness skills in alphabetic readers.

Literacy effects on language and vision: Emergent effects from an amodal shared resource (ASR) computational model

“…There is already substantial empirical evidence within the literature to support such a position with Chinese literates who have not been exposed to an alphabetic writing system displaying reduced levels of phonological awareness (Cheung et al, 2001;Ho & Bryant, 1997;Huang & Hanley, 1995McBride-Chang et al, 2004;Read et al, 1986;Shu et al, 2008). Further, recent evidence from neuroimaging studies support the critical role of orthographic transparency in modulating effects of literacy on speech processing, with less involvement of associated orthographic processing regions observed in logographic literates compared to alphabetic literates when processing speech (Cao et al, 2011) and greater developmental changes in phonological processing regions as a consequence of literacy training in English over Chinese students (Brennan et al, 2013).…”

“…phonemes) it has been proposed that explicit training is necessary. Evidence in support of this position comes from observed similarities in processing between illiterates and logographic literates, for example Chinese literates, where there is little systematic correspondence between orthographic representations and the sequence of speech sounds that constitute their spoken form (Brennan, Cao, Pedroarena-Leal, McNorgan, & Booth, 2013;Cao et al, 2011;Cheung, Chen, Lai, Wong, & Hills, 2001;Ho & Bryant, 1997;Huang & Hanley, 1995McBride-Chang, Bialystok, Chong, & Li, 2004;Read, Yun-Fei, Hong-Yin, & Bao-Qing, 1986;Shu, Peng, & McBride-Chang, 2008). …”

Computer-assisted training of phoneme–grapheme correspondence for children who are deaf and hard of hearing: Effects on phonological processing skills

“…The Swedish orthography is usually described as semi transparent with about 40-42 phonemes (P. Helgason, personal communication April 5, 2013) served by 29 letters and approximately 50 graphemes [20,21]. Thus, transparent mapping between orthographic and phonological representations would favor the support of PhPS in Swedish DHH children [22].…”

“…Finally, the Swedish version of Graphogame delivers training for beginning readers. It emphasizes almost exclusively the transparent relationships between spoken and written language sometimes labeled phonemic orthography [20,22]. This means that the opaque levels of the Swedish orthography are not exposed to the child at this stage (with the exception of three bi-graphs: "ng" [ŋ], "sj" [ʃ] and tj [ç], which are the earliest to be introduced for beginning readers in Swedish and therefore included in the Swedish version).…”

The Phonics Approach in Swedish Children using Cochlear Implants or Hearing Aids: Inspecting Phonological Gain

“…Lyytinen and colleagues (2007) propose that in a highly consistent orthography where each letter represents its own phoneme, learning to store and retrieve names of concrete visual objects from memory plays a role in both development of phonemic awareness and reading acquisition. The Swedish version of the intervention program emphasizes almost exclusively the transparent relationships between spoken and written language, sometimes labelled phonemic orthography [38]. The measures that are used in the present study are excerpted from a comprehensive cognitive testbattery [25].…”