Reading, Spelling, and Visual Lexical Decision in English: the Case of Spanish Children with Dyslexia

Authors

  • Martínez-García Cristina

    Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Rambla del Poblenou, 156, Barcelona, 08018, Spain
  • Marina Vega-Harwood

    Language Psychology Laboratory - Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijoo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
  • Paz Suárez-Coalla

    Language Psychology Laboratory - Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Plaza Feijoo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i4.6729
Received: 5 June 2024 | Revised: 28 June 2024 | Accepted: 5 July 2024 | Published Online: 5 September 2024

Abstract

The primary challenge that children with dyslexia face is the difficulty in learning the alphabetic code and forming orthographic representations of words. Consequently, their reading and writing abilities lack fluidity. Given factors, it is possible that children with dyslexia may encounter difficulties when learning English as a Foreign Language. This research investigates the significance of lexical frequency and orthographic rime consistency in the reading and spelling processes of English as a Foreign Language among Spanish children diagnosed with dyslexia. The study included 36 participants aged between 9 and 12, of whom 16 were clinically diagnosed with dyslexia. Three tasks were designed using 28 English words, varying in lexical frequency and orthographic consistency: word reading aloud, spelling to dictation, and visual lexical decision. Our analysis focused on accuracy, indicating that children diagnosed with dyslexia consistently exhibited poorer performance across all tasks compared to their counterparts. While lexical frequency exerted an influence on both groups, orthographic consistency exclusively impacted the control group. The findings suggest that Spanish children with dyslexia predominantly depend on lexical frequency for reading and spelling in English. In contrast, typically developing children, in addition to frequency, also show sensitivity to orthographic consistency skills.

Keywords:

developmental dyslexia, EFL, lexical frequency, orthographic consistency, Spanish children

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Cristina, M.-G., Vega-Harwood, M., & Suárez-Coalla, P. (2024). Reading, Spelling, and Visual Lexical Decision in English: the Case of Spanish Children with Dyslexia. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(4), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i4.6729

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Vol. 6 , Iss. 4 (October 2024)

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Copyright © 2024 Martínez-García Cristina, Marina Vega-Harwood, Paz Suárez-Coalla

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