scholarly journals Non-native phonemes in adult word learning: evidence from the N400m

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1536) ◽  
pp. 3697-3709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Dobel ◽  
Lothar Lagemann ◽  
Pienie Zwitserlood
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Learning Paradigm ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Lexical Activation ◽  
Semantic Access ◽  
Novel Words

Newborns are equipped with a large phonemic inventory that becomes tuned to one's native language early in life. We review and add new data about how learning of a non-native phoneme can be accomplished in adults and how the efficiency of word learning can be assessed by neurophysiological measures. For this purpose, we studied the acquisition of the voiceless, bilabial fricative /Φ/ via a statistical-learning paradigm. Phonemes were embedded in minimal pairs of pseudowords, differing only with respect to the fricative (/aΦo/ versus /afo/). During learning, pseudowords were combined with pictures of objects with some combinations of pseudowords and pictures occurring more frequently than others. Behavioural data and the N400m component, as an index of lexical activation/semantic access, showed that participants had learned to associate the pseudowords with the pictures. However, they could not discriminate within the minimal pairs. Importantly, before learning, the novel words with the sound /Φ/ showed smaller N400 amplitudes than those with native phonemes, evidencing their non-word status. Learning abolished this difference indicating that /Φ/ had become integrated into the native category /f/, instead of establishing a novel category. Our data and review demonstrate that native phonemic categories are powerful attractors hampering the mastery of non-native contrasts.

Attention and word learning in toddlers who are late talkers

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 1020-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELLE MACROY-HIGGINS ◽  
ELIZABETH A. MONTEMARANO
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Attention Allocation ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Auditory Comprehension ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Novel Words

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine attention allocation in toddlers who were late talkers and toddlers with typical language development while they were engaged in a word-learning task in order to determine if differences exist. Two-year-olds who were late talkers (11) and typically developing toddlers (11) were taught twelve novel pseudo-words for unfamiliar objects over ten training sessions. The toddlers' attention allocation during the word-learning sessions was measured as well as their comprehension of the newly learned words. Late talkers showed reduced attention allocation to objects during word-training sessions, and also comprehended fewer of the novel words than toddlers with typical language development. Attention allocation was found to be a stronger predictor of word learning as compared to cognition and auditory comprehension. Reduced attention allocation may contribute to the early lexical delay characteristic in late talkers.

The Type, but Not the Amount, of Information Available Influences Toddlers' Fast Mapping and Retention of New Words

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn W. Brady ◽  
Judith C. Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Fast Mapping ◽  
New Words ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Significant Rate ◽  
Mapping Task ◽  
Novel Words

Purpose The authors of this study examined whether the type and number of word-learning cues affect how children infer and retain word-meaning mappings and whether the use of these cues changes with age. Method Forty-eight 18- to 36-month-old children with typical language participated in a fast-mapping task in which 6 novel words were presented with 3 types of cues to the words' referents, either singly or in pairs. One day later, children were tested for retention of the novel words. Results By 24 months of age, children correctly inferred the referents of the novel words at a significant level. Children retained the meanings of words at a significant rate by 30 months of age. Children retained the first 3 of the 6 word-meaning mappings by 24 months of age. For both fast mapping and retention, the efficacy of different cue types changed with development, but children were equally successful whether the novel words were presented with 1 or 2 cues. Conclusion The type of information available to children at fast mapping affects their ability to both form and retain word-meaning associations. Providing children with more information in the form of paired cues had no effect on either fast mapping or retention.

Minimal-pair word learning by bilingual toddlers: the Catalan /e/-/ɛ/ contrast revisited

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTA RAMON-CASAS ◽  
CHRISTOPHER T. FENNELL ◽  
LAURA BOSCH
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Minimal Pair ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Phonetic Categories ◽  
Pair Word ◽  
Novel Words

Twelve-month-old bilingual and monolingual infants show comparable phonetic discrimination skills for vowels belonging to their native language/s. However, Catalan–Spanish bilingual toddlers, but not Catalan monolinguals, appear insensitive to a vowel mispronunciation in familiar words involving the Catalan–Specific /e/-/ɛ/ contrast. Here bilingual and monolingual toddlers were tested in a challenging minimal-pair word learning task involving that contrast (i.e., [bepi]-[bɛpi]). Both groups succeeded, suggesting that bilinguals can successfully use their phonetic categories to phonologically encode novel words. It is argued that bilinguals’ impoverished vowel representations in familiar words might be the result of experiential input factors (e.g., cognate words and mispronunciations due to accented speech).

