scholarly journals The Role of Native Language and the Fundamental Design of the Auditory System in Detecting Rhythm Changes

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Leona Polyanskaya ◽  
David Maximiliano Gómez ◽  
Arthur G. Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Rhythmic Pattern ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Regular Rhythm ◽  
Fundamental Design

Purpose We investigated whether rhythm discrimination is mainly driven by the native language of the listener or by the fundamental design of the human auditory system and universal cognitive mechanisms shared by all people irrespective of rhythmic patterns in their native language. Method In multiple experiments, we asked participants to listen to 2 continuous acoustic sequences and to determine whether their rhythms were the same or different (AX discrimination). Participants were native speakers of 4 languages with different rhythmic properties (Spanish, French, English, and German) to understand whether the predominant rhythmic patterns of a native language affect sensitivity, bias, and reaction time in detecting rhythmic changes in linguistic (Experiment 2) and in nonlinguistic (Experiments 1 and 2) acoustic sequences. We examined sensitivity and bias measures, as well as reaction times. We also computed Bayes factors in order to assess the effect of native language. Results All listeners performed better (i.e., responded faster and manifested higher sensitivity and accuracy) when detecting the presence or absence of a rhythm change when the 1st stimulus in an AX test pair exhibited regular rhythm (i.e., a syllable-timed rhythmic pattern) than when the 1st stimulus exhibited irregular rhythm (i.e., stress-timed rhythmic pattern). This result pattern was observed both on linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli and was not modulated by the native language of the participant. Conclusion We conclude that rhythm change detection is a fundamental function of a processing system that relies on general auditory mechanisms and is not modulated by linguistic experience.

Processing of Spanish Preterite Regular and Irregular Verbs: The Role of Neighborhood Density

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Rodríguez-González
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Irregular Verbs

Research into lexical processes shows that frequency and phonological similarity (neighborhood density) affect word processing and retrieval. Previous studies on inflectional morphology have examined the influence of frequency of occurrence in speech production on the inflectional verb paradigm in English. Limited work has been done to examine the influence of phonological similarity in languages with a more complex morphological system than English. The present study examined the influence of neighborhood density on the processing of Spanish Preterite regular and irregular verbs as produced by thirty native speakers of Spanish. The results of a naming task showed that regular verbs were processed faster and more accurately than irregular ones. Similar to what has been observed in English, a facilitative effect of neighborhood density for –ir verbs was observed in both regular and irregular verbs, such that –ir verbs with dense neighborhoods were produced faster and more accurately than –ir verbs with sparse neighborhoods. However, no neighborhood density effects were observed for –ar verbs (regular and irregular) in reaction times and accuracy rates. Thus, the activation of a specific –ir verb was facilitated by similar sounding verbs regardless of being regular and irregular. Implications for models of morphology language processing are discussed.

Learning to assign stress in a second language: The role of second-language vocabulary size and transfer from the native language in second-language readers of Italian

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-136
Author(s):  
Giacomo Spinelli ◽  
Luciana Forti ◽  
Debra Jared
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Stress Assignment ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Distributional Information ◽  
Written Word

AbstractLearning to pronounce a written word implies assigning a stress pattern to that word. This task can present a challenge for speakers of languages like Italian, in which stress information must often be computed from distributional properties of the language, especially for individuals learning Italian as a second language (L2). Here, we aimed to characterize the processes underlying the development of stress assignment in native English and native Chinese speakers learning L2 Italian. Both types of bilinguals produced evidence supporting a role of vocabulary size in modulating the type of distributional information used in stress assignment, with an early bias for Italian's dominant stress pattern being gradually replaced by use of associations between orthographic sequences and stress patterns in more advanced bilinguals. We also obtained some evidence for a transfer of stress assignment habits from the bilinguals’ native language to Italian, although only in English native speakers.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF NATIVE LANGUAGE PHONOLOGY IN THE PRODUCTION OF L2 CONTRASTS

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Eckman ◽  
Gregory K. Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Crucial Difference ◽  
Error Types

We present findings of an investigation into the acquisition of the English /s/–/ʃ/ contrast by native speakers of Korean and Japanese. Both of these languages have the phones [s] and [ʃ], and both languages exhibit a pattern—or motivate a rule—whereby /s/ is realized as [ʃ] before the vowel [i] and the glide [j]—that is, high front vocoids. The crucial difference, and the focus of this study, is that in Korean [s] and [ʃ] are allophones of /s/, whereas in Japanese the two sounds arguably instantiate different phonemes. We present production data showing that the differences in the functioning of [s] and [ʃ] in the second language learner’s native language have different consequences for the acquisition patterns and the error types produced in the learning of this contrast.

TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE: NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE PERSPECTIVES. Claus Gnutzmann (Ed.). Tüumbingen, Germany: Stauffenburg Verlag, 2000. Pp. 312. DM 96, cloth.

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-131
Author(s):  
Margie Berns
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Learning English

This collection originated from a conference held in Braunschweig, Germany, in June 1998 at which participants were invited to analyze the role of English as a global language and to develop research perspectives for its teaching and learning. Written by nonnative as well as native speakers of English (working in English-speaking countries where English is not a native language), the articles provide a basis for consideration of whether “the concept of English as a global language is assessed differently by experts depending upon whether they are native or non-native speakers of English and if so, to what extent” (Introduction).

