一項(xiàng)刊登在PNAS上的研究報(bào)告指出,，增加字母間距能顯著改善誦讀困難兒童的閱讀速度和準(zhǔn)確性。Marco Zorzi及其同事研究了8到14歲之間的54位意大利的和40位法國的誦讀困難兒童,，檢測了字母間距對受試者閱讀能力的影響。這些兒童被要求閱讀含有24個(gè)短句的一個(gè)文本,，這些短句以標(biāo)準(zhǔn)間距或者增加的字母間距加以呈現(xiàn),。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)表明特寬的字母間距讓文本閱讀的準(zhǔn)確性加倍，并且增加了閱讀速度20%以上,，達(dá)到了大約每秒0.3個(gè)音節(jié),。
誦讀困難者受到“擁擠”的非正常影響，這種現(xiàn)象是指當(dāng)一個(gè)字母被其他字母包圍而不是單獨(dú)呈現(xiàn)的時(shí)候,，它更讓人難以辨認(rèn),。擁擠阻礙了字母識別，而字母識別是所有字母語言閱讀的最初的一步,。這組科研人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，字母之間的額外間距為識別字母困難最大的兒童提供了最多的收益。意大利和法國誦讀困難兒童所獲得的類似的改善水平強(qiáng)化了一個(gè)觀念,，即增加了的間距影響字母的識別,，這個(gè)過程被認(rèn)為在各個(gè)語言中是相同的。
這組作者說,，特寬的字母間距為改善誦讀困難兒童的文本閱讀能力提供一種簡單有效的方法,，而且可能鼓勵(lì)誦讀困難兒童去閱讀，后者是矯正的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵性挑戰(zhàn),。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1073/pnas.1205566109
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Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexia
Marco Zorzia,1,2, Chiara Barbierob,1, Andrea Facoettia,c,1, Isabella Lonciarib, Marco Carrozzib, Marcella Monticod, Laura Bravarb, Florence Georgee, Catherine Pech-Georgele, and Johannes C. Zieglerf
Although the causes of dyslexia are still debated, all researchers agree that the main challenge is to find ways that allow a child with dyslexia to read more words in less time, because reading more is undisputedly the most efficient intervention for dyslexia. Sophisticated training programs exist, but they typically target the component skills of reading, such as phonological awareness. After the component skills have improved, the main challenge remains (that is, reading deficits must be treated by reading more—a vicious circle for a dyslexic child). Here, we show that a simple manipulation of letter spacing substantially improved text reading performance on the fly (without any training) in a large, unselected sample of Italian and French dyslexic children. Extra-large letter spacing helps reading, because dyslexics are abnormally affected by crowding, a perceptual phenomenon with detrimental effects on letter recognition that is modulated by the spacing between letters. Extra-large letter spacing may help to break the vicious circle by rendering the reading material more easily accessible.
