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Word frequency modulates morpheme-based reading in poor and skilled Italian readers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2011

STEFANIA MARCOLINI ,
DANIELA TRAFICANTE ,
PIERLUIGI ZOCCOLOTTI  and
CRISTINA BURANI
STEFANIA MARCOLINI
Affiliation:
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome, and University of Verona
DANIELA TRAFICANTE
Affiliation:
Catholic University, Milan
PIERLUIGI ZOCCOLOTTI
Affiliation:
Sapienza University of Rome and IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome
CRISTINA BURANI*
Affiliation:
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Cristina Burani, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR, Via S. Martino della Battaglia 44, 00185 Rome, Italy. E-mail: cristina.burani@istc.cnr.it
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Abstract

A previous study reported that, similar to young and adult skilled readers, Italian developmental dyslexics read pseudowords made up of a root and a derivational suffix faster and more accurately than simple pseudowords. Unlike skilled readers, only dyslexic and reading-matched younger children benefited from morphological structure in reading words aloud. In this study, we show that word frequency affects the probability of morpheme-based reading, interacting with reading ability. Young skilled readers named low- but not high-frequency morphologically complex words faster than simple words. By contrast, the advantage for morphologically complex words was present in poor readers irrespective of word frequency. Adult readers showed no facilitating effect of morphological structure. These results indicate that young readers use reading units (morphemes) that are larger than the single-grapheme grain size. It is argued that morpheme-based reading is important for obtaining reading fluency (rather than accuracy) in transparent orthographies and is useful particularly in children with limited reading ability who do not fully master whole-word processing.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , July 2011 , pp. 513 - 532
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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