Syllabic Length Effect in Visual Word Recognition by SLA Learners

Studies on visual word recognition have resulted in different and sometimes contradictory proposals as Multi-Trace Memory Model (MTM), Dual-Route Cascaded Model (DRC), and Parallel Distribution Processing Model (PDP). The role of the number of syllables in word recognition was examined by the use of five groups of English words and nonwords. The reaction time of the participants to these words was measured using reaction time measuring software. The results indicated that there was syllabic effect on recognition of both high and low frequency words. The pattern was incremental in terms of syllable number. This pattern prevailed in high and low frequency words and non-words except in one syllable words. In general, the results are in line with the PDP model which claims that a single processing mechanism is used in both words and non-words recognition. In other words, the findings suggest that lexical items are mainly processed via a lexical route. A pedagogical implication of the findings would be that reading in English as a foreign language involves analytical processing of the syllable of the words.