scholarly journals Deficits in linguistic experience delay the development of mature speech perception abilities and of phonemic awareness

1994 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 3310-3310
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Linguistic Experience

The Influence of Phonemic Awareness Development on Acoustic Cue Weighting Strategies in Children's Speech Perception

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1184-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Mayo ◽  
James M. Scobbie ◽  
Nigel Hewlett ◽  
Daphne Waters
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Phoneme Segmentation ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Cue Weighting ◽  
Phoneme Blending ◽  
Children's Speech

In speech perception, children give particular patterns of weight to different acoustic cues (their cue weighting). These patterns appear to change with increased linguistic experience. Previous speech perception research has found a positive correlation between more analytical cue weighting strategies and the ability to consciously think about and manipulate segment-sized units (phonemic awareness). That research did not, however, aim to address whether the relation is in any way causal or, if so, then in which direction possible causality might move. Causality in this relation could move in 1 of 2 ways: Either phonemic awareness development could impact on cue weighting strategies or changes in cue weighting could allow for the later development of phonemic awareness. The aim of this study was to follow the development of these 2 processes longitudinally to determine which of the above 2 possibilities was more likely. Five-year-old children were tested 3 times in 7 months on their cue weighting strategies for a /so/-/∫o/ contrast, in which the 2 cues manipulated were the frequency of fricative spectrum and the frequency of vowel-onset formant transitions. The children were also tested at the same time on their phoneme segmentation and phoneme blending skills. Results showed that phonemic awareness skills tended to improve before cue weighting changed and that early phonemic awareness ability predicted later cue weighting strategies. These results suggest that the development of metaphonemic awareness may play some role in changes in cue weighting.

scholarly journals Abilities of phonological awareness in the context of cognitive development in preschool age

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Soňa Grofčíková ◽  
Monika Máčajová
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Diagnostic Tool ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Phonological Memory ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Initial Literacy

Abstract Phonological awareness is considered a key phenomenon having crucial position among abilities and processes which are important and responsible for the development of reading and writing (initial literacy). The paper deals with the significance and level of development of selected cognitive functions of a child in relation to the abilities of phonological awareness. The child’s current cognitive development is a predictor for certain level of phonological awareness. The paper is focused on a description of speech perception, language, oral vocabulary and phonological memory of children in preschool age. It is an output of the research project VEGA no. 1/0637/16 Development of a Diagnostic Tool to Assess the Level of Phonemic Awareness of Children in Preschool Age.

Cross-linguistic perception in infancy: early effects of linguistic experience

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Eilers ◽  
William J. Gavin ◽  
D. Kimbrough Oller
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Early Experience ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Speech Discrimination ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Speech Stimuli ◽  
Infant Speech Perception ◽  
Infant Speech ◽  
Early Effects

ABSTRACTThe possibility that early linguistic experience affects infant speech perception was investigated in a cross-linguistic study with naturally produced speech stimuli. Using the Visually Reinforced Infant Speech Discrimination paradigm, three contrasts were presented to Spanish-and English-learning infants 6–8 months of age. Both groups of infants showed statistically significant discrimination of two contrasts, English and Czech. Only the Spanish-learning infants provided evidence of discrimination of the Spanish contrast. The groups discriminated the English contrast at similarly high levels, but the Spanish-learning infants showed significantly higher performance than the English on both the Spanish and the Czech contrast. The results indicate that early experience does affect early discrimination, and further (since the stimuli were natural) that the effect may be of practical consequence in language learning.

