Degrees of freedom in speech production: an argument for native speakers in LADO

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Native Speakers

He who Hesitates: Hesitation Phenomena as Quality Control in Speech Production, Obstacles in Non-Native Speech Perception

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marnie Reed
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Classification Framework ◽  
Native Speech ◽  
Control Devices ◽  
Content Processing ◽  
Hesitation Phenomena

This study was designed to determine the nature and occurrence of hesitation phenomena in spontaneous speech of native and non-native speakers, and to determine whether and to what extent the hesitation phenomena normal in spontaneous speech pose perception problems for non-native speakers. A quantitative analysis reveals that hesitation phenomena are ubiquitous in both native and non-native speech production. A qualitative analysis based on a content-processing classification framework reveals the function of hesitations. Hesitations act as overt traces of prospective and retrospective speech-processing tasks which function to forestall errors, and to permit detection and repair of errors once they are committed. Hesitations are quality control devices; native and non-native speakers are highly successful utilizing them to forestall errors. However, hesitation phenomena clearly pose perception problems for non-native speakers who show little evidence of recognizing them as such. Like native speakers, non-native speakers produce hesitation phenomena. Unlike native speakers, who edit and filter out the hesitations they hear, non-native speakers attempt to assign meaning to speakers' faulty output or to parenthetical remarks. Hesitations are unpredictable in their frequency or occurrence; failure to provide training in these oral discourse features of connected speech may result in non-native speakers whose speech production vastly outstrips their perception.

scholarly journals An incremental model of second language speech production mechanisms: Developmental evidence from object ellipsis in second language Chinese speech production

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-810
Author(s):  
Boping Yuan ◽  
Lulu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Recall Task ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Korean Speakers ◽  
Production Mechanisms ◽  
L2 Speech Production

Aims: This study investigates object ellipsis in English and Korean speakers’ second language (L2) Chinese speech production and the effects of first language (L1) influence in L2 Chinese speech production. Design: 59 English speakers and 64 Korean speakers at various Chinese proficiency levels, as well as 16 native speakers of Chinese, participated in the study. In addition to an acceptability judgement test, an utterance-recall task was employed in the study to prime participants for relevant structures. Findings: There are early stages where derivations, such as move, deletion, etc., are not implemented in L2 speech production, although at later stages L2 speech production mechanisms can converge with that of native speakers. No evidence of L1 influence is found, and L2 learners are found to behave differently in the utterance-recall task and the sentence acceptability judgement task. Originality: The study includes data from L2 Chinese learners from beginner to advanced levels and provides a comprehensive picture of structural priming effects on the development of L2 speech production. Implications: There is a discontinuity in the development of L2 speech production mechanisms, and the development of the mechanisms is incremental in nature. Mechanisms for L2 language comprehension are different from those for L2 speech production, at least as far as L2 at the early stages is concerned.

Referential choice in foreigner talk and in learners’ speech in Japanese

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 57-76
Author(s):  
Satomi Kawaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Information Economy ◽  
Attention Focus ◽  
Syntactic Development ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Orientations ◽  
Referential Choice

Abstract This study of referential choice by Japanese native speakers and learners of Japanese has revealed some significant features in three different types of speech: 1) NS (native speaker)-NS interaction; 2) FT (foreigner talk) and; 3) NNSs’ (non-native speakers’) speech production. The study revealed that both NS in FT and NNS simplified their referential choices. It demonstrates, moreover, that the development of referential choice by NNS correlates with their acquisition of syntax. This experiment was conducted to determine the underlying mechanism for referential choice. The results indicate that potential ambiguity and attention/focus shift affected the referential choices for both NS and NNS of Japanese. Excessive use of both full NPs and ellipsis were observed in NNS speech; by contrast only excessive use of full NPs was observed in FT. This may be explained in terms of the different underlying mechanisms for referential choice used by NS and NNS: different cognitive orientations in the use of two principles of speech production: 1) the clarity principle; and 2) the information economy principle (Williams 1988). Furthermore, the development of use of full NP and ellipsis by NNS varied according to their level of syntactic development.

