Abstract of

Vocalization Latencies of Skilled and Less Skilled Comprehenders for Words Written in Hiragana and Kanji

Keiko Kuhara-Kojima

Giyoo Hatano

Hirofumi Saito

Tomokazu Haebara

Three experiments were conducted to examine whether vocalization latencies for Japanese words would be different between skilled and less skilled Japanese fifth-grade readers. The experimental words were written in hiragana (syllabaries) or kanji (morphograms), two types of scripts in the Japanese writing system. The words consisted of six clusters: (a) real words transcribed in hiragana, involving no special syllables and involving special syllables; (b) pseudowords in hiragana; (c) real words transcribed in kanji, in the language textbook for Grade 2 and for Grade 4; and, (d) pseudowords in kanji. Single-word vocalization latencies were significantly shorter for skilled comprehenders than for less skilled comprehenders in both hiragana and kanji, for all clusters. These results were replicated when pseudowords were excluded (Experiment 2) and when real words and pseudowords were presented in separate subsessions (Experiment 3). The results were consistent with findings for English and suggested that naming speed is a good indicator of the automaticity of the lexical access for both syllabaries and morphograms. Contrary to the previous findings for English, however, the skilled/less skilled differences in vocalization latencies were greater for real words than for pseudowords for both hiragana and kanji. The skilled/less skilled differences in vocalization latencies were greater for real kanji words than for real hiragana words. The applicability of the verbal efficiency theory proposed by Perfetti (1985) across languages and orthographies is discussed.

Abstract from Kuhara-Kojima, K., Hatano, G., Saito, H., & Haebara, T. (1996). Vocalization Latencies of Skilled and Less Skilled Comprehenders for Words Written in Hiragana and Kanji. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(2), 158–171. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.31.2.3