scholarly journals Modeling the role of distributional information in children’s use of phonemic contrasts

2016 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 117-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik D. Thiessen ◽  
Philip I. Pavlik
Keyword(s):  
Distributional Information ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

scholarly journals Linking the neural basis of hierarchical prediction with statistical learning: The paradox of attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Schneider ◽  
Yi-Lun Weng ◽  
Anqi Hu ◽  
Zhenghan Qi
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Attentional Shift ◽  
Cortical Responses ◽  
Distributional Information ◽  
Segmentation Task ◽  
Dependent Learning

Statistical learning, the process of tracking distributional information and discovering embedded patterns, is traditionally regarded as a form of implicit learning. However, recent studies proposed that both implicit (attention-independent) and explicit (attention-dependent) learning systems are involved in statistical learning. To understand the role of attention in statistical learning, the current study investigates the cortical processing of prediction errors in speech based on either local or global distributional information. We then ask how these cortical responses relate to statistical learning behavior in a word segmentation task. We found ERP evidence of pre-attentive processing of both the local (mismatching negativity) and global distributional information (late discriminative negativity). However, as speech elements became less frequent and more surprising, some participants showed an involuntary attentional shift, reflected in a P3a response. Individuals who displayed attentive neural tracking of distributional information showed faster learning in a speech statistical learning task. These results provide important neural evidence elucidating the facilitatory role of attention in statistical learning.

Learning to assign stress in a second language: The role of second-language vocabulary size and transfer from the native language in second-language readers of Italian

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-136
Author(s):  
Giacomo Spinelli ◽  
Luciana Forti ◽  
Debra Jared
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Stress Assignment ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Distributional Information ◽  
Written Word

AbstractLearning to pronounce a written word implies assigning a stress pattern to that word. This task can present a challenge for speakers of languages like Italian, in which stress information must often be computed from distributional properties of the language, especially for individuals learning Italian as a second language (L2). Here, we aimed to characterize the processes underlying the development of stress assignment in native English and native Chinese speakers learning L2 Italian. Both types of bilinguals produced evidence supporting a role of vocabulary size in modulating the type of distributional information used in stress assignment, with an early bias for Italian's dominant stress pattern being gradually replaced by use of associations between orthographic sequences and stress patterns in more advanced bilinguals. We also obtained some evidence for a transfer of stress assignment habits from the bilinguals’ native language to Italian, although only in English native speakers.

scholarly journals Adults adapt to child speech in semantic use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghao You ◽  
Moritz M. Daum ◽  
Sabine Stoll
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Striking Similarity ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Distributional Semantics ◽  
Semantic Learning ◽  
Distributional Information ◽  
Semantic Adaptation ◽  
Child Speech

Children acquire their first language while interacting with adults in a highly adaptive manner. While adaptation occurs at many linguistic levels such as syntax and speech complexity, semantic adaptation remains unclear due to the difficulty of efficient meaning extraction. In this study, we examine the adaptation of semantics with a computational approach based on distributional information. We show that adults, in their speech addressed to children, adapt their distributional semantics to that in the speech children produce. By analyzing semantic representations modeled from the Manchester corpus, a large longitudinal acquisition corpus of English, we find striking similarity of semantic development between child and child-directed speech, with a slight time lag in the latter. These findings provide strong evidence for the semantic adaptation in first language acquisition and suggest the important role of child-directed speech in semantic learning.

scholarly journals Metaphoric Gestures Facilitate Perception of Intonation More than Length in Auditory Judgments of Non-Native Phonemic Contrasts

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer Kelly ◽  
April Bailey ◽  
Yukari Hirata
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Consistent Pattern ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

It is well established that hand gestures affect comprehension and learning of semantic aspects of a foreign language (FL). However, much less is known about the role of hand gestures in lower-level language processes, such as perception of phonemes. To address this gap, we explored the role that metaphoric gestures play in perceiving FL speech sounds that varied on two dimensions: length and intonation. English speaking adults listened to Japanese length contrasts and sentence-final intonational distinctions in the context of congruent, incongruent and no gestures. For intonational contrasts, identification was more accurate for congruent gestures and less accurate for incongruent gestures relative to the baseline no gesture condition. However, for the length contrasts, there was no such clear and consistent pattern, and in fact, congruent gestures made speech processing more effortful. We conclude that metaphoric gestures help with some—but not all—novel speech sounds in a FL, suggesting that gesture and speech are phonemically integrated to differing extents depending on the nature of the gesture and/or speech sound.

scholarly journals The role of hypercorrection in the acquisition of L2 phonemic contrasts

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred R Eckman ◽  
Gregory K Iverson ◽  
Jae Yung Song
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Final Stage ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
The Status ◽  
Prevailing View ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

This article reports empirical findings from an ongoing investigation into the acquisition of second-language (L2) phonemic contrasts. Specifically, we consider the status and role of the phenomenon of hypercorrection in the various stages through which L2 learners develop and internalize a target language (TL) contrast. We adopt the prevailing view in both sociolinguistics and second language acquisition studies that hypercorrection results from a certain amount of linguistic insecurity on the part of the speaker. Based on 53 Korean speakers’ production of English target phonemes, we conclude that a series of hypercorrection errors may well represent the final stage in the acquisition of a contrast, and further, that in order for hypercorrection to occur, there must be a formal connection between the TL contrast being acquired and the phonological structure of the learner’s native language.

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