Directional conventions of a written language: developmental mechanisms of acquisition

该项目的一个目标是研究获得阅读和写的文化方向背后的机制（例如，在西方文化中是从左到右）。先前的研究表明，学龄前儿童已经开始按照文化方向惯例组织他们的第一次尝试阅读和写作。这一过程始于学龄前时期，直到定向习惯在入学之初最终变得稳定和系统。然而，在儿童生命的早期阶段，触发方向性习得过程的机制尚未得到系统的研究。在这个项目中，我提出并测试三个这样的潜在机制。根据这些机制，儿童可以通过接触识字成人的印刷参考行为（例如，在向儿童阅读时跟踪文本），（ii）通过暴露于印刷品的物理特性（例如，单个字母的方向）;（iii）通过暴露于识字成人的空间行为而超出阅读和书写的范围（例如，按照文化方向排列对象）。每种机制将在三项学龄前儿童实验研究中的一项中进行检查（由于功效计算，每项研究N=180）。这三项研究都将基于人工语言学习的相同实验范式。通过这一系列研究获得的知识可能会丰富我们对认知过程的理解，指导我们的识字技能和处理空间方向信息。除此之外，所获得的研究结果可能成为相关的阅读收购和教学的教育实践，因为功能的空间方向处理是必要的使用空间方向脚本。

An objective of the project is to examine mechanisms behind the acquisition of a cultural direction of reading and writing (e.g., left-to-right in Western cultures). Previous studies have shown that already preschool children start organizing their first trials to read and write in line with cultural directional conventions. This process begins in the preschool period, until directional habits become finally stable and systematic at the beginning of school. However, the mechanisms which trigger the process of directionality acquisition in this early period of a child’s life, have not yet been systematically examined. In this project, I propose and test three such potential mechanisms. According to these mechanisms, children may acquire script directionality (i) by exposure to print referencing behaviour of literate adults (e.g., tracing text while reading to children), (ii) by exposure to physical characteristics of print (e.g., orientation of individual letters); (iii) by exposure to spatial behaviour of literate adults beyond the domain of reading and writing (e.g., ordering objects in line with cultural direction). Each mechanism will be examined in one of three experimental studies with preschool children (N=180 per study because of power calculations). All three studies will be based on the same experimental paradigm of artificial language learning. The knowledge gained through this line of research may enrich our understanding of cognitive processes guiding our literacy skills and processing spatial-directional information. Besides that, the obtained findings may become relevant for educational practices for reading acquisition and instruction, because functional spatial-directional processing is necessary for using a spatial-directional script.