Dyslexia research news

Did anyone else see this article on Discovery News (free site, no registration)? http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/08/dyslexia-language.html

The first paragraphs says

Dyslexia affects different parts of children's brains depending on whether they are raised reading English or Chinese. That finding, reported in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, means that therapists may need to seek different methods of assisting dyslexic children from different cultures.

This is huge, since it'll be a good step in figuring out what causes dyslexia and how it works, which will lead to better treatments.

Comments

[hedra]

That's really fascinating. It makes a lot of sense, really - I studied Chinese for a while, and it really does require different mental skills than alphabetic language does... I also liked the blip at the end of the article on the foreground/background thing - that's culturally impressed as well, something that I deal with when writing for translation to Asia, the primacy of context over content is always an issue - the background is assumed to inform what goes on in the foreground in profound and important ways, in many forms of Asian art, literature, etc. Even writing a simple letter or email is very different taken from one cultural perspective vs. the other.

And as a dyslexic person myself, I'm always interested in what is going on in my brain. (There's supposedly some suggestion that even very minor head traumas may play a role in triggering the onset of dyslexia - that from my BIL who used to work with kids in a head-trauma clinic - some people don't develop it even with the same head trauma, and the difference may be genetic, but it makes me wonder if also the location of the trauma may play a different role for different language readers...)

[caramama]

Fascinating.

This reminds me of a book I've always meant to get called The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently... And Why, by Richard Nisbett (http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Thought-Asians-Westerners-Differently/dp/0743216466/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I30KJAGBJJTMFD&colid=3QFZ87O00MSG6). I believe the book talks about more than cultural differences but scientific differences measured in the brains.

[SarcastiCarrie]

I am not surprised by this at all. Pictures and alphabetic language are completely different.

My son has some "pre-reading" books where some of the words are replaced with pictures. I guess this is supposed to show kids that words have meanings or something. Anyway, I find it terribly difficult to read these books to him. Here I am reading along "The fire trucks are in the ((BAM, picture of a fire station))." I have a really hard time going from the words to the pictures and back again. Sometimes, I cannot even tell what the picture is (is that a ladder truck or an aerial bucket truck or a skylift truck? Is it a jacket or a coat? A hat or a helmet?). My husband has also noticed that I have excellent skills with verbs and pronouns but I am notsogood with the nouns. I refer to many items in our home as "thing" or "that one" or "it".

Does anyone else have trouble with these pictograph books?

[Charisse]

Very interesting, and not at all surprising to me as a linguist. I wonder if Japanese, which uses a combination of Chinese characters and phonetic syllabaries (and increasingly, alphabets borrowed from the west mixed in) is different still. It would make an interesting test case since both skills are needed for an adept Japanese reader.

...and Korean, where much of it is phonetically written, but the arrangement of the phonemes is spatially different than in alphabet languages. Those things you see on Korean-language signs that look kind of like Chinese characters are mostly phonetically written words--a 15th (iirc) century ruler had his court come up with a truly phonetic system, such a cool story...if you are a language geek anyway. :)

(SarcastiCarrie, I get tripped up by the pictures too--I'm a fast reader and very auditory in my learning style--but I don't think that actually applies to the Chinese case. It's possible that Chinese writing started as an entirely ideographic, or pictorial, system--but at this point 7000 or so years later, very few of the characters are pictorially representative of their meanings. So it's still mainly recognition of abstract symbols, but they're one-to-one with words roughly speaking so there are a ton of them, and the phonetic component is sometimes there in a "radical" but pretty weak.)

[Tamar]

Hey, only four of us language nerds so far? Anyway, I might be missing something, but it seems to me this is just saying that reading ideograms is different from reading phonetic symbols. Right? Not that that isn't plenty interesting. (Also, I'm suspicious about drawing any conclusions about the larger culture from linguistic phenomena. I've read some pretty outrageous claims about languages I know from the respectable scholars of yesteryear...)

[Mazlynn]

Back in my college days, I had a friend with mild dyslexia - she ended up becoming an asian cultural studies major, and I think at least part of that was due to her delight that she could read Asian characters without the same dyslexia difficulties she had in English.

And Sarcasticarrie, I would have the same problem with that style of book. But I know that I'm a very auditory reader - when I read, I hear the words in my head. My husband, on the other hand, will see the scene described when he gets really involved in a book - I wonder if he'd have less of a problem with the pictograph books.

An interesting little test as to whether you're more of a visual or an auditory thinker - I need you to tell me when ten seconds are up.

..

..

