Can orthographic knowledge modify phonological knowledge? : data from a study of portuguese children's syllabifications and their relationship with schooling

Abstract

In this study, we examine the relationship between orthographic knowledge and phonological knowledge. A group of 42 Portuguese children was screened during their first two years of schooling. Data suggest that children's exposure to orthographic rules modifies specific features of their phonological knowledge: /S/+Obstruent sequences are segmented preferably as homosyllabic at an early stage of schooling, but as heterosyllabic – in accordance with Portuguese orthography – after one year of formal learning of orthographic rules. This change is discussed here from the perspective of the homogeneity/heterogeneity debate and the permeability of the subjects' "knowledge of language" to cultural experience, two topics which Prof. Slama-Cazacu’s work deals with very often.