How Does Early Brain Organization Promote Language Acquisition in Humans?

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Dehaene-Lambertz ◽  
L. Hertz-Pannier ◽  
J. Dubois ◽  
S. Dehaene
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Word Segmentation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Verbal Stimuli ◽  
Neuro Imaging ◽  
First Year Of Life

Speech processing in adults relies on precise and specialized networks, located primarily in the left hemisphere. Behavioural studies in infants indicate that a considerable amount of language learning already takes place in the first year of life in the domains of phonology, prosody, and word segmentation. Thanks to the progress of neuro-imaging, we can move beyond behavioural methods and examine how the infant’s brain processes verbal stimuli before learning. These studies reveal a structural and functional organization close to what is described in adults and suggest a strong bias for speech processing in these regions that might guide infants in the discovery of the properties of their native language, although no evidence can be provided as yet for speech specificity of such networks.

scholarly journals Developmental Trajectory of Audiovisual Speech Integration in Early Infancy. A Review of Studies Using the McGurk Paradigm

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Tomalski
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
First Year ◽  
Audiovisual Speech ◽  
Perceptual Development ◽  
Phonological Knowledge ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Age Related ◽  
First Year Of Life

Abstract Apart from their remarkable phonological skills young infants prior to their first birthday show ability to match the mouth articulation they see with the speech sounds they hear. They are able to detect the audiovisual conflict of speech and to selectively attend to articulating mouth depending on audiovisual congruency. Early audiovisual speech processing is an important aspect of language development, related not only to phonological knowledge, but also to language production during subsequent years. Th is article reviews recent experimental work delineating the complex developmental trajectory of audiovisual mismatch detection. Th e central issue is the role of age-related changes in visual scanning of audiovisual speech and the corresponding changes in neural signatures of audiovisual speech processing in the second half of the first year of life. Th is phenomenon is discussed in the context of recent theories of perceptual development and existing data on the neural organisation of the infant ‘social brain’.

No perceptual reorganization for Limburgian tones? A cross-linguistic investigation with 6- to 12-month-old infants

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEFANIE RAMACHERS ◽  
SUSANNE BROUWER ◽  
PAULA FIKKERT
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Year ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Visual Habituation ◽  
Degree Of Similarity

AbstractDespite the fact that many of the world's languages use lexical tone, the majority of language acquisition studies has focused on non-tone languages. Research on tone languages has typically investigated well-known tone languages such as Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. The current study looked at a Limburgian dialect of Dutch that uses lexical pitch differences, albeit in a rather restricted way. Using a visual habituation paradigm, 6- to 12-month-old Limburgian and Dutch infants were tested for their ability to discriminate Limburgian tones. The results showed that both Limburgian and Dutch infants discriminate the Limburgian tones throughout their first year of life. The role of linguistic experience, acoustic salience, and the degree of similarity to the native prosodic system are discussed.

scholarly journals When too many vowels impede language processing: An eye-tracking study of Danish-learning children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Trecca ◽  
Dorthe Bleses ◽  
Anders Højen ◽  
Thomas O. Madsen ◽  
Morten H. Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Word Segmentation ◽  
Word Boundary ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Word Boundaries

Research has suggested that Danish-learning children lag behind in early language acquisition. The phenomenon has been attributed to the opaque phonetic structure of Danish, which features an unusually large number of non-consonantal sounds (i.e., vowels and semivowels/glides). The large amount of vocalic sounds in speech is thought to provide fewer cues to word segmentation and to make language processing harder, thus hindering the acquisition process. In this study, we explored whether the presence of vocalic sounds at word boundaries impedes real-time speech processing in 24-month-old Danish-learning children, compared to word boundaries that are marked by consonantal sounds. Using eye-tracking, we tested children’s real-time comprehension of known consonant-initial and vowel-initial words, when presented in either a consonant-final carrier phrase or in a vowel-final carrier phrase, thus resulting in the four boundary types C#C, C#V, V#C, and V#V. Our results showed that the presence of vocalic sounds around a word boundary—especially before—impedes processing of Danish child-directed sentences.