Now, when you were counting those ten seconds, did you do it auditorially (hearing a voice counting them off in your head) or visually (seeing a second hand tick, for instance)? For me, it's hearing in my head "one-one thousand". For my husband, it's watching a clock tick. And that difference in the way we absorb information probably explains why I'm more likely to be able to give the exact quote of the precise words used in a song or conversation or dialogs in a book, while my husband is much better at remembering the action or plot details of books - things that require more visualization of the scene.

[hedra]

I do words. And I have a Master's in Human Geography specializing in China. So... well, while a lot of the old stuff is um, astonishing. Yeah, astonishing... the process of language and the arts in China in particular are deeply intertwined. It's not just the fact that it's ideograms (etc., as that's an oversimplification, too), It's also the methods of writing, the idea of the shape of the word as art (calligraphy), the implications of character and style and how those were brought out in writing as art and in the commentaries that interwove the influences of cultural streams over time. And that influences how representational art developed, and how that wove back into the cultural stream, etc., etc.

It's certainly not a simplistic issue, in the analysis. It's complex and subtle and fascinating. I'm sure I'm reading all sorts of things between the lines of that particular study, because that's where my depth is - whoa, the implications have arms reaching into so many fields...

yeah, word geek. language nerd. Plus culture geek, China geek, and psychoneurology baby-geek. (no training, lots of reading) That's me! ;)

[hedra]

(That is, I do words for the counting time - but I also feel the vibration of the tick, which shows the kinesthetic thing I have, too.)

[Christi]

I want to be hedra when I grow up. :-)

[paola]

Something that I have difficulties with, along the same lines as Sarcasticarrie and Mazlynn, is when I'm reading one of those exercises for English as Second Language students, and they replace some of the words with another word that is pronounced the same way, but has a different spelling and meaning (like sun/son). Our brains are programmed to automatically understand the meaning of the written word, so if I see 'son' I think...little person related to me' and not 'thing that shines in the sky'. Of course if you read it out loud and you 'listen' to your words you get the message, but if you 'read' the word It really stuffs up your understanding of the phrase if you're not concentrating.

SO I don't think it's going from word word word to symbol, that throws us. But rather that we are not expecting to come across something that interrupts the message or makes the message less clear, like the picture of the fire-engine.

BTW Sarcasticarrie, I'm the same with the name of things in general. My vocabulary has definitely deteriated with the birth of my two kids and living in a non-English speaking country. I'm hoping that our trip to Australia will freshen up my vocabulary a bit

[hedra]

@Christi, me too! LOL!

I also have had much more trouble with language (vocabulary, syntax, grammar) since becoming a mom. My brain is already full. One of my favorite quotes (from the sig line of a mom on a parenting message board, no idea where it came from) is:

"Some people are good with words. Others ... erm ... thingy."

We now use 'thingy' as a reference to the times that the words just do NOT come out right (or at all - I'll stall on a word and have absolutely no idea how to get the point across and just sit there while my brain tries to locate the right word). That and other brilliant 'mommy-is-a-writer' moments cause my DH to say, 'wow, and you use language and stuff professionally!' or 'It's easy to tell you're a professional' (or words to that effect). And yes, I usually respond with the highly eloquent and loquacious sticking out of the tongue. ;)

And that also brings me to one of my favorite family stories about 'mommy + talking = blathering wha?' My mom's best friend had three kids in fairly quick succession, and was a SAHM. Her husband was a good observer, and noticed that she was starting to go a bit nuts with the home plus three young boys routine. So he bought her some train tickets and packed her off to her sisters for an extended weekend getaway, while he stayed home with the boys.

On the train, she was settling in when a very handsome man sat down across from her. The opportunity for some safe but likely very ego-boosting flirtation was right there... but while he'd smiled at her and was glancing at her, he hadn't said a thing. She was searching for a way to start up a conversation, when the train went around a bend. Out the window, she could see the front of the train going around the bend. She pointed out the window, and said, 'See the pretty choo-choo!' :o

On the plus side, she and the man did have a lovely conversation the rest of the trip. It DID start the conversation. But bye-bye flirtation, hello mortification.

[Jojo]

I though this was very interesting, but once I thought about it, it was not surprising at all.

@Hedra - I've often wondered about any possible relationship between head trauma and dyslexia. Everyone in my family has a little trouble with spelling, but I am the only one that is actually dyslexic. I had a hard fall on my head when I was about 2 or 3, enough so that it knocked my teeth loose. I've always thought that might have something to do with my learning disabilities.

[hedra]

@jojo, my dyslexia surfaced after I walked off the roof of our barn, I think I was seven. Before that, no issue that I noticed. Another relative developed it immediately after falling down some stairs (concussion). So many kids have minor to moderate head trauma, it's hard to assess. But it does seem to be a noted point.

