This article replies to H. Stevenson (1984), who has interpreted his cross-linguistic studies as showing that differences in orthographies do not materially affect the reading-acquisition process, or the prognosis for successful learning. The reply proceeds by analyzing differences in the formatives and combinatorial principles of varying scripts, and differences in learning consequent on these. Stevenson's results are shown to derive from a faulty interpretation of comparisons among learning rates of Japanese, Chinese, and American learners.
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