Word and pseudoword superiority effects: Evidence from a shallow orthography language

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 1911-1920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Ripamonti ◽  
Claudio Luzzatti ◽  
Pierluigi Zoccolotti ◽  
Daniela Traficante
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Letter Position ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Superiority Effect ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Current State ◽  
Shallow Orthography

The word superiority effect (WSE) denotes better recognition of a letter embedded in a word rather than in a pseudoword. Along with WSE, also a pseudoword superiority effect (PSE) has been described: It is easier to recognise a letter in a legal pseudoword than in an unpronounceable nonword. At the current state of the art, both WSE and PSE have been mainly tested with English speakers. This study uses the Reicher–Wheeler paradigm with native speakers of Italian (a shallow orthography language). Different from English and French, we found WSE for reaction times (RTs) only, whereas PSE was significant for both accuracy and RTs. This finding indicates that in the Reicher–Wheeler task, readers of a shallow orthography language can effectively rely on both the lexical and the sublexical routes. As to the effect of letter position, a clear advantage for the first-letter position emerged, a finding suggesting a fine-grained processing of the letter strings with coding of letter position and indicating the role of visual acuity and crowding factors.

scholarly journals Toddlers learn words in a foreign language: the role of native vocabulary knowledge

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
MELISSA KOENIG ◽  
AMANDA L. WOODWARD
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
Conventional System ◽  
English Speaking

ABSTRACTThe current study examined monolingual English-speaking toddlers' (N=50) ability to learn word–referent links from native speakers of Dutch versus English, and second, whether children generalized or sequestered their extensions when terms were tested by a subsequent speaker of English. Overall, children performed better in the English than in the Dutch condition; however, children with high native vocabularies successfully selected the target object for terms trained in fluent Dutch. Furthermore, children with higher vocabularies did not indicate their comprehension of Dutch terms when subsequently tested by an English speaker whereas children with low vocabulary scores responded at chance levels to both the original Dutch speaker and the second English speaker. These findings demonstrate that monolingual toddlers with proficiency in their native language are capable of learning words outside of their conventional system and may be sensitive to the boundaries that exist between language systems.

scholarly journals ‘Seeing tunes.’ The role of visual gestures in tune interpretation

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Borràs-Comes ◽  
Pilar Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Pitch Range ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Facial Gestures ◽  
Audiovisual Processing

AbstractOne of the unresolved questions in audiovisual prosody is the relative contribution of acoustic and visual cues to the expression of prosodic meaning. Though the majority of studies on audiovisual prosody have found a complementary mode of processing whereby sight provides relatively weak and redundant information in comparison with strong auditory cues, other work has found that sight provides information more efficiently than hearing. In Catalan, a pitch range contrast in a rising-falling nuclear configuration conveys a difference between a contrastive focus statement and an echo question. The main goal of this study is to investigate the relative contribution of visual cues in conveying this distinction. Twenty native speakers of Central Catalan participated in two identification tasks in which they had to decide between a focus statement and a question interpretation. Experiment 1 used a pitch range auditory continuum combined with two congruent and incongruent videotapes showing the facial gestures that are characteristic of the two pragmatic meanings. Experiment 2 used the same auditory continuum in combination with another continuum for facial gestures produced using a digital image-morphing technique. The responses and reaction times obtained in both experiments revealed a consistent reliance on visual cues in the listener's decisions, but also a consistent effect of the auditory stimulus. We argue that although facial gestures are the most influential elements that Catalan listeners rely on to decide between contrastive focus and echo question interpretations, bimodal integration with the acoustic cues is necessary for perceptual processing to be accurate and fast. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for models of audiovisual processing.

scholarly journals Isomorphism and language-specific devices in comprehension of Korean suffixal passive construction by Mandarin-speaking learners of Korean

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyu-Ho Shin ◽  
Sun Hee Park
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
The Other ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Case Marking

Abstract Across languages, a passive construction is known to manifest a misalignment between the typical order of event composition (agent-before-theme) and the actual order of arguments in the constructions (theme-before-agent), dubbed non-isomorphic mapping. This study investigates comprehension of a suffixal passive construction in Korean by Mandarin-speaking learners of Korean, focusing on isomorphism and language-specific devices in the passive. We measured learners’ judgment of the acceptability of canonical and scrambled suffixal passives as well as their reaction times (relative to a canonical active transitive). Our analysis generated three major findings. First, learners uniformly preferred the canonical passive to the scrambled passive. Second, as proficiency increased, the judgment gap between the canonical active transitive and the canonical suffixal passive narrowed, but the gap between the canonical active transitive and the scrambled suffixal passive did not. Third, learners (and even native speakers) spent more time in judging the acceptability of the canonical suffixal passive than they did in the other two construction types. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the mapping nature involving a passive voice, indicated by language-specific devices (i.e., case-marking and verbal morphology dedicated to Korean passives), in L2 acquisition.

scholarly journals Statistical Speech Segmentation in Tone Languages: The Role of Lexical Tones

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Gómez ◽  
Peggy Mok ◽  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Jacques Mehler ◽  
Marina Nespor
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Transitional Probabilities ◽  
Lexical Processes

Research has demonstrated distinct roles for consonants and vowels in speech processing. For example, consonants have been shown to support lexical processes, such as the segmentation of speech based on transitional probabilities (TPs), more effectively than vowels. Theory and data so far, however, have considered only non-tone languages, that is to say, languages that lack contrastive lexical tones. In the present work, we provide a first investigation of the role of consonants and vowels in statistical speech segmentation by native speakers of Cantonese, as well as assessing how tones modulate the processing of vowels. Results show that Cantonese speakers are unable to use statistical cues carried by consonants for segmentation, but they can use cues carried by vowels. This difference becomes more evident when considering tone-bearing vowels. Additional data from speakers of Russian and Mandarin suggest that the ability of Cantonese speakers to segment streams with statistical cues carried by tone-bearing vowels extends to other tone languages, but is much reduced in speakers of non-tone languages.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document