Lexical representations and phonological awareness

描述(申请人提供)：虽然大多数孩子学习阅读相对容易，但其他孩子有很大的困难。早期阅读问题通常会对以后的学业和经济发展产生负面影响，并可能降低生活质量。研究表明，语音意识的缺陷，即一个人对语言声音结构的敏感性，是大多数早期阅读困难的基础。然而，关于语音意识的出现却知之甚少。本研究将考察三组不同语音意识或年龄的学龄前儿童的语音和词汇加工。将采用一项单词学习任务，当这些非单词被词汇化时，将检查儿童对这些非单词的反应。本研究的具体目的是解决三个问题：语音意识/年龄不同的儿童(1)在非单词的语音加工上表现出差异；(2)在词汇学习过程中表现出词汇加工上的差异？和/或(3)新学单词在词汇表征上的差异？长期目标是提高对语音意识出现的理解，并帮助早期识别和干预有阅读障碍风险的儿童。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although most children learn to read with relative ease, others have great difficulty. Early reading problems often have a negative impact on later academic and economic advancement, and may potentially reduce quality of life. Research indicates that deficits in phonological awareness, one's sensitivity to the sound structure of language, underlies most early reading difficulties. However, little is known concerning the emergence of phonological awareness. This study will investigate the phonological and lexical processing of three groups of preschool children differing in phonological awareness or age. A word learning task will be employed in which children's responses to nonwords will be examined as these nonwords become lexicalized. The specific aims of this study address three questions: Do children differing in phonological awareness/age (1) show differences in the phonological processing of nonwords? (2) exhibit differences in lexical processing during word learning? and/or (3) evidence differences in the lexical representations of newly learned words? The long-term goal is to improve the understanding of the emergence of phonological awareness and aid in the early identification and intervention for children at risk for reading disabilities.