Thesis title: A qualitative analysis of reading errors as a function of orthographic transparency
This study is part of a larger investigation, within which the mechanisms and cognitive correlates of literacy acquisition have been explored in Italian, a language with regular/transparent orthography, and in English, a language characterized by high orthographic irregularity, and therefore defined as opaque. In this research, the focus is on studying the characteristics of languages that influence reading learning as a function of orthographic coherence, analyzing how much the nature of phonological errors may correlate with the lexical and sub-lexical component of a language with opaque or transparent orthography. Phonological errors alter the phonological form of the word so that the written word is pronounced differently than intended. The survey was carried out on Italian and English children attending elementary schools in the provinces of Rome and Naples for the Italian sample, and in the province of Birmingham for the English sample. The English and Italian children were matched both on chronological age and on number of years of schooling. 177 Italian children and 81 English children took part in the study.