Abstract
<p>Skilled reading relies on orthographic representations that compete during visual word recognition, and the establishment of these orthographic representations is assumed to depend on phonological recoding. This study investigated whether orthographic learning, both lexical configuration and lexical engagement, can occur in the absence of well-defined phonological representations. We compared deaf (N = 26) and hearing (N= 26) adults matched for age and education as they learned novel written words paired with unfamiliar object through visual exposure in a picture–word matching task. Learning was assessed through three tasks: a delayed picture–word matching task (measuring orthographic–semantic associations), a spelling recognition task (measuring lexical configuration), and a masked priming lexical decision task (measuring lexical engagement). Results showed that both groups acquired and retained new orthographic–semantic associations, although retention was weaker in the deaf group. No significant group differences were found in spelling recognition, indicating that accurate orthographic representations can form without phonological input. Neither group showed evidence of lexical competition in the masked priming task, suggesting that full lexical integration had not occurred. Overall, these findings suggest that while phonological access may support some aspects of word learning like retaining orthographic-semantic associations, it is not necessary for the initial acquisition of orthographic representations.</p>