Foreign language talker identification training does not generalize to new talkers

Listeners identify voices more accurately in their native language than an unknown, foreign language, in a phenomenon known as the language-familiarity effect in talker identification. This effect has been reliably observed for a wide range of different language pairings and using a variety of different methodologies, including voice line-ups, talker-identification training, and talker discrimination. What do listeners know about their native language that helps them recognize voices more accurately? Do listeners gain access to this knowledge when they learn a second language? Is linguistic competence necessary, or can mere exposure to a foreign language help listeners identify voices more accurately? This chapter reviews the more than three decades of research on the language-familiarity effect in talker identification, with an emphasis on how attention to this phenomenon can inform not only better psychological and neural models of memory for voices, but also better models of speech processing.

Download Full-text

Employing Latino Value Orientations to Facilitate Success in Stuttering Treatment

Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders ◽

10.1044/ffd18.3.111 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 111-118

Author(s):

Lourdes Ramos-Heinrichs ◽

Lynn Hansberry Mayo ◽

Sandra Garzon

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Therapeutic Relationship ◽

Service Provider ◽

Speech Therapy ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Value Orientations ◽

Collaborative Partnership ◽

The Family ◽

Therapy Services ◽

Cultural Connections

Abstract Providing adequate speech therapy services to Latinos who stutter can present challenges that are not obvious to the practicing clinician. This article addresses cultural, religious, and foreign language concerns to the therapeutic relationship between the Latino client and the clinician. Suggestions are made for building cross-cultural connections with clients and incorporating the family into a collaborative partnership with the service provider.

Download Full-text

Eye Movements of Children and Adults While Reading Television Subtitles

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.12.3.196 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 196-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Géry d'Ydewalle ◽

Wim De Bruycker

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Age Differences ◽

Information Sources ◽

Native Language ◽

Verbal Information ◽

Single Text ◽

Grade 5 ◽

Reading Patterns ◽

Attentional System

Abstract. Eye movements of children (Grade 5-6) and adults were monitored while they were watching a foreign language movie with either standard (foreign language soundtrack and native language subtitling) or reversed (foreign language subtitles and native language soundtrack) subtitling. With standard subtitling, reading behavior in the subtitle was observed, but there was a difference between one- and two-line subtitles. As two lines of text contain verbal information that cannot easily be inferred from the pictures on the screen, more regular reading occurred; a single text line is often redundant to the information in the picture, and accordingly less reading of one-line text was apparent. Reversed subtitling showed even more irregular reading patterns (e.g., more subtitles skipped, fewer fixations, longer latencies). No substantial age differences emerged, except that children took longer to shift attention to the subtitle at its onset, and showed longer fixations and shorter saccades in the text. On the whole, the results demonstrated the flexibility of the attentional system and its tuning to the several information sources available (image, soundtrack, and subtitles).

Download Full-text

Use of the TOEFL as a Standard for University Admission: A Position Statement by the Canadian Psychological Association

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.14.3.261 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 261-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Marvin L. Simner

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Position Statement ◽

Considerable Evidence ◽

Canadian Universities ◽

Weak Relationship ◽

University Admission ◽

Canadian Psychological Association

Nearly all Canadian universities employ, as a standard for university admission, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). In light of considerable evidence indicating only a weak relationship between TOEFL scores and academic achievement, the Canadian Psychological Association recently issued a report containing a position statement that called upon Canadian universities to refrain from employing the TOEFL in this manner. Because the concerns raised in the report are likely to apply to many universities outside Canada, the entire report is reproduced in this article.

Download Full-text