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Free keywords:
mismatch negativity (MMN); illiteracy; auditory phoneme discrimination; phonological awareness
Abstract:
These days, illiteracy is still a major problem. There is empirical evidence that auditory phoneme
discrimination is one of the factors contributing to written language acquisition. The current study
investigated auditory phoneme discrimination in participants who did not acquire written language
sufficiently. Auditory phoneme discrimination was analyzed in illiterate adults and literate controls by
recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while participants listened to standard and deviant
phonemes (oddball paradigm). The results showed that only literate controls yielded mismatch negativity
(MMN), the characteristic ERP marker for auditory discrimination. In illiterates, no discernible MMN
was observed. These findings indicate the importance of written language acquisition for the develop-
ment and maintenance of auditory phoneme discrimination. The reduced ability in discriminating
phonemes in adult illiterates suggests potential training measures concerning literacy acquisition in these
adults.
