The role of orthography in auditory word learning

Abstract

The present thesis investigates the role of orthography in auditory word learning. Across three experiments we explore whether adult speakers of Spanish (Experiments 1 and 3) and French (Experiment 2) use their knowledge of sound-to-spellings mappings to generate preliminary orthographic representations for newly acquired spoken words. Specifically, we first teach skilled readers novel spoken words with only one (i.e., consistent words) or two possible spellings (i.e., inconsistent words). Next, we present them with unique, preferred and unpreferred novel words spellings. By analysing reading times for aurally acquired words seen for the first time in writing, we demonstrate that skilled readers of both transparent (i.e., Spanish) and opaque (i.e., French) writing systems generate preliminary orthographic representations for aurally familiar words. We discuss these results in the light of the existing theories of reading and word learning, and then go on to emphasise the novel contribution of the present work. Finally, we conclude by saying that the results of the present thesis reveal new ways in which learning to read affects spoken language processing.