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Influence of Orthographic Depth on visual Word Recognition: an FPVS-EEG Study
Poster Session B, Wednesday, September 30, 4:30 - 6:30 pm, Wangari Maathai
Claire Gigleux1, Christine Schiltz1, Aliette Lochy1; 1University of Luxembourg
According to the grain-size theory, transparent languages such as German promote fine-grained processing based on reliable grapheme–phoneme correspondences, whereas opaque languages like French require larger orthographic units. This study investigates how orthographic depth modulates grain size in 27 Luxembourgish bilinguals (L1 German, L2 French) and 30 French monolinguals adults. Using Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation EEG (FPVS-EEG), we measure the automatic neural discrimination of words embedded in pseudowords strings. Participants viewed rapid sequences of stimuli (10 Hz) for 60 seconds in French or German, with a word inserted every fifth stimulus (2 Hz). Discrimination of words from the pseudoword base elicits neural responses at 2 Hz and its harmonics. Words were constituted of either (i) simple GPCs (1 letter = 1 sound), (ii) complex GPCs (2+ letters = 1 sound), or (iii) irregular words (French only), and embedded in simple GPCs pseudowords strings. Word-selective responses are expected to be stronger in French, where orthographic opacity favors whole-word recognition. Differences may be larger when comparing German-L1 to French-L1 than to French-L2, reflecting L1-to-L2 transfer in bilinguals. Within French, irregular words are expected to elicit stronger responses than regular words, consistent with prior FPVS-EEG findings. This study will clarify specialization of the reading network across languages and proficiency levels.
Topic Areas: Reading, Multilingualism