Data_Sheet_2_Effects of orthographic transparency on rhyme judgement.docx

This study investigated the influence of multiliteracy in opaque orthographies on phonological awareness. Using a visual rhyme judgement task in English, we assessed phonological processing in three multilingual and multiliterate populations who were distinguished by the transparency of the orthographies they can read in (N = 135; ages 18–40). The first group consisted of 45 multilinguals literate in English and a transparent Latin orthography like Malay; the second group consisted of 45 multilinguals literate in English and transparent orthographies like Malay and Arabic; and the third group consisted of 45 multilinguals literate in English, transparent orthographies, and Mandarin Chinese, an opaque orthography. Results showed that all groups had poorer performance in the two opaque conditions: rhyming pairs with different orthographic endings and non-rhyming pairs with similar orthographic endings, with the latter posing the greatest difficulty. Subjects whose languages consisted of half or more opaque orthographies performed significantly better than subjects who knew more transparent orthographies than opaque orthographies. The findings are consistent with past studies that used the visual rhyme judgement paradigm and suggest that literacy experience acquired over time relating to orthographic transparency may influence performance on phonological awareness tasks.

本研究探讨了不透明正字法（opaque orthography）背景下的多元读写能力对语音意识（phonological awareness）的影响。本研究采用英语视觉押韵判断任务，对三类兼具多语言能力与多元读写能力的人群开展语音加工（phonological processing）能力评估，分组依据为其可掌握阅读的正字法（orthography）透明度（总样本量N=135，年龄区间18-40岁）。第一组共45名多语言使用者，掌握英语以及马来语这类透明拉丁语系正字法的读写能力；第二组共45名多语言使用者，掌握英语以及马来语、阿拉伯语这类透明正字法的读写能力；第三组共45名多语言使用者，掌握英语、各类透明正字法以及作为不透明正字法的普通话的读写能力。结果显示，所有组别在两类不透明条件下的表现均较差：一是押韵但词尾拼写不同的词对，二是非押韵但词尾拼写相似的词对，其中后者带来的挑战最大。掌握至少半数不透明正字法的被试，其表现显著优于掌握透明正字法多于不透明正字法的被试。本研究结果与既往采用视觉押韵判断范式的相关研究结果一致，表明长期积累的与正字法透明度相关的读写经验，可能会对语音意识任务的表现产生影响。