Comparing Phonetic Convergence in Children and Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 002383092110138
Author(s):  
Melissa Paquette-Smith ◽  
Jessamyn Schertz ◽  
Elizabeth K. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Social Preferences ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Canadian English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Australian English ◽  
New Community ◽  
Speech Imitation

Observations by sociolinguists suggest that when children relocate to a new community, they rapidly learn to imitate their peers, adopting the new local accent faster and more effectively than adults. However, few well-controlled laboratory experiments have been conducted comparing speech or accent imitation across ages. Here, we investigated Canadian English-speaking children’s and adults’ imitation of three model speakers: a Canadian English talker, an Australian English talker, and a non-native Mandarin English talker who learned English later in life. The speech of all three talkers was manipulated to have elongated voice onset time (VOT) on word initial stop consonants. The dependent measure was how much participants would lengthen their VOTs after exposure to one of the talkers in two paradigms: delayed shadowing (Experiment 1) and immediate shadowing (Experiment 2). We predicted that overall children would show more imitation than adults, particularly when imitating the Canadian English talker, given previous work on children’s social preferences. Although we did not observe age differences in either study, when shadowing was immediate, we found that imitation was influenced by the accent of the speaker, but not in the manner we predicted: both age groups imitated the Mandarin-accented model more strongly than the Canadian model. When shadowing was delayed, we observed no evidence of imitation. We discuss our findings in light of other recent work, and conclude that the development of speech imitation is an area ripe for further investigation.

Phonetic feature size in second language acquisition: Examining VOT in voiceless and voiced stops

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110089
Author(s):  
Daniel J Olson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonant ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Voiceless Stop ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Featural approaches to second language phonetic acquisition posit that the development of new phonetic norms relies on sub-phonemic features, expressed through a constellation of articulatory gestures and their corresponding acoustic cues, which may be shared across multiple phonemes. Within featural approaches, largely supported by research in speech perception, debate remains as to the fundamental scope or ‘size’ of featural units. The current study examines potential featural relationships between voiceless and voiced stop consonants, as expressed through the voice onset time cue. Native English-speaking learners of Spanish received targeted training on Spanish voiceless stop consonant production through a visual feedback paradigm. Analysis focused on the change in voice onset time, for both voiceless (i.e. trained) and voiced (i.e. non-trained) phonemes, across the pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. The results demonstrated a significant improvement (i.e. reduction) in voice onset time for voiceless stops, which were subject to the training paradigm. In contrast, there was no significant change in the non-trained voiced stop consonants. These results suggest a limited featural relationship, with independent voice onset time (VOT) cues for voiceless and voices phonemes. Possible underlying mechanisms that limit feature generalization in second language (L2) phonetic production, including gestural considerations and acoustic similarity, are discussed.

Development of L2 Spanish VOT before and after a brief pronunciation training session

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 402-434
Author(s):  
Katharina S. Schuhmann ◽  
Marie K. Huffman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Before And After ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Future Work

Abstract We present a study of the development of L2 stop VOT (voice onset time) in lower-level English-speaking learners of Spanish over the course of a college semester. Participants were recorded six times in two-week intervals. Halfway through the semester, students received a brief pronunciation training session with practice and feedback. Overall, the learners did not lower their L2 VOTs in the first half of the study, before pronunciation training. Following training, however, they lowered their mean VOTs for Spanish voiceless stops significantly. A similar effect was not found for their mean VOTs of Spanish voiced stops, in line with prior work suggesting that prevoicing may be harder to acquire. Yet careful examination suggests that learners are increasing the frequency with which they use prevoicing in Spanish, suggesting this metric might inform future work on L2 Spanish pronunciation development. This work has implications for teaching and research in second language pronunciation.

The Effects of Data Reduction in Determining the Schedule of Voicing Acquisition in Young Children

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine R. Hitchcock ◽  
Laura L. Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Data Reduction ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Recording Session ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Voicing Acquisition

Purpose In this study, multiple measures of voicing acquisition were used to evaluate the extent to which developmental patterns based on voice onset time (VOT) mean data differed from those based on token-by-token analyses in typically developing 2-year-olds. Method Multiple repetitions of words containing initial /b p d t/ were elicited from 10 English-speaking children biweekly for 4 months. VOT was measured for each stop. For each child, consonant, and recording session, means and ranges were obtained, as were measures of accuracy, discreteness, and overshoot calculated for session means and for individual tokens. Results The token-by-token analyses suggested lower accuracy and more category overlap than the session means and revealed an overshoot phase for all children. They also showed examples of both abrupt and gradual changes that were not always evident in the means. Measures of range, accuracy, discreteness, and overshoot all continued to change after statistically significant VOT differences were observed. Conclusions The findings suggest that some aspects of voicing development may not be evident in analyses that rely on VOT mean data and patterns of statistical significance. Token-by-token measures provide a more complete picture of stages of voicing development than those based solely on mean VOT values.

