Visual Cognition of Contextual Allography: An Eye-Movement Study of the Interword Spacing Effect in Arabic
Visual (written) word demarcation can be marked by the use of interword spaces. In addition, the function of interword spaces to facilitate readability and word recognition has been reported in "spaced" languages (e.g., English) and "unspaced" (e.g., Chinese, Thai) languages. In the absence of interword spaces, readability is significantly determined by word frequency. In this seminar, Dr. Tommi Leung will discuss whether the interword spacing effect is manifested in Arabic, based on an eye-tracking experiment.
About the speaker
Dr. Tommi Leung is Associate Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Southern California and specializes in theoretical syntax, typology and psycholinguistics. He is a co-author of Emirati Arabic: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge).