Infants' acceptance of phonotactically illegal word forms as object labels

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1400-1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
ENA VUKATANA ◽  
SUZANNE CURTIN ◽  
SUSAN A. GRAHAM
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Training Phase ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Novel Words

AbstractWe investigated 16- and 20-month-olds' flexibility in mapping phonotactically illegal words to objects. Using an associative word-learning task, infants were presented with a training phase that either highlighted or did not highlight the referential status of a novel label. Infants were then habituated to two novel objects, each paired with a phonotactically illegal Czech word. When referential cues were provided, 16-, but not 20-month-olds, formed word–object mappings. In the absence of referential cues, infants of both ages failed to map the novel words. These findings illustrate the complex interplay between infants' developing sound system and their word learning abilities.

scholarly journals Nonverbal action interpretation guides novel word disambiguation in 12-month-olds

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Pomiechowska ◽  
Gergely Csibra
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
New Words ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Pragmatic Information ◽  
Distractor Object ◽  
Instrumental Action ◽  
Novel Words

Whether young infants can exploit socio-pragmatic information to interpret new words is a matter of debate. Based on findings and theories from the action interpretation literature, we hypothesized that 12-month-olds should distinguish communicative object-directed actions expressing reference from instrumental object-directed actions indicative of one’s goals, and selectively use the former to identify referents of novel linguistic expressions. This hypothesis was tested across four eye-tracking experiments. Infants watched pairs of unfamiliar objects, one of which was first targeted by either a communicative action (e.g., pointing) or an instrumental action (e.g., grasping) and then labeled with a novel word. As predicted, infants fast-mapped the novel words onto the targeted objects after pointing (Experiments 1 and 4) but not after grasping (Experiment 2) unless the grasping action was preceded by an ostensive signal (Experiment 3). Moreover, whenever infants mapped a novel word onto the object indicated by a communicative action, they tended to map a different novel word onto the distractor object, displaying a mutual exclusivity effect. This reliance on nonverbal action interpretation in the disambiguation of novel words indicates that socio-pragmatic inferences about reference likely supplement associative and statistical learning mechanisms from the outset of word learning.

Children's Word Learning Using Three Modes of Instruction

1996 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 779-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra L. Terrell ◽  
Raymond Daniloff
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Affective State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Video Display ◽  
Sound Track ◽  
Adult Reading ◽  
Novel Words

This study compared the effectiveness of computer video display tube, videotape, and live adult reading modes of instruction in teaching children vocabulary. The same pictured story was implemented in three modes, computer VDT display of still story pictures in color with an accompanying sound track, videotape presentation of the fully animated story, and a picture book whose pictures and narrative matched those of the VDT-computer mode. 78 normal preschool children were presented the story in one of three modes of instruction. The novel words to be learned were embedded in the story as nouns, verbs, and affective state adjectives. Postexposure tests of word recognition showed a small but significant advantage for live voice reading for two of three recognition tests. The VDT and videotape modes did not differ from each other in effectiveness.

scholarly journals Semantic and phonological schema influence spoken word learning and overnight consolidation

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1469-1481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktória Havas ◽  
JSH Taylor ◽  
Lucía Vaquero ◽  
Ruth de Diego-Balaguer ◽  
Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Initial Acquisition ◽  
Spoken Words ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Novel Words

We studied the initial acquisition and overnight consolidation of new spoken words that resemble words in the native language (L1) or in an unfamiliar, non-native language (L2). Spanish-speaking participants learned the spoken forms of novel words in their native language (Spanish) or in a different language (Hungarian), which were paired with pictures of familiar or unfamiliar objects, or no picture. We thereby assessed, in a factorial way, the impact of existing knowledge (schema) on word learning by manipulating both semantic (familiar vs unfamiliar objects) and phonological (L1- vs L2-like novel words) familiarity. Participants were trained and tested with a 12-hr intervening period that included overnight sleep or daytime awake. Our results showed (1) benefits of sleep to recognition memory that were greater for words with L2-like phonology and (2) that learned associations with familiar but not unfamiliar pictures enhanced recognition memory for novel words. Implications for complementary systems accounts of word learning are discussed.

