Research on Orthographic Learning Laboratory

Research on Orthographic Learning Laboratory

In the Research on Orthographic Learning Lab (ROLL), we investigate factors that potentially affect the development of reading and writing. One major focus is on how children develop orthographic knowledge (i.e., knowledge regarding the systematic manner in which we represent spoken language in writing). Ongoing studies deal with how children acquire the mental images of written words (mental graphemic representations) as well as how best to assess and instruct children in the development of spelling. Although orthography is a major focus of investigations, we also study other factors known to affect reading and writing, such as morphological awareness, or the conscious knowledge of the smallest units of meaning in language. These studies are conducted to further inform developmental theory about written language and how best to assess and instruct or intervene written language abilities.