The role of infant speech perception capacities in discovering the sound structure of the native language

1997 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 3192-3192
Author(s):  
Peter W. Jusczyk
Author(s):  
Suzanne Curtin ◽  
Janet F. Werker

Phonological development involves learning the organisation of the individual sound units, the syllable structure, the rhythm, and the phonotactics of the native language, and utilising these in both productive and receptive language. The initial work in phonological development focused exclusively on production, with detailed description of the onset of babbling and first words. This article examines how infant speech perception provides a foundation for acquiring the phonological system, and how production data and perception studies together can provide a more complete picture of the course of phonological development. The discussion begins with a review of key empirical findings that show how speech perception provides the foundation for phonological development. It then looks at language-general speech perception capabilities as evident in infants from birth through the first few months of life. The discussion also considers the ways in which the ambient language modifies infant speech perception; phonological and phonetic factors in word segmentation and word form recognition; the role of phonology in early lexical comprehension; and theories and models of phonological development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet F. WERKER

AbstractIn this article, I present a selective review of research on speech perception development and its relation to reference, word learning, and other aspects of language acquisition, focusing on the empirical and theoretical contributions that have come from my laboratory over the years. Discussed are the biases infants have at birth for processing speech, the mechanisms by which universal speech perception becomes attuned to the properties of the native language, and the extent to which changing speech perception sensitivities contribute to language learning. These issues are reviewed from the perspective of both monolingual and bilingual learning infants. Two foci will distinguish this from my previous reviews: first and foremost is the extent to which contrastive meaning and referential intent are not just shaped by, but also shape, changing speech perception sensitivities, and second is the extent to which infant speech perception is multisensory and its implications for both theory and methodology.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Archer ◽  
Suzanne Curtin ◽  
Linda Polka

1975 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Eilers ◽  
Fred D. Minifie

In three separate experiments using controlled natural stimuli and a high-amplitude sucking paradigm, infants' ability to detect differences between /s/ and /v/, /s/ and /∫/, and /s/ and /z/, respectively, was investigated. Evidence for discrimination was obtained for /s/ versus /v/ and /s/ versus /∫/ but not for /s/ versus /z/. Implications for a theory of infant speech perception are discussed.


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