Transfer and developmental processes in adult foreign language speech production

1984 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Emil Flege ◽  
Richard D. Davidian
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The United States ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Developmental Processes ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Transfer Processes ◽  
L1 Acquisition

ABSTRACTThis study tested the hypothesis that factors that shape children’s production of their native language (L1) will also influence adults’ pronunciation of sounds in a foreign language (L2). The final stops in CVC English words produced by 12 adult native speakers each of English, Polish, Spanish, and Chinese were phonetically transcribed. The frequency with which these stops were devoiced, deleted, or fricativized was tabulated. The Spanish subjects (unlike the Chinese or Poles) showed the effect of a transfer process, producing word-final /b, d, g/as fricatives. Subjects in all three non-native groups (but not the native English subjects) resembled English-learning children in devoicing word-final /b, d, g/. Subjects whose L1 does not have word-final stops (i.e., the native speakers of Chinese and Spanish) showed another process commonly observed in English L1 acquisition: final stop deletion. A number of language background variables (e.g., age of arrival in the United States) were found not to be significantly correlated with the accuracy of final stop production. These findings suggest that, in addition to transfer processes arising from L1/L2 phonetic and phonological differences, developmental processes similar to those affecting child L1 speech production also influence adult L2 speech production.

scholarly journals Ethnicity and phonetic variation in Sheffield English liquids

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Kirkham
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
The Other ◽  
Smoothing Spline ◽  
British English ◽  
Phonetic Variation ◽  
Polarity Effect

This article reports a study of acoustic phonetic variation between ethnic groups in the realisation of the British English liquids /l/ and /ɹ/. Data are presented from ‘Anglo’ and ‘Asian’ native speakers of Sheffield English. Sheffield Anglo English is typically described as having ‘dark’ /l/, but there is some disagreement in the literature. British Asian speakers, on the other hand, are often described as producing much ‘clearer’ realisations of /l/, but the specific differences between varieties may vary by geographical location. Regression analysis of liquid steady states and Smoothing Spline ANOVAs of vocalic–liquid formant trajectories show consistent F2−F1 differences in /l/ between Anglo and Asian speakers in non-final contexts, which is suggestive of a strong distinction between varieties in terms of clearness/darkness. There is also evidence of a polarity effect in liquids, with differing relationships between liquid phonemes in each variety: Asian speakers produce /l/ with higher F2−F1 values than /ɹ/, and Anglo speakers produce /ɹ/ with higher F2−F1 values than /l/. The results are discussed in terms of phonetic variation in liquids and socioindexical factors in speech production.

When alphabets collide: Alphabetic first-language speakers’ approach to speech production in an alphabetic second language

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Vokic
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Visual Code ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Distributional Properties ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
L2 Speech Production

This study analysed the extent to which literate native speakers of a language with a phonemic alphabetic orthography rely on their first language (L1) orthography during second language (L2) speech production of a language that has a morphophonemic alphabetic orthography. The production of the English flapping rule by 15 adult native speakers of Spanish (NSS) was analysed. Flap production should not be problematic for NSS learning English as L2, since the flap [ ] exists in the Spanish phonemic inventory and it has similar acoustic, articluatory, and distributional properties in English and Spanish. However, this study hypothesizes that access to the flap is blocked by NSS participants’ lack of phonological awareness in English, which is brought about by the participants’ reliance on the Spanish orthographic system, since the graphs used to represent the English flap intervocalically have either different surface realizations in Spanish (such as <t> and <d>) or have no equivalents in the Spanish orthographic system (such as <tt> and <dd>). It was found that NSS relied on the Spanish orthographic system at a statistically significant level, despite both languages having alphabetic orthographies and sharing the same visual code. Less reliance on L1 orthography was observed in frequent L2 lexical items, demonstrating that negative effects of L1 orthography are inversely correlated to familiarity with L2 lexical items and that frequent lexical items promote L2 phonological awareness.

scholarly journals Transfer of Learning: What Does It Tell Us About Speech Production Units?

