Learning to read entails learning to transform print to sound. Although universal principles govern this transformation, different writing systems dictate different mappings between orthography and phonology. Alphabetic systems map graphemes to phonemes, whereas nonalphabetic systems map characters to morpho-syllables. Recent findings suggest that such differences in first language (L1) processing shape the organization of reading in an alphabetic second language (L2). The goal of this proposal is to examine the effect of different L1 print-to-sound mappings on the orthographic and phonological processing that occurs during reading of an alphabetic L2 (English). We will examine this effect in two languages with similar visuo-spatial forms (Korean vs. Chinese) but contrastive mapping principles (alphabetic vs. nonalphabetic).
In Aim 1, we will use behavioral measures to compare the effect of Korean vs. Chinese L1 background on the implicit and explicit processing of sublexical structure in English.
In Aim 2, we will use neuroimaging to probe the neural basis for L1-to-L2 transfer effects observed in Aim 1. We will focus on print-to-sound mappings in a priori brain regions, and manipulate task context and stimulus type to probe sublexical analysis.
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