[SarcastiCarrie]

I would say I'm auditory. Definitely auditory. I used to joke in HS that as long as I showed up to class and listened, everything would be fine (and it was).

And it never EVER would have occurred to me to think about a clock ticking down when it is so much easier to just go 10-9-8-etc. This may have something to do with me being an engineer and actually using the numbers to mark the passage of time. Numbers are my friend.

Paola - About the words that sound the same but are actually different words...this drives me nuts. I see it in the newspaper and on the internet all the time and this is not ESL but English for English speakers. Things like affect/effect, your/you're, then/than, and the most egregious of all "should of"/"should've".

[Kristie]

That story is great! That's like the time I told my sister the birds were, "Tweet, tweet, tweeting" outside.

I don't know a lot about dyslexia or linguistics, but I have been living in Taiwan and studying Chinese for the past almost three years. I know that when I read Chinese I certainly feel that a different part of my brain is being taxed. The reading is all about memory. But even more than that, sometimes the same character can mean different things depending on where it is and how it is used, so it is like you need to always be reading 3-4 characters ahead just to get the meaning. Not to mention the fact that Chinese can be written left to right, right to left, or up and down.

The whole background versus foreground thing is fascinating as well. I know that Asians tend to focus on a person's eyes while Westerners look at other people's mouths for emotional cues. Plus, their perception is incredible. I have had friends ask me if I was tired and think, "You know, actually, I am tired." They can read things on you sometimes even before you know it yourself.

This study really does seem like it will lead to breakthroughs in dyslexia treatments, which sure would be wonderful.

[caramama]

I'm very sure that I'm a visual person. If you read me something, I'll go, "Huh? Let me see that." This is why in school (and in meetings) I'm always taking notes. I need to SEE the words to make sure I take them in, understand them, remember them.

But when I read, I definitely hear the words in my head. When I count to ten, it is definitely by hearing the numbers in my head. BUT, when I am really into a book, I've got the whole scene in my head like a movie, with visuals and voices. Am I just nutty?

@hedra - I LOVE THIS: "Some people are good with words. Others ... erm ... thingy."

@SarcastiCarrie - When english-speaking people misuse and misspell english words, it drives me crazy. Especially effect/affect, their/there/they're, and it's/its.

I'm glad I'm not the only language/word geek around.

[SarcastiCarrie]

Oh, I had forgotten about its/it's. That just drives me nuts. If you're not sure, don't use the contraction. Now, I do understand that its goes against our own English rules about possessives add apostrophe s, but really it's not hard. The same people ruin the possessive version of my son's name. His name is Chuckles. So, his hat is Chuckles's hat. I cannot tell you how many pieces of artwork have come home from school showing Chuckle's Alphabet Book or Chuckles' Art. At least with Chuckles', I can fix it before putting it in the baby book. The pieces with Chuckle's don't get used (because they will drive me nuts just knowing that they are there, and they are wrong).

Didn't everyone have a third grade teacher who beat weather/whether and which/witch into them? Mrs. Costanza, I am sure you are retired by now, but you are not forgotten.

[paola]

Apparently Chuckles' Art would be considered correct according to most grammar books and style guides. The rule add 's is correct in all cases re proper names, but apparently if the combination sounds 'awkward' omitting the final s is also possible.

Sorry to throw a spanner in the works

[SarcastiCarrie]

Paola, good point! Darn English and its exceptions to the rule. I have heard that as well, but I am confused about the "awkward" sound because not doing it makes it seem somewhat unclear to me in spoken contexts.

When I pronounce it, I always use a two S sound to show that it's possessive. I have seen that there are certain historical contexts where we don't use 's like Jesus', Xerxes', and Moses', but I do think that if I was talking about miracles of Jesus, I would say it as Jesus's miracles, with a two S sound to show possession.

Either way, Chuckle's is wrong.

And I have been thinking a lot about my co-worker from China. Apparently, I offend her frequently. She is forward enough to tell me that I have offended her, but I never quite understand what slight I have done. She routinely refers to me as "he" or "him", and I don't get offended (I just assume that there are no gender-specific pronouns in her native language). She will stand uncomfortably close to me while talking, but again, I assume that's a cultural difference and I just very slowly and nonchalantly back up or lean away.

[Kristie]

@SarcastiCarrie: You're right about the Chinese language not having gender specific pronouns. Chinese people often misuse "he/him/his" and "she/her/hers" sometimes switching between the two for the same person in the same story. They don't even realize how it grates to hear the wrong pronoun. Asians also do not have the same concept of personal space as we do. I will never forget standing in line one day, a regular distance behind the person in front of me, only to have two people get in between me and them. They thought I wasn't in line because I was so far away!

[coach outelt stores]

We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. (Franklin Roosevelt , American president