LEXENOR

This project investigates the effect of orthography on word learning in a foreign language (L2), in this case French-speaking children learning English in a school context. In the mother tongue, the orthographic facilitation effect, i.e. better word memorization when the orthographic form is provided in addition to the phonological form during learning, is well known. When learning English as an L2, French-speaking children have to deal with an orthography whose spelling-phonology conversion rules are both (1) different from those of their mother tongue (congruency issue) and (2) inconsistent, in that a same orthographic sequence can be pronounced in several ways (EA in HEAR or BREAK – consistency issue). The orthographic facilitation effect in English as an L2 will be investigated from two perspectives. First, the mechanisms associated with this effect will be investigated through experiments conducted in the framework of cognitive psychology. These studies will examine the effect of L2 proficiency, the effect of a prior instruction in L2 grapheme-phoneme conversion rules, and the timing (simultaneity vs. sequentiality in the presentation of phonological and orthographic information) associated with the orthographic facilitation effect. Another set of studies will investigate the extent to which 'orthographic expectations' can be generated in L2. These spelling expectations, demonstrated in the L1, could play a role and help us to understand the role of spelling in lexical learning in the L2. Secondly, the work of didacticians, specialists in the teaching of English, will, firstly, make an inventory of classroom teaching practices related to this issue, and study the ways in which teachers can appropriate the teaching of correspondences between spelling and phonology in English in classroom situations and test its effectiveness.