French children program the words they write syllable by syllable. We examined whether the syllable the children use to segment words is determined phonologically (i.e., is derived from speech production processes) or orthographically. Third, 4th and 5th graders wrote on a digitiser words that were mono-syllables phonologically (e.g.…

Two experiments investigated the role of subsyllabic components (groups of letters forming a single phoneme) for visual recognition of words in a perceptual identification task. Found that identification times were longer for words with fewer phonemes that for words with more phonemes. Findings suggest that subsyllabic components play a crucial…

The influence of orthography on children's on-line auditory word recognition was studied from the end of Grade 2 to the end of Grade 4, by examining the orthographic consistency effect [Ziegler, J. C., & Ferrand, L. (1998). Orthography shapes the perception of speech: The consistency effect in auditory recognition. "Psychonomic Bulletin & Review",…

Examined reading and phonological processing abilities in English and German dyslexic children, each compared with two control groups matched for reading level and age. Hypothesized that same underlying phonological processing deficit would exist in both language groups but that there would be differences in severity of written language…

Assessed Caramazza and Miceli's graphemic buffer organization theory by comparing the performance of two patients with graphemic buffer disorder. Noted effects of orthographic structure, deletions, insertions, and transposition. Found that neuropsychological evidence does not at present support the concept of the orthographic syllable. (MOK)

Twenty-four deaf and 24 hearing children were asked to locate three target letters (c,g, and h) in prose. Target letters were either phonemically modal (pronounced, as g in badge) or nonmodal (silent, as g in rough). Hearing children, as expected, detected significantly more modal than nonmodal forms, while deaf children detected the same number…

Elaborates the view that phonological recoding, or print-to-sound translation, is a self-teaching mechanism enabling learners to acquire the orthographic representations necessary for visual word recognition. Discusses developmental properties of phonological recoding, reviews evidence on the importance of cognitive abilities underlying the…

Two studies investigated whether knowledge of specific letter-sound correspondences is a necessary precursor of children's ability to isolate phonemes in speech. In both studies, Czech and English children reliably isolated phonemes for which they did not know the corresponding letter. These data refute the idea that phoneme manipulation ability…

Jorm's proposal (EJ 205 636) that developmental dyslexics resemble brain-damaged deep dyslexics is not grounded on firm evidence. Holmes' likening of developmental dyslexia to acquired surface dyslexia at least demonstrates clear similarity between the errors made by the two groups. (Author/CP)

Jorm did not, as Ellis (TM 504 892) implies, propose that developmental and acquired phonemic-deep dyslexia are functionally equivalent. Rather, Jorm identified functional similarities. Most of Ellis' criticisms are irrelevant because they are directed at this equivalency. (Author/CP)

Groups of seven- to nine-year olds learning to read in English and German were given three types of reading tasks. Whereas reading time and error rates in numeral and number word reading were very similar across the two orthographies, the German children showed a big advantage in reading the nonsense words, suggesting adoption of different…