Phonological Recoding and Rapid Orthographic Learning in Third-graders' Silent Reading: a Critical Test of the Self-teaching Hypothesis

This study examined rapid orthographic learning following silent reading in third-grade children as a function of number of target nonword repetitions and test delay. In each of two test sessions at least 6 days apart, children read a series of short stories, with each story containing a different nonword repeated either four or eight times. In the second session, after the stories had been read, children were asked to read short lists of target nonwords or homophonic alternatives. Children read target nonwords faster than homophones, indicating that they had formed functional orthographic representations of the target nonwords through phonologically recoding them during silent story reading. They also preferred target nonwords to homophones in an orthographic choice task in which the alternatives included the target, the homophone, and a visually similar foil, although here orthographic learning was stronger for items encountered eight times within stories and stronger for items tested immediately. These findings provide critical evidence in support of Share's self-teaching through phonological recoding hypothesis.