The aim of the present study was to use functional imaging to compare cortical activations involved in reading Hindi and English that differ markedly in terms of their orthographies by a group of late bilinguals, more fluent in Hindi (L1) than English (L2). English is alphabetic and linear, in that vowels and consonants are arranged sequentially.…

Previous research on second language (L2) vocabulary learning has examined the relationship between word properties and learnability (e.g. Ellis and Beaton 1993). Few studies, however, have examined patterns in partial word form learning as a method of assessing learnability and improving our understanding of allocation of processing resources…

This study examines how Japanese students perceive the qualities of written arguments that were constructed to have different forms. Based on the theoretical dimensions of verbal communication styles that Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey (1988) proposed, the research questions asked whether the respondents would perceive direct arguments to be of higher…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine several key questions related to the neuropsychological contributors to early written language. First, can we develop an empirical measurement model that encompasses many of the neuropsychological components that have been deemed as important to the development of written language? Second, once…

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale research project which investigated the levels of awareness and knowledge of written standard English of 10 and 11-year-old children in two English primary schools. The project involved repeating in 2010 a written questionnaire previously used with children in the same schools in three separate…

The Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California surveys 2,000 households each year to find out how online technology affects Internet users. Findings in the latest report show social networks are increasing and a majority of users report feeling as strongly about their communities online as their real-world communities.…

Reading with an adult plays an important role in developing children's oral language skills, phonological awareness and print knowledge. Parental reading aloud is also an indicator of children's later academic success, which suggests that the practice may be further linked to children's development of broader academic skills and behaviour, such as…

It has been argued that languaging plays a crucial role in learning a second language (L2). The effects of languaging, especially oral languaging (e.g., collaborative dialogue, private speech), have been tested on the learning of L2 knowledge domains. This study explored the effects of written languaging by asking 24 Japanese learners of English…

In this article, the authors analyze the evolution of parent advocate education standards that illustrate what parents need to know and do to effectively support their children's learning in 6th-12th grade. Focus groups conducted with parent participants revealed that parents were often unaware of the distinction between helping their child…

Introduction: The study reported here evaluated whether there was a difference in students' outcomes for braille fluency when instruction was provided with traditional braille media or refreshable braille. Students' and teachers' perceptions of the efficacy of the use of the different instructional media were analyzed. Methods: Nine students from…

This article investigates the status of orality in the history of technical communication. The article calls for orality as an integral part and driving force of technical writing. The article brings to light the misconceptions that have led to a diminished role of oral communication in technical writing. The article shows the implications of oral…

Using fMRI, we explored the relationship between phonological awareness (PA), a measure of metaphonological knowledge of the segmental structure of speech, and brain activation patterns during processing of print and speech in young readers from 6 to 10 years of age. Behavioral measures of PA were positively correlated with activation levels for…

The present study aimed to investigate the contribution of oral language skills, linguistic skills, and transcription skills to Chinese written composition among Grade 4 students in Hong Kong. Measures assessing verbal working memory, oral language skills, linguistic skills (i.e., syntactic skills and discourse skills), transcription skills (i.e.,…

The focus of this dissertation considers a text-linguistic approach to Hebrew syntax as a viable and practical approach to the study of grammar and syntax. To achieve this goal it is necessary first to define and compare a text-linguistic model to that of the approach expressed by traditional Hebrew syntax. The second task applies a…

Languages are known to exhibit universal restrictions on sound structure. The source of such restrictions, however, is contentious: Do they reflect abstract phonological knowledge, or properties of linguistic experience and auditory perception? We address this question by investigating the restrictions on onset structure. Across languages, onsets…