Linguistic experience and infant speech perception: a reply to Jusczyk, Shea & Aslin (1984)

1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Eilers ◽  
D. Kimbrough Oller ◽  
Dale H. Bull ◽  
William J. Gavin
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Infant Speech Perception ◽  
Infant Speech

scholarly journals Linguistic effect on speech perception observed at the brainstem

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (35) ◽  
pp. 8716-8721 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Christina Zhao ◽  
Patricia K. Kuhl
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Experiential Effects

Linguistic experience affects speech perception from early infancy, as previously evidenced by behavioral and brain measures. Current research focuses on whether linguistic effects on speech perception can be observed at an earlier stage in the neural processing of speech (i.e., auditory brainstem). Brainstem responses reflect rapid, automatic, and preattentive encoding of sounds. Positive experiential effects have been reported by examining the frequency-following response (FFR) component of the complex auditory brainstem response (cABR) in response to sustained high-energy periodic portions of speech sounds (vowels and lexical tones). The current study expands the existing literature by examining the cABR onset component in response to transient and low-energy portions of speech (consonants), employing simultaneous magnetoencephalography (MEG) in addition to electroencephalography (EEG), which provide complementary source information on cABR. Utilizing a cross-cultural design, we behaviorally measured perceptual responses to consonants in native Spanish- and English-speaking adults, in addition to cABR. Brain and behavioral relations were examined. Results replicated previous behavioral differences between language groups and further showed that individual consonant perception is strongly associated with EEG-cABR onset peak latency. MEG-cABR source analysis of the onset peaks complimented the EEG-cABR results by demonstrating subcortical sources for both peaks, with no group differences in peak locations. Current results demonstrate a brainstem–perception relation and show that the effects of linguistic experience on speech perception can be observed at the brainstem level.

Development of categorical identification of native and non-native bilabial stops: infants, children and adults

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis K. Burnham ◽  
Lynda J. Earnshaw ◽  
John E. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
English Language ◽  
Categorical Perception ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Open Set ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
Speech Identification

ABSTRACTUsing an infant speech identification (ISI) procedure, English language environment infants, two- and six-year-old children, and adults were tested for their identification of sounds on a native (voiced/voiceless bilabial stop) and a non-native (prevoiced/voiced bilabial stop) speech continuum. Categorical perception of the two contrasts diverged as a function of age, increasing for the native contrast and decreasing for the non-native between two and six years. In Experiment 2, subjects of the same four ages were tested for their identification of a continuum of harmonic tones varying in pitch. Comparison of the results of Experiment i with the essentially continuous perception of this pitch continuum supports the view that the perception of the native contrast becomes more categorical with age, while perception of the non-native contrast becomes less categorical, especially at six years. Experiment 3, in which adults were tested on the three continua with a multi-trial open set procedure, demonstrated that results with the ISI procedure in Experiments 1 and 2 are comparable to results with more traditional methods. The results of the three experiments are discussed in terms of the role of specific linguistic experience in the development of categorical speech perception.

The Relation Between Speech Perception and Phonemic Awareness

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1059-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer
Keyword(s):  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Developmental Change ◽  
Chronic Otitis Media ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Perceptual Weighting

The Developmental Weighting Shift (DWS) suggests that children adjust the weights they assign to the acoustic parameters of the speech signal as they gain experience with a native language, and that this developmental shift in perceptual weighting strategies is related to another developmental change: increased sensitivity to the phonetic structure of the speech signal. To test these claims, children presumed to differ in the amount of linguistic experience they had received during their preschool years participated in two kinds of tasks: a labeling task designed to estimate differences among groups in the weights assigned to various acoustic parameters, and tasks of phonemic awareness. The experimental groups were children from low-socioeconomic (low-SES) backgrounds, children with histories of chronic otitis media (OM), and children who experienced both conditions. A control group of children who experienced neither of these conditions also participated. The hypotheses were that, because of their diminished linguistic experience, children in the three experimental groups would display both more immature weighting strategies and poorer phonemic awareness than children in the control group, and that developmental advance in perceptual weighting strategies and phonemic awareness would be correlated. Results indicated that children with histories of chronic OM performed more poorly on both kinds of tasks than did children in the control group, and low-SES children performed more poorly still. Children experiencing both low-SES and chronic OM performed no differently than the low-SES children. These results provide support for the claim that the development of mature perceptual weighting strategies for speech and of phonemic awareness are related. Support is also provided for the claim that both depend on receiving sufficient and appropriate experience with a native language during the preschool years.

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