Work

Statistical learning bias predicts second-language reading efficiency

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Statistical learning (SL) is increasingly invoked as a set ofgeneral-purpose mechanisms upon which language learning isbuilt during infancy and childhood. Here we investigated theextent to which SL is related to adult language processing. Inparticular, we asked whether SL proclivities towards relationsthat are more informative of English are related to efficiency inreading English sentences by native speakers of Korean. Wefound that individuals with a stronger statistical learningsensitivity showed a larger effect of conditional wordprobability on word reading times, indicating that they moreefficiently incorporated statistical regularities of the languageduring reading. In contrast, L2 English proficiency was relatedto overall reading speed but not to the use of statisticalregularities.

Source: eScholarship (California Digital Library)

Authors: Luca Onnis, Stefan L. Frank, Hongoak Yun, Matthew Lou‐Magnuson

Institutions: Nanyang Technological University, Radboud University Nijmegen, University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Language: English

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Commission

Award: How do words inform? Explaining the role of information theory in language comprehension