scholarly journals When Too Many Vowels Impede Language Processing: An Eye-Tracking Study of Danish-Learning Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 898-918
Author(s):  
Fabio Trecca ◽  
Dorthe Bleses ◽  
Anders Højen ◽  
Thomas O Madsen ◽  
Morten H Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Word Segmentation ◽  
Word Boundary ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Word Boundaries

Research has suggested that Danish-learning children lag behind in early language acquisition. The phenomenon has been attributed to the opaque phonetic structure of Danish, which features an unusually large number of non-consonantal sounds (i.e., vowels and semivowels/glides). The large number of vocalic sounds in speech is thought to provide fewer cues to word segmentation and to make language processing harder, thus hindering the acquisition process. In this study, we explored whether the presence of vocalic sounds at word boundaries impedes real-time speech processing in 24-month-old Danish-learning children, compared to word boundaries that are marked by consonantal sounds. Using eye-tracking, we tested children’s real-time comprehension of known consonant-initial and vowel-initial words when presented in either a consonant-final carrier phrase or in a vowel-final carrier phrase, thus resulting in the four boundary types C#C, C#V, V#C, and V#V. Our results showed that the presence of vocalic sounds around a word boundary—especially before—impedes processing of Danish child-directed sentences.

scholarly journals Analysis of Language Learning Strategies Used by Students of Traffic Technology

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 209-221
Author(s):  
Violeta Jurkovič
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language Learning Strategies ◽  
First Year Students

Language learning strategies play a vital role in the language acquisition process, and this includes the realm of ESP at the tertiary level of education. This contribution first defines the concept of language learning strategies and gives a historical background to language learning strategy research. The central section focuses on a comparative analysis of language learning strategies used by first year students of traffic technology at the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport in Portorož, University of Ljubljana. The analysis, based on Rebecca Oxford’s “Strategy Inventory for Language Learning”, aims to assess the students’ existing awareness of the process of language acquisition and the learning strategies that they use. Objectives of language teachers should include helping students to raise their awareness of language learning strategies and providing them with contexts for their development. Therefore, the concluding section contains sample ESP teaching materials and student instructions focusing on cognitive language learning strategies. 

Social Interaction in Infancy

2021 ◽  
pp. 27-46
Author(s):  
Tobias Schuwerk ◽  
Hannes Rakoczy
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Early Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Shared Intentionality ◽  
Intentional Agents ◽  
First Year Of Life

The present chapter reviews the early development of various forms of social cognition guiding social interaction in infancy. There is wide agreement that very early in the first year of life infants reveal remarkable sensitivity to social information, and engage in remarkable forms of contingent social interaction. It is equally undisputed that towards the end of the first year of life infants begin to operate with basic forms of folk psychology, understanding others and themselves as intentional agents who perceive their surroundings and act intentionally, and that from their second year on infants engage in shared intentionality with others. What is controversial, however, is whether infants already operate with fully fledged meta-representational Theory of Mind, or whether this capacity develops in more protracted ways, depending on language acquisition and cultural experience. This chapter reviews theoretical debates and empirical findings related to this controversy in detail.

scholarly journals When too many vowels impede language processing: An eye-tracking study of Danish-learning children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Trecca ◽  
Dorthe Bleses ◽  
Anders Højen ◽  
Thomas O. Madsen ◽  
Morten H. Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Word Segmentation ◽  
Word Boundary ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Word Boundaries

Research has suggested that Danish-learning children lag behind in early language acquisition. The phenomenon has been attributed to the opaque phonetic structure of Danish, which features an unusually large number of non-consonantal sounds (i.e., vowels and semivowels/glides). The large amount of vocalic sounds in speech is thought to provide fewer cues to word segmentation and to make language processing harder, thus hindering the acquisition process. In this study, we explored whether the presence of vocalic sounds at word boundaries impedes real-time speech processing in 24-month-old Danish-learning children, compared to word boundaries that are marked by consonantal sounds. Using eye-tracking, we tested children’s real-time comprehension of known consonant-initial and vowel-initial words, when presented in either a consonant-final carrier phrase or in a vowel-final carrier phrase, thus resulting in the four boundary types C#C, C#V, V#C, and V#V. Our results showed that the presence of vocalic sounds around a word boundary—especially before—impedes processing of Danish child-directed sentences.

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