Discourse coherence as a cue to reference in word learning: Evidence for discourse bootstrapping

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jess Sullivan ◽  
Juliana Boucher ◽  
Reina Kiefer ◽  
Katherine Williams ◽  
David Barner
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Temporal Relations ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Coherence Relations ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
Novel Words

Word learning depends critically on the use of linguistic context to constrain the likely meanings of words. However, the mechanisms by which children infer word meaning from linguistic context are still poorly understood. In the present study, we asked whether adults (n = 58) and 2- to 6-year-old children (n = 180) use discourse coherence relations (i.e., the meaningful relationships between elements within a discourse) to constrain their interpretation of novel words. Specifically, we showed participants videos of novel animals exchanging objects. These videos were accompanied by a linguistic description of the events in which we manipulated a single word within a sentence (and vs. because) in order to alter the causal and temporal relations between the events in the discourse (e.g., “One animal handed the baby to the other animal [and/because] the baby started crying in the talfa’s arms”). We then asked participants which animal (the giver or the receiver) was the referent of the novel word. Across two experiments, we found evidence that young children used the causal and temporal relations in each discourse to constrain their interpretations of novel words.

Two-year-olds differentially disambiguate novel words and facts

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
JASON SCOFIELD ◽  
DOUGLAS A. BEHREND
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Condition ◽  
Pragmatic Account ◽  
Learning Principles ◽  
Unfamiliar Object ◽  
Novel Words

ABSTRACTWhen presented with a pair of objects, one familiar and one unfamiliar, and asked to select the referent of a novel word, children reliably demonstrate the disambiguation effect and select the unfamiliar object. The current study investigated two competing word learning accounts of this effect: a pragmatic account and a word learning principles account. Two-, three- and four-year-olds were presented with four disambiguation conditions, a word/word, a word/fact, a fact/word and a fact/fact condition. A pragmatic account predicted disambiguation in all four conditions while a word learning principles account predicted disambiguation in the word/word and fact/word conditions. Results indicated that children disambiguated in word/word and fact/word conditions and two-year-olds disambiguated at above chance levels in the word/word condition but at below chance levels in the fact/fact condition. Because disambiguation varied both as a function of age and condition these findings are presented as challenges to a pragmatic account of the disambiguation effect.

Do word learners ignore ignorant speakers?

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 905-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK A. SABBAGH ◽  
SYLWIA D. WDOWIAK ◽  
JENNIFER M. OTTAWAY
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Base Line ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Knowledge States ◽  
Children First ◽  
Line Condition

Thirty-six three- to four-year-old children were tested to assess whether hearing a word-referent link from an ignorant speaker affected children's abilities to subsequently link the same word with an alternative referent offered by another speaker. In the principal experimental conditions, children first heard either an ignorant or a knowledgeable speaker link a novel word with one of three toys. The first speaker's labelling episode was followed by a second in which a different speaker used the same novel label but for a different toy. There was also a Base-line condition which was the same as the experimental condition involving the ignorant speaker except that she did not associate the novel label with a referent. When tested for comprehension of the novel label, children selected the FIRST speaker's toy at high levels when the first speaker was knowledgeable, but selected the SECOND speaker's toy when the first speaker was ignorant. These findings suggest that children's experience with the ignorant speaker did not affect their abilities to learn a subsequently presented alternative word-referent link. These findings are discussed in terms of understanding the mechanisms by which children adapt their word-learning in line with speakers' knowledge states.

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