Importance of Phonological and Orthographic Processing Skills for English Literacy Abilities in ...

234 Pages·2015·1.21 MB·English

Importance of Phonological and Orthographic Processing Skills for
English Literacy Abilities in English Monolingual, Chinese-English
Bilingual, and English Monolingual Learners with Dyslexia

Hui Min Stephanie Yeong
B.Soc.Sci (Hons.), M.Soc.Sci. (Psychology by Research)

School of Psychology
University of Western Australia

This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the Master of Psychology (Educational and Developmental)
degree, of the University of Western Australia

2015
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Abstract
Phonological and orthographic processing skills are important underlying skills for
English word reading and spelling in English monolingual individuals. Yet, there is still
much to learn about these skills in other specific populations, such as individuals
learning English with another language and individuals who have difficulty acquiring
English literacy skills. This thesis addresses this issue by examining phonological and
orthographic processing skills in Chinese-English bilingual children and adults, English
monolingual children and adults, and English monolingual children with dyslexia. More
specifically, we investigate the importance of these skills for English word reading and
spelling across these different language groups.
Phonological and orthographic processing skills were assessed and their
importance for English word reading and spelling was examined in younger (8-9 years)
children, older (11-12 years) children and adults (19-20 years) from different language
backgrounds: English monolingual, English first language (L1)-Chinese second
language (L2) and Chinese L1-English L2. Results showed that proficiency in English
phonological and orthographic processing skills was dependent on age and language
background status. Both English monolingual and English-L1 children had better
phonological processing skills compared to the Chinese-L1 children, and the English
monolingual adults had better phonological processing skills than the bilingual adults.
In contrast, the younger bilingual children had better orthographic processing skills
compared to the English monolingual children, but there were no group differences in
the older children and adults. Furthermore, different skills contributed to English word
reading and spelling for each language background group and within each age group.
Orthographic processing was the only significant predictor of word reading and spelling
for the English monolingual children and adults. However, phonological processing
skills were important for word reading for the bilingual children and adults. For spelling,
i
phonological skills were a significant predictor for the younger bilingual children and
orthographic skills were important for the older bilingual children, but neither skill
contributed significantly for the bilingual adults. The finding that different skills are
important for the different language groups suggests an influence of learning a second
language on English literacy acquisition.
The proposal that children with dyslexia have a differential pattern of
phonological and orthographic skills, with poorer phonological skills relative to their
orthographic skills (e.g., Stanovich & Siegel, 1994), similar to that of Chinese-English
bilingual children was then explored. The phonological and orthographic skills of
English monolingual children with dyslexia were compared to those of chronological
age matched and reading-age-matched English monolingual, Chinese L1-English L2,
and English L1-Chinese L2 children, and the relationships between phonological and
orthographic skills and English word reading and spelling in the dyslexic children were
investigated. Results showed that the children with dyslexia were as proficient as the
reading-age-matched English monolinguals in terms of their phonological and
orthographic skills and hence, were not similar in profile to the Chinese-English
bilingual children. In addition, similar to the English monolinguals, only orthographic
skills contributed significantly to word reading and spelling for the children with
dyslexia.
Phonological and orthographic skills are important for Chinese-English bilingual,
dyslexic and typically developing English monolingual individuals for English word
reading and spelling. However, group differences in skill proficiencies, as well as
differences in the extent to which phonological and orthographic skills are relied upon,
imply that different populations approach English literacy tasks in different ways. An
important implication of these findings is that these differences need to be taken into
account before applying models of literacy development to populations other than
ii
English monolinguals. Further theoretical and practical implications of these findings
are discussed.

