Reading processes in skilled and less skilled profoundly deaf adult readers

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议项目的目标是更好地了解如何严重和深刻的聋人读者谁使用美国手语作为他们的主要沟通模式过程中的书面语言。在过去几十年中，事实表明，聋人的识字水平大大低于听力正常的人。对聋人高中毕业生样本进行的大规模研究表明，平均阅读水平约为3 - 4年级，接受测试的年轻聋人中有5%的阅读能力很强，阅读水平与听力同龄人相匹配或上级（Gallaudet Research Institute，2004）。对听力正常读者的研究提供了一幅深入的关于熟练阅读的认知过程的图片（Rayner et al. 2001; review）。然而，对聋人读者的研究还没有充分探讨熟练的阅读是如何发生的。对聋人读者进行的大部分研究都集中在技能较低的读者所经历的问题上（Kelly & Barac-Cikoja，2007）。重要的是，很少有研究系统地控制阅读水平，比较聋人参与者熟练的阅读。熟练的聋人读者只占聋人人口的一小部分（Kelly & Barac-Cikoja，2007）。尽管如此，对这些阅读者进行专门调查，将他们的行为与不太熟练的聋人阅读者进行比较，以及与更知名的人群（如熟练的听力阅读者）进行比较，以了解哪些因素导致聋人群体的熟练阅读，这似乎至关重要。一系列的研究将进行，每个设计来解决特定的问题，熟练的聋人阅读在不同层次的处理：知觉加工的信息在旁视，注意力分配在阅读，语音和语义处理在单词水平，邻居的影响，使用上下文来约束文字处理和句法处理。将在无声阅读期间收集眼动数据。实际上，目前在聋人读者的自然阅读情况下，没有任何信息可供使用。因此，本提案将填补文献中的一个巨大空白。最重要的是，鉴于聋人普遍在识字方面遇到的巨大困难，该项目具有重大的社会意义。该项目将有助于更好地了解聋人的阅读过程，并为聋人提供更好的阅读教育。 公共卫生相关性：鉴于聋人在读写方面普遍遇到的巨大困难，拟议的项目将调查熟练和不熟练的重度至重度失聪成人读者的阅读过程，并将这些过程与熟练的听力读者的过程进行比较。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed project is to better understand how severely and profoundly deaf readers who use American Sign Language as their main communication mode process written language. Over the past decades, it has been shown that literacy levels in the deaf population have been dramatically lower than in their hearing counterparts. Large scale studies across samples of deaf high-school graduates have shown that the median reading level is around 3 -4 grade and that 5% of the young deaf adults tested were strong readers and read at grade levels matched or superior to their hearing peers (Gallaudet Research Institute, 2004). Research with hearing readers has provided an in-depth picture of the cognitive processes underlying skilled reading (Rayner et al. 2001; review). Research with deaf readers, however, has not yet fully explored how skilled reading occurs. Much of the research conducted with deaf readers has focused on the problems experienced by less skilled readers (Kelly & Barac-Cikoja, 2007). Importantly, few studies have systematically controlled for reading level, comparing skilled to less skilled reading in deaf participants. Skilled deaf readers constitute a small proportion of the deaf population (Kelly & Barac-Cikoja, 2007). Still, it appears crucial to specifically investigate these readers, to compare their behavior to less skilled deaf readers, but also to better known populations such as skilled hearing readers in order to understand which factors lead to skilled reading in the deaf population. A series of studies will be conducted; each designed to address specific questions concerning skilled deaf reading at various levels of processing: perceptual processing of information in parafoveal vision, allocation of attention during reading, phonological and semantic processing at the word-level, neighborhood effects, the use of context to constraint word processing and syntax processing. Eye movement data will be collected during silent reading. Virtually no information is currently available in natural reading situations with eye movements monitored in deaf readers. The present proposal will thus fill a large gap in the literature. Most importantly, this project is of great societal significance in light of the great literacy difficulties experienced by the deaf population in general. This project will contribute to a better understanding of reading processes in the deaf population and to better reading education practices for this population. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In light of the great literacy difficulties generally experienced by deaf people, the proposed project will investigate the reading processes of skilled and less skilled severely to profoundly deaf adult readers and compare these processes to those of skilled hearing readers.