Speech learning, lexical reorganization, and the development of word recognition by native and non-native English speakers

2007 ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda C. Walley
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Speech Learning

scholarly journals Recognition times for 62 thousand English words: Data from the English Crowdsourcing Project

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Emmanuel Keuleers ◽  
Paweł Mandera
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Word ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Virtual Experiments

We present a new dataset of English word recognition times for a total of 62 thousand words, called the English Crowdsourcing Project. The data were collected via an internet vocabulary test, in which more than one million people participated. The present dataset is limited to native English speakers. Participants were asked to indicate which words they knew. Their response times were registered, although at no point were the participants asked to respond as fast as possible. Still, the response times correlate around .75 with the response times of the English Lexicon Project for the shared words. Also results of virtual experiments indicate that the new response times are a valid addition to the English Lexicon Project. This not only means that we have useful response times for some 35 thousand extra words, but we now also have data on differences in response latencies as a functionof education and age.

Similarity neighbourhoods of words in young children's lexicons

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Charles-Luce ◽  
Paul A. Luce
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Structural Organization ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Auditory Word ◽  
Auditory Word Recognition

ABSTRACTSimilarity neighbourhoods for words in young children's lexicons were investigated using three computerized databases. These databases were representative of three groups of native English speakers: 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, and adults. Computations relating to the similarity neighbourhoods of words in the children's and adult's lexicon revealed that words in the 5- and 7-year-olds' lexicons have many fewer similar neighbours than the same words analyzed in the adult lexicon. Thus, young children may employ more global recognition strategies because words are more discriminable in memory. The neighbourhood analyses provide a number of insights into the processes of auditory word recognition in children and the possible structural organization of words in the young child's mental lexicon.

scholarly journals Which words do English non-native speakers know? New supernational levels based on yes/no decision

2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832093452
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Emmanuel Keuleers ◽  
Paweł Mandera
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Word Families ◽  
The World

To have more information about the English words known by second language (L2) speakers, we ran a large-scale crowdsourcing vocabulary test, which yielded 17 million useful responses. It provided us with a list of 445 words known to nearly all participants. The list was compared to various existing lists of words advised to include in the first stages of English L2 teaching. The data also provided us with a ranking of 61,000 words in terms of degree and speed of word recognition in English L2 speakers, which correlated r = .85 with a similar ranking based on native English speakers. The L2 speakers in our study were relatively better at academic words (which are often cognates in their mother tongue) and words related to experiences English L2 students are likely to have. They were worse at words related to childhood and family life. Finally, a new list of 20 levels of 1,000 word families is presented, which will be of use to English L2 teachers, as the levels represent the order in which English vocabulary seems to be acquired by L2 learners across the world.

Integrating articulatory constraints into models of second language phonological acquisition

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA COLANTONI ◽  
JEFFREY STEELE
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Speech Learning Model ◽  
Developmental Sequences ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Speech Learning

ABSTRACTModels such as Eckman's markedness differential hypothesis, Flege's speech learning model, and Brown's feature-based theory of perception seek to explain and predict the relative difficulty second language (L2) learners face when acquiring new or similar sounds. In this paper, we test their predictive adequacy as concerns native English speakers’ mastery of French /ʁ/ and Spanish /ɾ/. Based on an acoustic analysis of the learner data, we demonstrate that these three models do not account for the full range of variability nor for the developmental sequences attested, because they do not consider the degree of difficulty involved in the simultaneous mastery of multiple phonetic parameters across prosodic positions. Consequently, models of L2 phonological acquisition must not only integrate findings from markedness theory and speech perception but also incorporate phonetic constraints on production.

scholarly journals Which words do English non-native speakers know? New supernational levels based on yes/no decision

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Word Families ◽  
The World

To have more information about the English words known by L2 speakers, we ran a large-scale crowdsourcing vocabulary test, which yielded 17 million useful responses. It provided us with a list of 445 words known to nearly all participants. The list was compared to various existing lists of words advised to include in the first stages of English L2 teaching. The data also provided us with a ranking of 61 thousand words in terms of degree and speed of word recognition in English L2 speakers, which correlated r = .85 with a similar ranking based on native English speakers. The L2 speakers in our study were relatively better at academic words (which are often cognates in their mother tongue) and words related to experiences English L2 students are likely to have. They were worse at words related to childhood and family life. Finally, a new list of 20 levels of 1000 word families is presented, which will be of use to English L2 teachers, as the levels represent the order in which English vocabulary seems to be acquired by L2 learners across the world.

scholarly journals Poorer Phonetic Perceivers Show Greater Benefit in Phonetic-Phonological Speech Learning

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 1045-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin M. Ingvalson ◽  
Allison M. Barr ◽  
Patrick C. M. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Learning Success ◽  
Pitch Pattern ◽  
Word Context ◽  
Pitch Patterns ◽  
Pattern Sensitivity ◽  
Speech Learning

Purpose Previous research has demonstrated that native English speakers can learn lexical tones in word context (pitch-to-word learning), to an extent. However, learning success depends on learners' pre-training sensitivity to pitch patterns. The aim of this study was to determine whether lexical pitch-pattern training given before lexical training could improve learning and whether or not the extent of improvement depends on pre-training pitch-pattern sensitivity. Method Learners with high and low pitch-pattern sensitivity were given training on lexical pitch patterns before lexical training. Results It was found that such training resulted in better learning than lexical training alone, primarily in learners with low pre-training pitch-pattern sensitivity. Conclusion These data support the importance of considering individual aptitudes when developing training and also the notion of phonetic–phonological–lexical continuity in word learning.

scholarly journals How are affective word ratings related to lexicosemantic properties? Evidence from the Sussex Affective Word List

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCESCA M. M. CITRON ◽  
BRENDAN S. WEEKES ◽  
EVELYN C. FERSTL
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Word List ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Verbal Material ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Affective Word

ABSTRACTEmotional content of verbal material affects the speed of visual word recognition in various cognitive tasks, independently of lexicosemantic variables. However, little is known about how the dimensions of emotional arousal and valence interact with the lexicosemantic properties of words such as age of acquisition, familiarity, and imageability, that determine word recognition performance. This study aimed to examine these relationships using English ratings for affective and lexicosemantic features. Eighty-two native English speakers rated 300 words for emotional valence, arousal, familiarity, age of acquisition, and imageability. Although both dimensions of emotion were correlated with lexicosemantic variables, a unique emotion cluster produced the strongest quadratic relationship. This finding suggests that emotion should be included in models of word recognition as it is likely to make an independent contribution.

DO LEARNERS LIGHTEN UP?

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Solon
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Native Spanish Speakers ◽  
Learning Situation ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Speech Learning ◽  
Phonetic Realization ◽  
L1 English

This study explores the second language (L2) acquisition of a segment that exists in learners’ first language (L1) and in their L2 but that differs in its phonetic realization and allophonic patterning in the two languages. Specifically, this research tracks development in one aspect of the production of the alveolar lateral /l/ in the L2 Spanish of 85 native English speakers from various levels of study and compares L2 productions to those of native Spanish speakers as well as to learners’ L1 English. Additionally, laterals produced in specific contexts are compared to examine learners’ acquisition of L2 allophonic patterning, as Spanish contains a subset of the lateral allophones that exist in English. Results suggest development toward nativelike norms in the phonetic details of Spanish /l/ and in allophonic patterning. These findings have implications for existing theoretical accounts of L2 speech learning, which cannot adequately account for the learning situation examined.

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