How English orthographic proficiency modulates visual attention span in Italian learners with and without dyslexia

Abstract

Visual attention span (VAS) is defined as the number of visual elements processed simultaneously in a multi-element array and is causally related to reading skills. VAS skills are influenced by orthographic depth, such that reading opaque orthographies boosts the VAS. Such orthography-specific VAS modulations are subject to crosslinguistic interactions in early bilinguals, leading to advantages (bootstrapping) associated with learning to read in an opaque orthography. This study aims to assess whether a bootstrapping effect in VAS also appears in L2 learners. Ninety speakers of Italian (transparent orthography) learning English were recruited (Age Mean = 17.14), including twenty-nine with a formal dyslexia diagnosis. Our results show that the VAS capacity of typical readers is modulated by English orthographic knowledge, providing first evidence that experience with a non-native orthography boosts VAS skills in L2 learners. This effect was reduced in dyslexic L2 learners, probably due to a VAS deficit.