LETTER RECOGNITION AND HAND-COPYING SKILLS OF CHILDREN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DARI AND ENGLISH ALPHABET LETTERS

Sayeed Naqibullah Orfan(1*), Mohammad Kazem Timor(2),

(1) Takhar University, Afghanistan
(2) Takhar University, Afghanistan
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


This study aimed to explore and compare the difficulty level of alphabet letter recognition and hand-copying skills among children between two languages, English capital letters, and Dari alphabet letters. The participants were preschool children aged (4-5) in Taloqan City of Afghanistan. An observation method followed by a pre-test, a class session, and a post-test were conducted on the participants. The tests used in this study were Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) and a paired samples t-test. The study's findings showed no significant difference in letter recognition between English and Dari letters; however, there was a significant difference in the hand-copying test. Also, the results of the study displayed that shapes of the letters played an important role in hand-copying the alphabet letters while it did not impact the letter recognition process.


Keywords


English and Dari alphabet, hand-copying, letter recognition, preschoolers, RAN

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abu-Rabia, S. (1997). Reading in Arabic orthography: The effect of vowels and context on reading accuracy of poor and skilled native Arabic readers. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 9, 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1007962408827.

Afghanistan. (2004). Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Retrieved from http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/af00000_.html.

Aram, D. (2006). Early literacy interventions: The relative roles of storybook reading, alphabetic activities, and their combination. Reading and Writing, 19, 489–515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-006-9005-2.

Aram, D., & Biron, S. (2004). Joint storybook reading and joint writing interventions among low SES preschoolers: Differential contributions to early literacy. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 588–610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.10.003.

Azami, D. (2009, January 12). English takes hold in Afghanistan. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7493285.stm.

Baluch, B. (1996). Word frequency in naming for experienced and previously experienced adult readers of Persian. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 8, 433–441. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00404004.

Baluch, B., & Besner, D. (1991). Visual word recognition: Evidence for strategic control of lexical and nonlexical routines in oral reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology; Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17(4), 644–652. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.17.4.644.

Berninger, V., & Fuller, F. (1992). Gender differences in orthographic, verbal, and compositional fluency: Implications for assessing writing disabilities in primary grade children. Journal of School Psychology, 30, 363–382. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-4405(92)90004-o.

Both-de Vries, A. C., & Bus, A. G. (2014). Visual processing of pictures and letters in alphabet books and the implications for letter learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39(2), 156-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2014.03.005.

Bowers, P. G., Steffy, R., & Tate, E. (1988). Comparison of the effects of IQ control methods on memory and naming speed predictors of reading disability. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 304–319. https://doi.org/10.2307/748044.

Bradbury, N. A. (2016). Attention span during lectures: 8 seconds, 10 minutes, or more?. Advances in physiology education, 40(4), 509-513. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00109.2016.

Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). In the world factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/402.html

Coyle, D.W. (2014). Placing Wardak among Pashto varieties (Master’s dissertation). University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

David, A.B. (2014). Descriptive grammar of Pashto and its dialects. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.

Davis, B. G. (1993). Preparing or revising a course. In Tools for teaching (pp. 3-13). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Denckla, M. B. (1972). Color-naming defects in dyslexic boys. Cortex, 8, 164–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-9452(72)80016-9.

Di Filippo, G., Brizzolara, D., Chilosi, A., De Luca, M., Judica, A., Pecini, C., Spinelli, D., & Zoccolotti, P. (2005). Rapid naming, not cancellation speed orarticulation rate, predicts reading in an orthographically regular language (Italian). Child Neuropsychology, 11(4), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297040490916947

Dunn-Rankin, P. (1990). Eye movement research on letters and words. In R. Groner, G. d’Ydewalle, & R. Parham (Eds.), From eye to mind: Information acquisition in perception, search and reading (pp. 155–163). Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishers.

Evans, M. A., Saint-Aubin, J., & Landry, N. (2009). Letter names and alphabet book reading by senior kindergarteners: An eye movement study. Child Development, 80, 1824–1841. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01370.x.

Fiset, D., Blais, C., Arguin, M., Tadros, K., Ethier-Majcher, C., Bub, D. N., & Gosselin, F. (2009). The spatio-temporal dynamics of visual letter recognition. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 26(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290802421160.

Fiset, D., Blais, C., Ethier-Majcher, C., Arguin, M., Bub, D. N., & Gosselin, F. (2008). Features for uppercase and lowercase letter identification. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1161–1168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02218.x

Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In K.E. Patterson, J.C. Marshall, & M. Coltheart (Eds.), Surface dyslexia (pp. 301–330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Georgiou, G. K., Parrila, R., Cui, Y., & Papadopoulos, T. C. (2013). Why is rapid automatized naming related to reading?. Journal of experimental child psychology, 115(1), 218-225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.10.015.