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 1613-1625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiphaine Caudrelier ◽  
Jean-Luc Schwartz ◽  
Pascal Perrier ◽  
Silvain Gerber ◽  
Amélie Rochet-Capellan
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Order Effect ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Control Research ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Speech Motor

Purpose Words, syllables, and phonemes have each been regarded as basic encoding units of speech production in various psycholinguistic models. The present article investigates the role of each unit in the interface with speech articulation, using a paradigm from motor control research. Method Seventy-six native speakers of French were trained to change their production of /be/ in response to an auditory feedback perturbation (auditory–motor learning). We then assessed the magnitude of learning transfer from /be/ to the syllables in 2 pseudowords (/bepe/ and /pebe/) and 1 real word (/bebe/) as well as the aftereffect on the same utterance (/be/) with a between-subjects design. This made it possible to contrast the amplitude of transfer at the levels of the utterance, the syllable, and the phoneme, depending on the position in the word. Linear mixed models allowed us to study the amplitude as well as the dynamics of the transfer and the aftereffect over trials. Results Transfer from the training utterance /be/ was observed for all vowels of the test utterances but was larger to the syllable /be/ than to the syllable /pe/ at word-initial position and larger to the 1st syllable than to the 2nd syllable in the utterance. Conclusions Our study suggests that words, syllables, and phonemes may all contribute to the definition of speech motor commands. In addition, the observation of a serial order effect raises new questions related to the connection between psycholinguistic models and speech motor control approaches.

scholarly journals Study of the intermittent vowels of the Surgut dialect of the Khanty language through the method of direct digital laryngoscopy: preliminary results

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-111
Author(s):  
T. R. Ryzhikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Dynamic Observation ◽  
Acoustic Methods ◽  
Articulatory Features ◽  
Good Agreement ◽  
Experimental Phonetics

Introduction: the Khanty language and its dialects (in particular, the Surgut one) are still poorly studied from the point of view of the experimental phonetics. Direct digital laryngoscopy is one of the methods of dynamic observation of speech production processes in the larynx, which allows to describe not only the articulatory features of a concrete sound, but also to trace the processes of co-articulation and adaptation. Objective: to analyze articulatory features of the previously identified intermittent vowels. Research materials: the laryngo-grams of the intermittent vowels in the pronunciation of the native speakers of the Tromagan subdialect of the Surgut dialect of the Khanty language. Results and novelty of the research: the study revealed that the phonation of intermittent vowels can be divided into several phases with the corresponding acoustic and articulatory effects. Analysis of the laryngo-grams allowed to classify the Surgut vowels i, ɵ, e as injective, i. e. pronounced with a lowered larynx. The vowel a requires further study and verification with the help of somatic and acoustic methods. The data obtained are in a good agreement with the works by B. B. Feyer on the Ket vocalism.

Stalling in speech

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Alan Tolerton
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Control Data ◽  
Major Purpose ◽  
L2 Speech Production

This paper examines some aspects of Stalling in the spontaneous speech production of two learners of English. The major purpose is to provide some control data for further examination of their (and others’) L2 speech production. Some data from previous published studies of hesitation in native speakers are provided, to serve as a rough guide to the native-speaker norm, if there is one. Both subjects are found to hesitate most frequently and for the longest time before the first word of clauses. This is consistent with the norm found for native speakers. No particularly long or frequent Stalling was found in any environment within the clause, except where there was an accompanying syntactic disruption, that is, Repair.

Interlanguage phonology

1994 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takako Toda
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Year ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Timing Control ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Pitch Patterns ◽  
Segment Duration

Abstract This paper presents the results of a study pertaining to the acquisition of timing control by Australian subjects who are enrolled in first-year Japanese at tertiary level. Instrumental techniques are used to observe segment duration and pitch patterns in the speech production of learners and native speakers of Japanese. The observations concern vowels and obstruents based on minimal pairs with durational contrasts, and the results are discussed within the framework of interlanguage phonology. The results obtained from this study demonstrate problems of beginning-level learners, including the underdifferentiation of durational contrasts (Han 1992). From the viewpoint of interlanguage phonology, however, the results seem to indicate that the learners have the ability to control timing and that they try to achieve durational distinctions in their speech production, but that their phonetic realisation is different from that of native speakers.

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