616
Views
14
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

The Relationship Between Learning to Read and Language-Specific Speech Perception: Maturation versus Experience

, &
Pages 218-239 | Published online: 26 Oct 2011
 

Abstract

Does the intensification of what can be called “language-specific speech perception” around reading onset occur as a function of maturation or experience? Preschool 5-year-olds with no school experience, 5-year-olds with 6 months' schooling, 6-year-olds with 6 months' schooling, and 6-year-olds with 18 months' schooling were tested on native and nonnative speech contrasts, phonological awareness, and letter identification. Native speech perception was predicted by phonological awareness, but not school experience or age, whereas nonnative speech perception was negatively related to school experience and had no relationship with age or phonological awareness. Over and above any limitation of a possible selection bias associated with parents' choice of school entry age, the results suggest that intensified language-specific speech perception is due to more robust phoneme categories: increased phonological awareness facilitates judgments of native phoneme membership, whereas increased experience with phoneme-to-grapheme mapping assists in the process of disregarding allophonic variations within native phoneme classes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by Australian Research Council grants (A00001283; DP0345614) to the third author and by a grant from the University of Western Sydney Research Office (03187/0009). Statistical advice from Adelma Hills and comments from Caroline Chauvet, Peter Keller, Christine Kitamura, Anne Maguire, Stephen Malloch, Janette Perz, Kate Stevens, and Michael Tyler are greatly appreciated.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.