Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Influence of Orthography on the Development of Functional Phonological Units in Spoken Word Production

处理语音信息的能力（即，一个人的语言的声音）是至关重要的语言和识字的发展。语音加工对识字能力的发展至关重要，而识字经验又反过来促进语音技能的发展。语音提取和编码是语音加工的重要组成部分，然而，很少有研究已经进行了检查识字经验如何影响语音提取和编码。语音功能单位是指说话者用来组织和构建口语单词的单位，对语音功能单位的研究有助于研究者了解说话者如何提取和编码语音信息。本研究旨在探讨语音功能单位的发展及识字经验的影响。本研究的结果可以帮助教育工作者开发教育方法，以促进儿童的语言发展，特别是那些不流利或其他与语言相关的困难。本研究将在母语为汉语的儿童中进行，通过与语言性质相一致的识字训练，可以帮助提高儿童的语言流利度。在中国大陆，孩子们在一年级开始学习拼音，然后开始学习形声字。将招募五组受试者，包括1）4岁的学龄前儿童，2）7岁的1年级儿童，3）8岁的2年级儿童，4）10岁的4年级儿童和5）成人。对于每组，将进行三个实验。在每个实验中，将进行一个简单的图片命名任务与形式准备范式（图片列表的名称可以共享相同的开始，相同的初始音节或没有系统的共同点）。实验1检查了起始准备效应（即，更快的命名潜伏期时，图片名称共享相同的起始）使用单音节图片名称。实验二采用双音节图片名称考察起始准备效应。实验3考察了音节准备效应（即，当图片名称共享相同的初始音节时更快的命名等待时间）。起始准备效应表明音段是语音的功能单位，而音节准备效应表明音节是语音的功能单位。学龄前儿童预期音节是他们自然获得的计划一个口语单词的单位，因此学龄前儿童选择音节作为功能语音单位。小学一年级儿童广泛接触拼音，拼音的字母特性会导致他们将语音功能单位从音节转移到音段。高年级儿童和成人阅读的汉字直接对应于音节，因此这些年龄组的功能语音单位可能会变回音节。本研究的发现将有助于科学地理解识字经验对语音表征和加工发展的影响。此外，根据本研究的结果，教育工作者可能能够开发更有效的教育方法，以提高儿童的语音技能的发展相结合的儿童的语音训练和他们的识字经验。例如，将汉语作为第二语言学习的儿童可能会受益于语言训练，包括强调音节单位的字符教学。

The ability to process phonological information (i.e., the sounds of one's language) is critical in language and literacy development. Phonological processing is important for literacy development, and in turn, literacy experience promotes phonological skills. Phonological retrieval and encoding in spoken word production is an important component of phonological processing; however, little research has been conducted to examine how literacy experience influences phonological retrieval and encoding. The functional phonological units refer to the units that speakers use to organize and construct a spoken word, and investigation in this area can inform researchers on how speakers retrieve and encode phonological information. This research aims to investigate the development of the functional phonological units and the influence of literacy experience. The results of this research can help educators develop educational methodologies to promote children's language development, particularly those with disfluency or other speech-related difficulties. Involving literacy training that is consistent with the nature of a language may help improve children's speech fluency.This research will be conducted among native Mandarin speakers. In Mainland China, children first study an alphabetic writing system called Pinyin in Grade 1, and begin to study morphosyllabic Chinese characters afterwards. Five groups of participants will be recruited, including 1) preschool children at 4 years of age, 2) Grade 1 children at 7 years, 3) Grade 2 children at 8 years, 4) Grade 4 children at 10 years, and 5) adults. For each group, three experiments will be conducted. In each experiment, a simple picture naming task with the form preparation paradigm (the names of a list of pictures may share the same onset, same initial syllable or nothing systematically in common) will be conducted. Experiment 1 examines the onset preparation effect (i.e., faster naming latency when the picture names share the same onset) using monosyllabic picture names. Experiment 2 examines the onset preparation effect using disyllabic picture names. Experiment 3 examines the syllable preparation effect (i.e., faster naming latency when the picture names share the same initial syllable). An onset preparation effect would suggest that the functional phonological unit is the segment, whereas a syllable preparation effect would suggest that syllable is the functional unit. It is expected that the syllable is the unit preschool children naturally access for planning a spoken word, so preschool children selects the syllable as the functional phonological unit. Grade 1 children are extensively exposed to Pinyin, and the alphabetic characteristic of Pinyin will lead them to shift the functional phonological unit from syllable to segment. Higher-grade children and adults read characters which correspond to syllables directly, so the functional phonological unit for these age groups may change back to syllable. The findings of this research will improve the scientific understanding of the influence of literacy experience on the development of phonological representation and processing. Furthermore, based on the results of this research, educators may be able to develop more efficient educational methodologies to improve children's development of phonological skills by combining children's phonological training and their literacy experience. For example, children who learn Chinese as a second language may benefit from language training involving character instruction that emphasizes the syllabic unit.