The Effect of Length on Word Recognition (in Reading): The Case of Arabic // تأثير طول الكلمة على دقة القراءة: العربية كدراسة حالة

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/bethunivj.34.2017.0129
• Pages: 129-142
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• Date: 01 January 2017
• Author: Deia Ganayim,Shireen Ganayim

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BETHLEHEM UNIVERSITY JOURNAL 34 (2017)

The Effect of Length on Word Recognition (in Reading):

The Case of Arabic

ﺔﻟﺎﺣﺔﺳارﺪﻛﺔﻴﺑﺮﻌﻟا :ةءاﺮﻘﻟاﺔﻗدﻰﻠﻋﺔﻤﻠﻜﻟالﻮﻃﺮﻴﺛﺄﺗ

Deia Ganayim and Shireen Ganayim

Abstract

In this study, two experiments were conducted to assess the role of word length in visual

word recognition.In Experiment 1 two lists of Arabic three and five letter words were used

in a print word-reading task which measured accuracy and reading time. In Experiment

2, three, four and five letter words were displayed in the center of fixation on a screen

in a naming task measuring accuracy and naming time. In reading, two contrasting

processes have been suggested: the holistic process and the analytical process. According

to the holistic process, the recognition of a word is determined by its global features and

configuration. Consequently, reading consists of the simultaneous processing of all the

letters of a word in parallel. In contrast, according to the analytical process, reading is

a sequential screening of all the letters within a particular word. Length effect—that is,

short words are recognized more rapidly and accurately than long words—is the signature

of analytical processing of the non-lexical route due to its seriality which is caused by

assembled phonology. The results of both experiments revealed that the average reading

time of Arabic words from paper and screen was affected by word length, reflecting

certain analytical processes and the activation of a non-lexical route, in which letters are

processed sequentially.

Keywords: Arabic, Word length, Reading, Visual Processing.

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