Automaticity in reading isiZulu

Autor: Sandra Land
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Reading & Writing, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp e1-e13 (2016)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2079-8245
2308-1422
DOI: 10.4102/rw.v7i1.90
Popis: Automaticity, or instant recognition of combinations of letters as units of language, is essential for proficient reading in any language. The article explores automaticity amongst competent adult first-language readers of isiZulu, and the factors associated with it or its opposite - active decoding. Whilst the transparent spelling patterns of isiZulu aid learner readers, some of its orthographical features may militate against their gaining automaticity. These features are agglutination; a conjoined writing system; comparatively long, complex words; and a high rate of recurring strings of particular letters. This implies that optimal strategies for teaching reading in orthographically opaque languages such as English should not be assumed to apply to languages with dissimilar orthographies. Keywords: Orthography; Eye movement; Reading; isiZulu
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals