Skip to main content

Not completed but still identified: orthographic closure and word recognition among poor and typical native Arab readers

Cognitive Processing volume 22, pages 47–55 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the orthographic representations among poor readers compared to typical readers. For this aim, an orthographic visual closure task was used. One hundred and twenty native Arab readers, 60 typical and 60 poor, from third, fifth and seventh grades, were participated in the current study. A computerized tool was designed to test the orthographic closure ability, where the stimuli were orthographic patterns of words in Arabic. For each orthographic pattern of each word, eight levels of appearance display were created: Level 1 showed the most completed level of the image and Level 8 showed the most fragmented one. Throughout the experiment, participants were required to look at the screen and tell their answer loudly as soon as the pattern was identified. The level at which each correct identification has occurred was recorded. The results revealed significant differences between the two groups of readers and between the different ages regarding the level at which they were able to identify the presented words. The findings showed that the identification of written words, like pictures, can be activated even that the orthographic information is not fully presented while the effectiveness of such activations depends on the effectiveness of the orthographic representations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Abu-Rabia S, Awwad J (2004) Morphological structures in visual word recognition: the case of Arabic. J Res Read 27(3):321–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Abu-Rabia S, Saliba F (2008) The lexical status of basic Arabic verb morphemes among dyslexic children. Aust J Learn Difficulties 13(2):115–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Al Kaabi, M. (2015). The anatomy of arabic words: the role of the root in representations and processing [PhD Thesis]. New York University.

  • Apel K (2009) The acquisition of mental orthographic representations for reading and spelling development. Commun Disord Q 31(1):42–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Boros M, Anton JL, Pech-Georgel C, Grainger J, Szwed M, Ziegler JC (2016) Orthographic processing deficits in developmental dyslexia: beyond the ventral visual stream. NeuroImage 128:316–327

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boudelaa S, Marslen-Wilson WD (2015) Structure, form, and meaning in the mental lexicon: evidence from Arabic. Lang Cognit Neurosci 30(8):955–992

    Google Scholar 

  • Breznitz Z, Misra M (2003) Speed of processing of the visual–orthographic and auditory–phonological systems in adult dyslexics: the contribution of “asynchrony” to word recognition deficits. Brain Lang 85(3):486–502

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll JM, Snowling MJ (2004) Language and phonological skills in children at high risk of reading difficulties. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45(3):631–640

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chateau D, Jared D (2000) Exposure to print and word recognition processes. Mem Cognit 28(1):143–153

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coltheart M (2005) Modelling reading: the dual-route approach. In: Snowling MJ, Hulme C (eds) The science of reading. Blackwells Publishing, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham AE, Stanovich KE (1990) Assessing print exposure and orthographic processing skill in children: a quick measure of reading experience. J Educ Psychol 82(4):733

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehaene S, Cohen L, Sigman M, Vinckier F (2005) The neural code for written words: a proposal. Trends Cogn Sci 9(7):335–341

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DiCarlo JJ, Zoccolan D, Rust NC (2012) How does the brain solve visual object recognition? Neuron 73(3):415–434

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Doniger GM, Foxe JJ, Murray MM, Higgins BA, Snodgrass JG, Schroeder CE, Javitt DC (2000) Activation timecourse of ventral visual stream object-recognition areas: high density electrical mapping of perceptual closure processes. J Cognit Neurosci 12(4):615–621

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doniger GM, Foxe JJ, Schroeder CE, Murray MM, Higgins BA, Javitt DC (2001) Visual perceptual learning in human object recognition areas: a repetition priming study using high-density electrical mapping. Neuroimage 13(2):305–313

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan KJ, Pattamadilok C, Devlin JT (2010) Investigating occipito-temporal contributions to reading with TMS. J Cognit Neurosci 22(4):739–750

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehri LC (1995) Phases of development in learning to read words by sight. J Res Read 18(2):116–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Everatt J, Bradshaw MF, Hibbard PB (1999) Visual processing and dyslexia. Perception 28(2):243–254

