For as long as she can remember, University of Tasmania graduate Emilia Hawkey (pictured) has been fascinated by spelling and language.
Her enthusiasm for letters and words went beyond just an interest to better understanding the mechanics behind how spelling and language are acquired.
“Language is inherently beautiful to me,” the 2021 College of Health and Medicine valedictorian said.
“For as long as I can remember, letters and numbers have evoked vibrant experiences of colour in my mind’s eye – a form of cross-modal processing in the brain known as grapheme-colour synesthesia.”
In grapheme-colour synaesthesia, there is an unusually strong connection between the parts of the brain that process colour and those that process letters and numbers. This creates a filter-like experience of colour when reading, writing, or thinking about letters and numbers. For example, the letter A or the number 4 always fill Emilia’s mind with explosions of bright red.
Learning to spell in such an intricate language as English requires knowledge of many types of patterns, such as those about letter-sound relationships, letter combinations and grammar. The experience of synaesthesia accentuates these patterns, through which spelling patterns and words become mental artworks.
It is the science behind how the brain processes spelling and language that drove Emilia’s passion, and she will graduate with a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours at the December ceremony.
“My mum teaches psychology and English, and I remember picking up her textbook in early high school and being fascinated by how the brain works,” Emilia said.
“It’s what has really driven me during my studies, and particularly in pursuing the psychology of language.
“The psychology of spelling development is highly understudied, and very little is known about what influences people when they are learning to spell.
“Knowing how to spell, and being able to interact well with language, is vital in our everyday lives.”
Next year, Emilia will embark on her PhD, looking at the psychology of spelling development.
“In Tasmania we have low levels of functional literacy, where people can really struggle to use written language, even in day-to-day settings,” she said.
“If we can better understand the psychology behind how people learn how to spell, we can create tools and strategies to assist with literacy development.”