Reading in two writing systems: Accommodation and assimilation of the brain's reading network

Bilingual reading can require more than knowing two languages. Learners must acquire also the writing conventions of their second language, which can differ in its deep mapping principles (writing system) and its visual configurations (script). We review ERP (event-related potential) and fMRI studies of both Chinese-English bilingualism and Chinese second language learning that bear on the system accommodation hypothesis: the neural networks acquired for one system must be modified to accommodate the demands of a new system. ERP bilingual studies demonstrate temporal indicators of the brain's experience with L1 and L2 and with the frequency of encounters of words in L2. ERP learning studies show that early visual processing differences between L1 and L2 diminish during a second term of study. fMRI studies of learning converge in finding that learners recruit bilateral occipital-temporal and also middle frontal areas when reading Chinese, similar to the pattern of native speakers and different from alphabetic reading. The evidence suggests an asymmetry: alphabetic readers have a neural network that accommodates the demands of Chinese by recruiting neural structures less needed for alphabetic reading. Chinese readers have a neural network that partly assimilates English into the Chinese system, especially in the visual stages of word identification. © Cambridge University Press 2007.published_or_final_versio

A fine-grained approach to scene text script identification

This paper focuses on the problem of script identification in unconstrained scenarios. Script identification is an important prerequisite to recognition, and an indispensable condition for automatic text understanding systems designed for multi-language environments. Although widely studied for document images and handwritten documents, it remains an almost unexplored territory for scene text images. We detail a novel method for script identification in natural images that combines convolutional features and the Naive-Bayes Nearest Neighbor classifier. The proposed framework efficiently exploits the discriminative power of small stroke-parts, in a fine-grained classification framework. In addition, we propose a new public benchmark dataset for the evaluation of joint text detection and script identification in natural scenes. Experiments done in this new dataset demonstrate that the proposed method yields state of the art results, while it generalizes well to different datasets and variable number of scripts. The evidence provided shows that multi-lingual scene text recognition in the wild is a viable proposition. Source code of the proposed method is made available online

The Phonological Process with Two Patterns of Simplified Chinese Characters

This paper analyzed word recognition in two patterns of Chinese characters, cross referenced with word frequency. The patterns were defined as uni-part (semantic radical/component only) and bi-part (including the phonetic radical/component and the semantic radical/component) characters. The interactions of semantic and phonological access in both patterns were inspected. It was observed that in the naming task and the pronunciation-matching task, the subject performance involving the uni-part characters showed longer RT than the bi-part characters. However, with the lexical decision and meaning-matching tasks the uni-part characters showed shorter RT than the bi-part characters. It was also observed that the frequency, which is regarded as a lexical variable, displayed a strong influence. This suggests that Chinese characters require lexical access in all tasks. This study also suggested that the phonological process is primary in visual word recognition; as there is a significant phonological effect in processing the Chinese bi-part characters, resulting in either the facilitation or inhibition of phonology due to the differing demands of the two task

Multimedia information technology and the annotation of video

The state of the art in multimedia information technology has not progressed to the point where a single solution is available to meet all reasonable needs of documentalists and users of video archives. In general, we do not have an optimistic view of the usability of new technology in this domain, but digitization and digital power can be expected to cause a small revolution in the area of video archiving. The volume of data leads to two views of the future: on the pessimistic side, overload of data will cause lack of annotation capacity, and on the optimistic side, there will be enough data from which to learn selected concepts that can be deployed to support automatic annotation. At the threshold of this interesting era, we make an attempt to describe the state of the art in technology. We sample the progress in text, sound, and image processing, as well as in machine learning

An aspect of the Japanese language in relation to dyslexia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Japanese at Massey University

These studies were conducted to examine the processing of two kinds of Japanese orthography, namely, kanji and hiragana by a group of dyslexic Subjects and Subjects in a control group of similar age, in order to ascertain the effectiveness of hemispheric specialization. An analysis of variance showed that in visual-learning there was a significant main effect for script type for both groups, F(l,36), = 28.125, p < .001. There was also significance for the dyslexic group in verbal-recall, F(l,36), = 13.15, p < .001. There was a significant interaction between group and script for direction-orientation with kanji showing higher correct responses, F(l,36), = 4.142, p < .05. These results confirmed expectations based on research and also identified left brain (Right Hemisphere) strengths. Thus it seems that a much closer examination of learning styles and modes of learning is crucial for the dyslexic group. Japanese brain lateralization, seen to differ from Western lateralization, appears to be linked with environment which is closely related to language type. This study is an investigation from a culture-specific perspective with a consideration of neurolinguistics in cerebral hemispheric lateralization. This is considered in view of the existence of certain difficulties with regard to reading and the possible influence of life-style and familial career selections to which those difficulties might accrue