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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................. i
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... iv
Manuscripts and Publications Arising From This Thesis ......................................... vii
Statement of Contribution........................................................................................... viii
Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... ix
Preface .............................................................................................................................. x
Chapter 1. Introduction: An overview of English literacy acquisition in English
monolingual individuals, bilingual individuals and English monolingual
individuals with dyslexia ................................................................................................ 1
Phonological and Orthographic Processing Skills in English Monolinguals ............... 4
Phonological and Orthographic Processing Skills in Bilinguals ................................ 13
Chinese-English Bilinguals ................................................................................... 17
Phonological and Orthographic Processing Skills in English Monolinguals with
Dyslexia ...................................................................................................................... 23
Present Thesis ............................................................................................................. 28
References .................................................................................................................. 32
Chapter 2. Impact of Early Home Language Exposure on Phonological and
Orthographic Skills and their Contributions to English Literacy Abilities in
English Monolingual and Chinese-English Bilingual Adults .................................... 47
Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 48
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 49
Method ....................................................................................................................... 58
Participants ............................................................................................................ 58
Materials ................................................................................................................ 60
Procedure ............................................................................................................... 64
Results ........................................................................................................................ 64
Discussion .................................................................................................................. 72
References .................................................................................................................. 81
Chapter 3. Importance of Phonological and Orthographic Skills for English
Reading and Spelling: A Comparison of English Monolingual and Mandarin-
English Bilingual Children ........................................................................................... 90
Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 91
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 89
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Phonological and orthographic processing skills in English monolingual children
............................................................................................................................... 93
Phonological and orthographic processing skills in Mandarin-English bilingual
children .................................................................................................................. 96
The present study ................................................................................................. 100
Method ...................................................................................................................... 102
Participants .......................................................................................................... 102
Materials .............................................................................................................. 104
Procedure ............................................................................................................. 108
Results ...................................................................................................................... 108
Group differences in phonological and orthographic processing skills............... 111
Relationships between phonological and orthographic processing skills and
English word reading and spelling ...................................................................... 114
Predicting English word reading. ................................................... 118
Predicting English word spelling. .................................................. 120
Discussion ................................................................................................................ 122
References ................................................................................................................ 132
Appendices ............................................................................................................... 143
Chapter 4. Phonological and Orthographic Skills in English Children with
Dyslexia: Are They Similar in Profile to Mandarin-English Bilingual Children? 145
Abstract .................................................................................................................... 146
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 141
Phonological and orthographic processing skills in English monolingual children
............................................................................................................................. 148
Phonological and orthographic processing skills in Mandarin-English bilingual
children ................................................................................................................ 149
Phonological and orthographic processing skills in English monolingual children
with dyslexia ........................................................................................................ 151
Present study ........................................................................................................ 154
Method ...................................................................................................................... 156
Participants .......................................................................................................... 156
Children with dyslexia. ................................................................... 156
Chronological age (CA) matched children. .................................... 157
Reading age (RA) matched children. ............................................. 157
Materials .............................................................................................................. 158
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Procedure ............................................................................................................. 161
Results ...................................................................................................................... 161
Initial group comparisons .................................................................................... 155
CA group comparisons. .................................................................. 162
RA group comparisons. .................................................................. 164
Group differences in phonological and orthographic skills ................................. 164
CA group comparisons. .................................................................. 165
RA group comparisons. .................................................................. 166
Relationships between phonological and orthographic skills and English word
reading and spelling in English monolingual children with dyslexia .................. 168
Discussion ................................................................................................................ 171
Phonological and orthographic skills in English monolingual children with
dyslexia ................................................................................................................ 171
Reliance on phonological and orthographic skills for reading and spelling in
English monolingual children with dyslexia ....................................................... 175
Implications ......................................................................................................... 177
References ................................................................................................................ 179
Chapter 5. General Discussion ................................................................................... 189
Summary of findings on Chinese-English bilingual individuals ............................. 190
Summary of findings on English monolinguals with dyslexia ................................ 197
Theoretical implications ........................................................................................... 199
Practical implications ............................................................................................... 204
Limitations and Future Directions ............................................................................ 207
Concluding remarks ................................................................................................. 211
References ................................................................................................................ 213

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Manuscripts and Publications Arising From This Thesis

Chapter 2
Yeong, S. H. M., Fletcher, J., & Bayliss, D. Impact of Early Home Language Exposure
on Phonological and Orthographic Skills and their Contributions to English
Literacy Abilities in English Monolingual and Chinese-English Bilingual Adults.
Manuscript in submission to Applied Psycholinguistics.

Chapter 3
An earlier version of this paper has been published. This article may not exactly
replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
Yeong, S. H. M., Fletcher, J., & Bayliss, D. (2014). Importance of phonological and
orthographic skills for English reading and spelling: A comparison of English
monolingual and Mandarin-English bilingual children. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 106 (4), 1107–1121. doi:10.1037/a0036927

Chapter 4
Yeong, S. H. M., Fletcher, J., & Bayliss, D. Phonological and Orthographic Skills in
English Children with Dyslexia: Are They Similar in Profile to Mandarin-
English Bilingual Children? Manuscript in submission to Annals of Dyslexia.

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Statement of Contribution

Each of the studies in this thesis was designed by the candidate in collaboration with
one of her supervisors, Professor Janet Fletcher. All participant recruitment and testing,
data entry, analysis and interpretation were conducted by the candidate. The
manuscripts were written by the candidate, with revisions made in accordance with her
supervisors, Professor Janet Fletcher and Dr Donna Bayliss, and anonymous reviewers.

______________________________ ______________________________
Stephanie Hui Min Yeong (candidate) Date

______________________________ ______________________________
Janet Fletcher (co-supervisor) Date

______________________________ ______________________________
Donna Bayliss (co-supervisor) Date

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