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Facoetti A, Paganoni P, Turatto M, Marzola V, Mascetti GG (2000) Visual-spatial attention in developmental dyslexia. Cortex 36(1):109–123

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foley MA, Foley HJ, Durso FT, Smith NK (1997) Investigations of closure processes: what source-monitoring judgments suggest about what is “closing.” Mem Cognit 25(2):140–155

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grainger J, Ferrand L (1994) Phonology and orthography in visual word recognition: Effects of masked homophone primes. J Mem Lang 33(2):218–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Gwilliams L, Marantz A (2015) Non-linear processing of a linear speech stream: the influence of morphological structure on the recognition of spoken Arabic words. Brain Lang 147:1–13

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harm MW, Seidenberg MS (2001) Are there orthographic impairments in phonological dyslexia? Cognit Neuropsychol 18(1):71–92

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawelka S, Huber C, Wimmer H (2006) Impaired visual processing of letter and digit strings in adult dyslexic readers. Vision Res 46(5):718–723

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim R (2013) Reading in Arabic: new evidence for the role of vowel signs. Creat Educ 4(04):248

    Google Scholar 

  • Idrissi A, Kehayia E (2004) Morphological units in the Arabic mental lexicon: Evidence from an individual with deep dyslexia. Brain Lang 90(1–3):183–197

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Idrissi A, Prunet JF, Béland R (2008) On the mental representation of Arabic roots. Linguist Inq 39(2):221–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Khateb A, Khateb-Abdelgani M, Taha HY, Ibrahim R (2014) The impact of orthographic connectivity on visual word recognition in Arabic: a cross-sectional study. Read Writ 27(8):1413–1436

    Google Scholar 

  • Khateb A, Taha HY, Elias I, Ibrahim R (2013) The effect of the internal orthographic connectivity of written Arabic words on the process of the visual recognition: a comparison between skilled and dyslexic readers. Writ Syst Res 5(2):214–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Leslie L, Thimke B (1986) The use of orthographic knowledge in beginning reading. J Read Behav 18(3):229–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinelli CV, Angelelli P, Notarnicola A, Luzzatti C (2009) Do Italian dyslexic children use the lexical reading route efficiently? an orthographic judgment task. Read Writ 22(3):333–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Maurer U, Brem S, Bucher K, Kranz F, Benz R, Steinhausen HC, Brandeis D (2007) Impaired tuning of a fast occipito-temporal response for print in dyslexic children learning to read. Brain 130(12):3200–3210

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland JL, Rumelhart DE (1985) Distributed memory and the representation of general and specific information. J Exp Psychol Gen 114(2):159

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti CA (1984) Reading acquisition and beyond: Decoding includes cognition. Am J Educ 93(1):40–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti C A, Liu Y, Fiez, J, Nelson J, Bolger DJ, Tan L H (2007) Reading in two writing systems: Accommodation and assimilation of the brain's reading network. Biling Lang Cognit, 10 2 131–146.

  • Prunet JF, Béland R, Idrissi A (2000) The mental representation of Semitic words. Linguist Inq 31(4):609–648

    Google Scholar 

  • Lobier M, Zoubrinetzky R, Valdois S (2012) The visual attention span deficit in dyslexia is visual and not verbal. Cortex 48(6):768–773

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Read DE (1988) Age-related changes in performance on a visual-closure task. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 10(4):451–466

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson FM, Seghier ML, Leff AP, Thomas MS, Price CJ (2011) Multiple routes from occipital to temporal cortices during reading. J Neurosci 31(22):8239–8247

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Saiegh-Haddad E (2018) MAWRID: A model of Arabic word reading in development. J Learn Disabil 51(5):454–462

