Directional asymmetries reveal a universal bias in adult vowel perception

Matthew Masapollo; Linda Polka; Monika Molnar; Lucie Ménard

doi:10.1121/1.4981006

Directional Asymmetries in Vowel Perception of Adult Nonnative Listeners Do Not Change Over Time With Language Experience

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2016_jslhr-h-16-0050 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

pp. 1088-1093 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Buddhamas Pralle Kriengwatana ◽

Paola Escudero

Keyword(s):

Language Acquisition ◽

Directional Asymmetry ◽

Language Experience ◽

Vowel Perception ◽

Before And After ◽

Nonnative Language ◽

Nonnative Listeners ◽

Directional Asymmetries ◽

Trial Participants ◽

Over Time

Purpose This study tested an assumption of the Natural Referent Vowel (Polka & Bohn, 2011) framework, namely, that directional asymmetries in adult vowel perception can be influenced by language experience. Method Data from participants reported in Escudero and Williams (2014) were analyzed. Spanish participants categorized the Dutch vowels /aː/ and /ɑ/ in 2 separate sessions: before and after vowel distributional training. Sessions were 12 months apart. Categorization was assessed using the XAB task, where on each trial participants heard 3 sounds sequentially (first X, then A, then B) and had to decide whether X was more similar to A or B. Results Before training, participants exhibited a directional asymmetry in line with the prediction of Natural Referent Vowel. Specifically, Spanish listeners performed worse when the vowel change from X to A was a change from peripheral to central vowel (/ɑ/ to /aː/). However, this asymmetry was maintained 12 months later, even though distributional training improved vowel categorization performance. Conclusions Improvements in adult nonnative vowel categorization accuracy are not explained by attenuation of directional asymmetries. Directional asymmetries in vowel perception are altered during native language acquisition, but may possibly be impervious to nonnative language experiences in adulthood.

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Distinctiveness and Assimilation in Vowel Perception in a Second Language

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2019_jslhr-h-19-0074 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (12) ◽

pp. 4534-4543

Author(s):

Wei Hu ◽

Sha Tao ◽

Mingshuang Li ◽

Chang Liu

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Native Language ◽

Vowel Identification ◽

Vowel Perception ◽

Perceptual Distance ◽

Vowel Space ◽

English Vowels ◽

Chinese Counterpart ◽

Vowel Categories

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate how the distinctive establishment of 2nd language (L2) vowel categories (e.g., how distinctively an L2 vowel is established from nearby L2 vowels and from the native language counterpart in the 1st formant [F1] × 2nd formant [F2] vowel space) affected L2 vowel perception. Method Identification of 12 natural English monophthongs, and categorization and rating of synthetic English vowels /i/ and /ɪ/ in the F1 × F2 space were measured for Chinese-native (CN) and English-native (EN) listeners. CN listeners were also examined with categorization and rating of Chinese vowels in the F1 × F2 space. Results As expected, EN listeners significantly outperformed CN listeners in English vowel identification. Whereas EN listeners showed distinctive establishment of 2 English vowels, CN listeners had multiple patterns of L2 vowel establishment: both, 1, or neither established. Moreover, CN listeners' English vowel perception was significantly related to the perceptual distance between the English vowel and its Chinese counterpart, and the perceptual distance between the adjacent English vowels. Conclusions L2 vowel perception relied on listeners' capacity to distinctively establish L2 vowel categories that were distant from the nearby L2 vowels.

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Temporal Characteristics of Speech in Simultaneous Communication

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.3805.1014 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 38 (5) ◽

pp. 1014-1024 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Robert L. Whitehead ◽

Nicholas Schiavetti ◽

Brenda H. Whitehead ◽

Dale Evan Metz

Keyword(s):

Pause Duration ◽

Vowel Duration ◽

Vowel Perception ◽

Temporal Characteristics ◽

Spoken English ◽

Temporal Features ◽

Before And After ◽

Word Duration ◽

Rate Of Speech ◽

Speech Condition

The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) to determine if there are changes in specific temporal characteristics of speech that occur during simultaneous communication, and (b) to determine if known temporal rules of spoken English are disrupted during simultaneous communication. Ten speakers uttered sentences consisting of a carrier phrase and experimental CVC words under conditions of: (a) speech, (b) speech combined with signed English, and (c) speech combined with signed English for every word except the CVC word that was fingerspelled. The temporal features investigated included: (a) sentence duration, (b) experimental CVC word duration, (c) vowel duration in experimental CVC words, (d) pause duration before and after experimental CVC words, and (e) consonantal effects on vowel duration. Results indicated that for all durational measures, the speech/sign/fingerspelling condition was longest, followed by the speech/sign condition, with the speech condition being shortest. It was also found that for all three speaking conditions, vowels were longer in duration when preceding voiced consonants than vowels preceding their voiceless cognates, and that a low vowel was longer in duration than a high vowel. These findings indicate that speakers consistently reduced their rate of speech when using simultaneous communication, but did not violate these specific temporal rules of English important for consonant and vowel perception.

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