scholarly journals Developmental differences in perceptual anticipation underlie different sensitivities to coarticulatory dynamics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Stella KRÜGER ◽  
Aude NOIRAY

Abstract Anticipatory coarticulation is an indispensable feature of speech dynamics contributing to spoken language fluency. Research has shown that children speak with greater degrees of vowel anticipatory coarticulation than adults – that is, greater vocalic influence on previous segments. The present study examined how developmental differences in anticipatory coarticulation transfer to the perceptual domain. Using a gating paradigm, we tested 29 seven-year-olds and 93 German adult listeners with sequences produced by child and adult speakers, hence corresponding to low versus high vocalic anticipatory coarticulation degrees. First, children predicted vowel targets less successfully than adults. Second, greater perceptual accuracy was found for low compared to highly coarticulated speech. We propose that variations in coarticulation degrees reflect perceptually important differences in information dynamics and that listeners are more sensitive to fast changes in information than to a large amount of vocalic information spread across long segmental spans.

Languages ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Ronice Quadros ◽  
Diane Lillo-Martin

This paper presents an analysis of heritage signers: bimodal bilinguals, who are adult hearing children of Deaf parents who acquired sign language at home with their parents and the spoken language from the surrounding community. Analyzing heritage language with bimodal bilinguals who possess pairs of languages in different modalities provides a new kind of evidence for understanding the heritage language phenomenon as well as for theoretical issues regarding human language. Language production data were collected from four Brazilian bimodal bilinguals separately in both sign and speech, as well as from monolingual comparison Deaf signers and hearing speakers. The data were subsequently analyzed for various grammatical components. As with other types of heritage speakers, we observed a great degree of individual variation in the sign (heritage) language of balanced participants who patterned similarly to the monolingual signers, compared to those whose use of sign language differed greatly from monolinguals. One participant showed some weaknesses in the second (spoken) language. We approach the variation in language fluency in the two languages by considering the different contexts of language development and continuing use.


2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
Lyn Robertson

Abstract Learning to listen and speak are well-established preludes for reading, writing, and succeeding in mainstream educational settings. Intangibles beyond the ubiquitous test scores that typically serve as markers for progress in children with hearing loss are embedded in descriptions of the educational and social development of four young women. All were diagnosed with severe-to-profound or profound hearing loss as toddlers, and all were fitted with hearing aids and given listening and spoken language therapy. Compiling stories across the life span provides insights into what we can be doing in the lives of young children with hearing loss.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Andrea Bell ◽  
K. Todd Houston

To ensure optimal auditory development for the acquisition of spoken language, children with hearing loss require early diagnosis, effective ongoing audiological management, well fit and maintained hearing technology, and appropriate family-centered early intervention. When these elements are in place, children with hearing loss can achieve developmental and communicative outcomes that are comparable to their hearing peers. However, for these outcomes to occur, clinicians—early interventionists, speech-language pathologists, and pediatric audiologists—must participate in a dynamic process that requires careful monitoring of countless variables that could impact the child's skill acquisition. This paper addresses some of these variables or “red flags,” which often are indicators of both minor and major issues that clinicians may encounter when delivering services to young children with hearing loss and their families.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Montgomery

Abstract As increasing numbers of speech language pathologists (SLPs) have embraced their burgeoning roles in written as well as spoken language intervention, they have recognized that there is much to be gained from the research in reading. While some SLPs reportedly fear they will “morph” into reading teachers, many more are confidently aware that SLPs who work with adult clients routinely use reading as one of their rehabilitation modalities. Reading functions as both a tool to reach language in adults, and as a measure of successful therapy. This advanced cognitive skill can serve the same purpose for children. Language is the foundational support to reading. Consequently spoken language problems are often predictors of reading and writing challenges that may be ahead for the student (Juel & Deffes, 2004; Moats, 2001; Wallach, 2004). A targeted review of reading research may assist the SLP to appreciate the language/reading interface.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 81-88
Author(s):  
Sandy K. Bowen ◽  
Silvia M. Correa-Torres

America's population is more diverse than ever before. The prevalence of students who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD) has been steadily increasing over the past decade. The changes in America's demographics require teachers who provide services to students with deafblindness to have an increased awareness of different cultures and diversity in today's classrooms, particularly regarding communication choices. Children who are deafblind may use spoken language with appropriate amplification, sign language or modified sign language, and/or some form of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).


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