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saiegh-Haddad E, Schiff R (2016) The impact of diglossia on voweled and unvoweled word reading in Arabic: a developmental study from childhood to adolescence. Sci Stud Read 20(4):311–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Saiegh-Haddad E, Taha H (2017) The role of morphological and phonological awareness in the early development of word spelling and reading in typically developing and disabled Arabic readers. Dyslexia 23(4):345–371

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shalhoub-Awwad Y, Leikin M (2016) The lexical status of the root in processing morphologically complex words in Arabic. Sci Stud Read 20(4):296–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz BA, Lyon GR, Shaywitz SE (2006) The role of functional magnetic resonance imaging in understanding reading and dyslexia. Dev Neuropsychol 30(1):613–632

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz BA, Shaywitz SE, Blachman BA, Pugh KR, Fulbright RK, Skudlarski P, Fletcher JM (2004) Development of left occipitotemporal systems for skilled reading in children after a phonologically-based intervention. Biol Psychiat 55(9):926–933

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaywitz SE, Shaywitz BA, Fulbright RK, Skudlarski P, Mencl WE, Constable RT, Lyon GR (2003) Neural systems for compensation and persistence: young adult outcome of childhood reading disability. Biol Psychiat 54(1):25–33

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snowling MJ (2001) From language to reading and dyslexia 1. Dyslexia 7(1):37–46

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E., West, R. F. (1989). Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly, 402–433.‏

  • Taha H (2016) Deep and shallow in Arabic orthography: New evidence from reading performance of elementary school native Arab readers. Writ Syst Res 8(2):133–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Taha H, Azaizah-Seh H (2017) Visual word recognition and vowelization in Arabic: new evidence from lexical decision task performances. Cogn Process 18(4):521–527

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taha H, Khateb A (2013) Resolving the orthographic ambiguity during visual word recognition in Arabic: an event-related potential investigation. Front Human Neurosci 7:821

    Google Scholar 

  • Taha H, Ibrahim R, Khateb A (2013) How does Arabic orthographic connectivity modulate brain activity during visual word recognition: an ERP study. Brain Topogr 26(2):292–302

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valdois S, Bidet-Ildei C, Lassus-Sangosse D, Reilhac C, Nguyen-Morel MA, Guinet E, Orliaguet JP (2011) A visual processing but no phonological disorder in a child with mixed dyslexia. Cortex 47(10):1197–1218

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagemans J, Feldman J, Gepshtein S, Kimchi R, Pomerantz JR, Van der Helm PA, Van Leeuwen C (2012) A century of gestalt psychology in visual perception: II conceptual and theoretical foundations. Psychol Bull 138(6):1218

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. The Department of Education and Learning Disabilities, Western Galilee College, 2412101, Akko, Israel

    Haitham Taha

  2. The Learning Disabilities Department, Sakhnin College for Teacher Education, Sakhnin, Israel

    Haitham Taha & Floreen Asous-Abu Rezeq

  3. Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for Learning Disabilities, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel

    Haitham Taha & Floreen Asous-Abu Rezeq

Authors
  1. Haitham Taha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Floreen Asous-Abu Rezeq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haitham Taha.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest that could have direct or potential influence or impart bias on the work.

Ethical approval

The current study and all its ethical standards were approved by the research and ethical committee of Sakhnin College.

Informed consent

The authors of the current manuscript declare that all parents of the participants in the current study gave their informed consent in writing prior to the inclusion of their children in the study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Handling Editor: Ekaterina Shutova (University of Amsterdam); Reviewers: Ali Idrissi (Qatar University), Gregory Simon (University of Caen), and a third researcher who prefers to remain anonymous.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3

Table 3 The list of the task stimuli
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Taha, H., Asous-Abu Rezeq, F. Not completed but still identified: orthographic closure and word recognition among poor and typical native Arab readers. Cogn Process 22, 47–55 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-020-00998-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-020-00998-0

Keywords

  • Orthographic representations
  • Visual closure
  • Visual activation
  • Word recognition
  • Arabic orthography