Developing an alphasyllabary for English

[摘要] This research explored our predictions that a syllable-based orthography of English (i.e., an alphasyllabary) is: 1) learnable and 2) easier to read than a phoneme-based orthography of English. To examine this, we developed a novel orthography of English (called Faceabary) that utilizes face-graphemes, which correspond to syllables in the English language. We trained 16 individuals (6 males, 10 females) on how to read our new orthography. After the training phase, participants decoded words and read stories that had been transcribed into Faceabary. Reading fluency rates for this orthography were then compared to reading fluency rates for the phoneme-based orthography called FaceFont. We found that Faceabary is learnable, but that it does not appear to have an advantage over FaceFont except between Level 2 and Level 3 stories. Our findings suggest that Faceabary and FaceFont yield different decoding strategies. This research has implications for improving reading skills for individuals with dyslexia and alexia.

[发布机构] the University of Pittsburgh