L2 Acquisition of Spanish VOT by English-Speaking Immigrants in Spain

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy L. Face ◽  
Mandy R. Menke
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Phonology ◽  
Long Time ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Considerable Individual Variation

AbstractPrevious studies of native English speakers learning Spanish as a second language (L2) document compromise voice onset time (VOT) values; however, the focus has been predominantly on voiceless stops and has almost exclusively investigated beginning and intermediate learners. This study fills a gap in the literature by considering the acquisition of VOT in both voiceless and voiced Spanish stops by long-time native English-speaking residents of Spain. Overall, the results show that the L2 speakers’ VOT values differ from those of native speakers across all stop consonants; yet L2 speakers’ productions of voiceless, as opposed to voiced, stops more closely approximate those of native speakers. Considerable individual variation is observed as no speaker achieves native-like performance overall, and no consonant is mastered by more than half of the speakers. Results are considered in light of what they contribute to our understanding of ultimate attainment of Spanish VOT, specifically, and L2 phonology more generally.

Maximizing the effect of visual feedback for pronunciation instruction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Olson ◽  
Heather M. Offerman
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Target Feature ◽  
Sequential Approach ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
L2 Spanish

Abstract Visual feedback, in which learners visually analyze acoustic speech characteristics, has been shown to significantly improve pronunciation, but extant research has varied widely with respect to the target feature, length of the intervention, and type of intervention. This study presents a comparative analysis of three methods of visual feedback for L2 segmental pronunciation instruction. These methods, all focused on training voice onset time for English-speaking learners of Spanish, differed in duration of instruction (i.e., short and long) and the nature of each intervention (i.e., phonemes presented simultaneously or sequentially). Results show that while all forms of visual feedback significantly improve L2 Spanish pronunciation, evidenced by a reduction in voice onset time, the greatest improvement was found following both longer treatments and a sequential approach. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

Speech discrimination in the language-innocent and the language-wise: a study in the perception of voice onset time

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Eilers ◽  
Wesley R. Wilson ◽  
John M. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Categorical Perception ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Speech Discrimination ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Innateness Hypothesis ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Time Continuum

ABSTRACTDiscrimination of synthetically produced stimuli differing along the voice onset time continuum was assessed for infants and adults within the context of the Visually Reinforced Infant Speech Discrimination (VRISD) paradigm. English-learning infants' discrimination abilities were compared with two groups of English-speaking adults (a phonetically naive and a phonetically sophisticated group). Contrary to the predictions of the innateness hypothesis, English-learning infants showed evidence of discrimination only across the English phoneme boundary. Adults, on the other hand, were very successful in discriminating both across and within a range of phoneme boundaries. These results are discussed in terms of the presumed relationship between categorical perception and linguistic processing and in terms of synthetic speech continua.

The use of voice onset time by early bilinguals to distinguish homorganic stops in Canadian English and Canadian French

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREA A. N. MACLEOD ◽  
CAROL STOEL-GAMMON
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Canadian English ◽  
Canadian French ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
French Words ◽  
Phonological Contrasts ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study was to examine the extent to which bilingual speakers maintain language-specific phonological contrasts for homorganic stops when a cue is shared across both languages. To this end, voice onset time (VOT) was investigated in three groups of participants: early bilinguals speakers of Canadian French and Canadian English (n = 8), monolingual speakers of Canadian English (n = 8), and monolingual speakers of Canadian French (n = 7). Three questions were targeted: What are the general patterns of VOT production in bilingual and monolinguals? Do bilingual speakers produce different mean VOT than monolinguals? Do bilingual speakers produce different variability in VOT than monolinguals? Acoustic measurements of VOT were made from monosyllabic English and French words with word-initial bilabial or coronal stop consonants. The results indicate that the early bilingual speakers maintain monolingual-like phonemic contrasts, but that they exhibit more variation within categories than monolingual speakers.

scholarly journals The inconspicuous substratum

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-192
Author(s):  
Robert Mailhammer ◽  
Stacey Sherwood ◽  
Hywel Stoakes
Keyword(s):  
Characteristic Feature ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Voicing Contrast ◽  
Closure Duration ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Termination Time

Abstract Descriptions of Australian Aboriginal English list the neutralisation of the Standard English contrast between so-called voiced and voiceless stops as one characteristic feature. This paper reports on the results of an acoustic analysis of data collected in a production task by monolingual speakers of Standard Australian English in Sydney, of Aboriginal English on Croker Island, Northern Territory, and bilingual speakers of Iwaidja/Aboriginal English and Kunwinjku/Aboriginal English on Croker Island. The results show that average values for Voice Onset Time, the main correlate of the “stop voicing contrast” in English, and Closure Duration collected from Aboriginal speakers of English do not significantly differ from that of speakers of Standard Australian English, irrespective of language background. This result proves that the stop contrast is not neutralised by these Aboriginal speakers of English. However, it can be shown that phonetic voicing manifesting itself in Voice Termination Time is a prevalent and characteristic feature of Aboriginal English on Croker Island. This feature aligns Aboriginal English on Croker Island with local Aboriginal languages and differentiates it from Standard Australian English.

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