High Predictive Accuracy of Negative Schizotypy With Acoustic Measures

Negative schizotypal traits potentially can be digitally phenotyped using objective vocal analysis. Prior attempts have shown mixed success in this regard, potentially because acoustic analysis has relied on small, constrained feature sets. We employed machine learning to (a) optimize and cross-validate predictive models of self-reported negative schizotypy using a large acoustic feature set, (b) evaluate model performance as a function of sex and speaking task, (c) understand potential mechanisms underlying negative schizotypal traits by evaluating the key acoustic features within these models, and (d) examine model performance in its convergence with clinical symptoms and cognitive functioning. Accuracy was good (> 80%) and was improved by considering speaking task and sex. However, the features identified as most predictive of negative schizotypal traits were generally not considered critical to their conceptual definitions. Implications for validating and implementing digital phenotyping to understand and quantify negative schizotypy are discussed.

Even Americans pre-aspirate

This paper focuses on a phenomenon known as pre-aspiration, defined as a period of glottal friction found in the sequences of sonorants and phonetically voiceless obstruents, as in hit [hɪht], hat [hæht], hiss [hɪhs], and cash [kæhʃ]. Pre-aspiration has been reported in North American English (Clayards and Knowles 2015); however, there are no systematic studies of pre-aspiration in this part of the English-speaking world. Our study therefore considers the following main questions. 1. Is pre-aspiration present in American English and how frequent is it? 2. Does it vary by region? We also map variation related to speaking task, sex, and a range of language-internal factors. Our analyses of data from the Nationwide Speech Project Corpus (Clopper and Pisoni 2006) confirm that pre-aspiration is a feature of American English, with rates of application reaching between 0–20 percent, depending on the region and the task. Furthermore, the more formal the task, the higher the rate of pre-aspiration application.

THE PERCEPTIONS OF LIBYAN EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TOWARDS THE USE OF GROUP WORK IN THEIR SPEAKING CLASSES

Group work is believed to be one of the possible solutions to the problem of dealing with large number of students within one speaking class. However, how students perceive group work in their EFL speaking classes is an area that needs to be researched. This study looks at how students perceive group work in their speaking classes and their preference of being given a specific role in a given speaking task that involves working in a group. A questionnaire has been distributed to 42 students to highlight their perceptions towards group work. Results from this study revealed that EFL students seem to like the idea of working in groups in their speaking classes as they reported a number of benefits that they gain when they work in groups, for example, they feel more independent, they have a chance to share ideas, and they speak English in most of the time in the class. However, a number of drawbacks have been also reported by the students, for example, the domination of one student in the group, some students find it difficult to work in a group of mixed gender, and low level students sometimes feel frustrated to work in group. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0796/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Exploring the Stability of Second Language Speech Ratings through Task Practice in Bilinguals’ Two Languages

This study examined the stability of second language (L2) speech ratings as a function of bilingual raters engaging in perspective taking through practice of the target speaking task. Thirty English-dominant English–French bilinguals evaluated narratives from 40 French speakers of L2 English for segmental errors, intonation, and flow. Before providing the ratings, 20 raters practiced the task in their more or less dominant language (10 per group), while 10 baseline raters performed no practice. Whereas the English practice enhanced raters’ evaluations for two of the three dimensions relative to baseline raters’ assessments, the French practice did not impact rating stability.

Parenting matters: Parents can reduce or amplify children's anxiety and cortisol responses to acute stress

Parents serve important functions in regulating children's responses to stress and challenge. However, the parental characteristics that modulate the effectiveness of parents as stress buffers remain to be fully characterized. To address this gap, this study examined parental characteristics and behaviors that may explain variation in parents’ ability to buffer cortisol responses to acute stress of 180 children (ages 9–11 years old, M = 9.9 years, SD = .58). Children were randomly assigned to either participate in a public speaking task, the Trier Social Stress Test – modified for children (TSST-M) or a control condition. Children in the TSST-M condition were randomly assigned to prepare for the public speaking task either with their parent (N = 59) or alone (N = 60), whereas 61 children were assigned to the control condition (no TSST-M). We found that parental education moderated the effect of condition on children's responses to acute stress. Children whose parents had lower levels of education exhibited reduced cortisol responses in the parent condition compared to the alone condition, showing a buffered pattern of reactivity. In contrast, children of parents with high levels of education displayed higher cortisol reactivity in the parent condition compared to the alone and control conditions. Parental education was also positively associated with higher levels of state anxiety within the parent condition. These results suggest that highly educated parents may emphasize performance over comfort, amplifying their children's state anxiety and cortisol responses to a public performance.