LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:3 March 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Asymmetry in Perceptual Span in Reading English as L2

Aparna Pandey and Prakash Padakannaya

Abstract

Effective visual field in reading, called perceptual span (PS), is a language / orthographic dependent feature. PS has been found to be asymmetric towards left or right depending on the directionality in which languages are written. PS for English is found 3-4 character spaces to the left of fixation and around 14-15 character spaces to the right of the fixation (asymmetric towards right). PS for Chinese, on the other hand, is one character space to the left and three character spaces to the right of the fixation. PS for Hebrew, however, is asymmetric towards left as it is read right to left. In the present study we examined asymmetry in PS for a group of Indian students reading English. Using a moving window paradigm, we found that the extent of asymmetry was four character spaces to the left of fixation as has been reported for native readers of English. Thus, the study supports the view that PS for reading a language does not vary across cultures.

Keywords: Perceptual span, asymmetry, moving window paradigm.

Introduction

Perceptual span (PS) or span of effective visual field refers to how much information a reader gathers while focusing on a region of text. It is influenced by the properties and characteristics of language/orthography (DenBuurman, Roersma, & Gerrissen, 1981; Ikeda & Saida, 1978; McConkie & Rayner, 1975, 1976b; O'Regan, 1979, 1980; Pollatsek, Rayner, Balota, 1986; Rayner, 1975, 1986; Rayner & Bertera, 1979; Rayner; Well, Pollatsek, & Bertera, 1982; Schotter, & Rayner, 2013; Underwood, & McConkie 1985; Underwood & Zola, 1986). PA for alphabetic orthographies (e.g. English, French, and Dutch etc) is larger than for syllabic (Japanese), alphasyllabic (Indic system), and morphosyllabic orthographies (Chinese) (Ikeda & Saida, 1978; Osaka, 1987, 1992; Osaka & Oda, 1991; Pandey & Padakannaya, in press). The span is asymmetric towards the direction of reading. In languages which are read left to right PS is asymmetric towards right and for the languages that are read right to left (e.g. Hebrew) PS is asymmetric towards left (Inhoff & Liu, 1997, 1998; McConkie & Rayner; 1976a; Osaka 1993; Pandey & Padakannaya, in press; Pollatsek, Bolozky, Well, & Rayner, 1981; Rayner, 1986, Rayner, Well, & Pollatsek, 1980; Shen, Bai, Yan, & Liversedge, 2009). In English, PS was observed about 3-4 characters to the left and 14-15 characters to the right of fixation point. In Chinese PS extends from one character space to the left to three character spaces to the right (Inhoff & Liu, 1998).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Prakash Padakannaya, Ph.D. (Corresponding Author)
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Mysore
Manasagangotri
Mysore 570006
India
prakashp@psychology.uni-mysore.ac.in
prakashp99@gmail.com

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