Geva, E., & Wade-Woolley, L. (1998). Component processes in becoming English-Hebrew biliterate. In A. Durgunoglu & L. Verhoevn (Eds.), Acquisition of literacy in a multilingual context: A cross cultural perspective (pp. 85–110). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Gholamain, M., & Geva, E. (1999). Orthographic and cognitive factors in the concurrent development of basic reading skills in English and Persian. Language learning, 49(2), 183-217. https://doi.org/10.1111/0023-8333.00087.

Gibson, E. J., Gibson, J. J., Pick, A. D., & Osser, H. (1962). A developmental study of the discrimination of letter-like forms. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55(6), 897–906. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043190.

Khanlari, P.N. (1979). The history of the Persian Language (Vol. 1). New Delhi: New Delhi Press.

Longcamp, M., Zerbato-Poudou, M., & Velay, J. (2005). The influence of writing practice on letter recognition in preschool children: A comparison between handwriting and typing. Acta Psychologica, 119(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2004.10.019.

Lonigan, C. J., Farver, J. M., Phillips, B. M., & Clancy-Menchetti, J. (2011). Promoting the development of preschool children’s emergent literacy skills: A randomized evaluation of a literacy-focused curriculum and two professional development models. Reading and Writing, 24, 305–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9214-6.

Lonigan, C. J., Purpura, D. J., Shauna, B. W., Walker, P. M., & Clancy-Menchetti, J. (2013). Evaluating the components of an emergent literacy intervention for preschool children at risk for reading difficulties. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114(1), 111–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.08.010

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: A scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. Jessup, MD: National Institute for Literacy.

Neumann, M. M., Hood, M., & Ford, R. M. (2013). Using environmental print to enhance emergent literacy and print motivation. Reading and Writing, 26(5), 771–793. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-012-9390-7

Orfan, S. N. (2020). Afghan undergraduate students’ attitudes towards learning English. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 7(1), 1723831. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2020.1723831

Orfan, S. N. (2021). High school English textbooks promote gender inequality in Afghanistan. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 31(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.1914148

Orfan, S. N. (2023). Lecturers’ perceptions of English medium instruction in Afghanistan’s public higher education. Issues in Educational Research, 33(1), 247-265.

Orfan, S. N., & Seraj, M. Y. (2022). English medium instruction in higher education of Afghanistan: Students’ perspective. Language Learning in Higher Education, 12(1), 291-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2022-2041

Orfan, S.N., Noori, A.Q., & Akramy, S.A. (2021). Afghan EFL instructors’ perceptions of English textbooks. Heliyon, 7(11), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08340.

Puranik, C. S., Petscher, Y., & Lonigan, C. J. (2013). Dimensionality and reliability of letter writing in 3-to 5-year-old preschool children. Learning and individual differences, 28, 133-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.06.011.

Samuels, S. J. (1970). An experimental program for teaching letter names of the alphabet.

Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

Spooner, B. (2012). Persian, Farsi, Dari, Tajiki: Language names and language policies. In H. Schiffman (Ed.), Language policy and language conflict in Afghanistan and its neighbors (pp. 89-117). Leiden: Brill.

Sultany, S. (1977). Teaching Dari to English speakers. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1252&context=ipp_collection

Titrek, O., Kazem, M., Yılan, A., & İlkay, N. (2016). Turkish language proficiency: TÖMER graduates. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Language Education and Learning (ICEL 2015) (pp. 1-12). Ankara, Turkey: Ankara Üniversitesi.

Travers, R. (1967). Perceptual learning. Review of Educational Research, 37(5), 599-617. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543037005599

Wankat, P. C. (2002). The effective, efficient professor: Teaching, scholarship, and service (pp. 107-112). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Wolf, M., Bally, H., & Morris, R. (1986). Automaticity, retrieval processes and reading: A longitudinal study in average and impaired readers. Child Development, 57, 988–1005. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130373.

Zemlock, D., Vinci-Booher, S., & James, K. H. (2018). Visual–motor symbol production facilitates letter recognition in young children. Reading and Writing, 31(6), 1255-1271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9831-z.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v26i2.6204

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Sayeed Naqibullah Orfan, Mohammad Kazem Timor

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Indexed and abstracted in:

     

 

 

LLT Journal Sinta 1 Certificate (S1 = Level 1)

We would like to inform you that LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching has been nationally accredited Sinta 1 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree  No. Surat Keputusan 169/E/KPT/2024. Validity for 5 years: Vol ... No 1, 20... till Vol ... No 2, 20...


Sinta 1 certificate to post here asap. Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

 

  

 

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

 

Free counters!


 LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt, e-ISSN 2579-9533 and p-ISSN 1410-7201is published twice a year, namely in April and October by the English Language Education Study Programme of Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.