Effects of Acoustic Variability in the Perceptual Learning of Non-Native-Accented Speech Sounds

Phonetica ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 122-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis Wade ◽  
Allard Jongman ◽  
Joan Sereno
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Acoustic Variability

Visual and auditory native language interference in perceptual learning of non-native speech sounds

2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
pp. 2162-2162
Author(s):  
Pamela Fuhrmeister ◽  
F. Sayako Earle ◽  
Jay Rueckl ◽  
Emily Myers
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Native Speech

Changes in Sensory Evoked Responses Coincide with Rapid Improvement in Speech Identification Performance

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Alain ◽  
Sandra Campeanu ◽  
Kelly Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Broadband Noise ◽  
Evoked Responses ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Noise Stimulus ◽  
Sensory Evoked ◽  
Speech Identification

Perceptual learning is sometimes characterized by rapid improvements in performance within the first hour of training (fast perceptual learning), which may be accompanied by changes in sensory and/or response pathways. Here, we report rapid physiological changes in the human auditory system that coincide with learning during a 1-hour test session in which participants learned to identify two consonant vowel syllables that differed in voice onset time. Within each block of trials, listeners were also presented with a broadband noise control stimulus to determine whether changes in auditory evoked potentials were specific to the trained speech cue. The ability to identify the speech sounds improved from the first to the fourth block of trials and remained relatively constant thereafter. This behavioral improvement coincided with a decrease in N1 and P2 amplitude, and these learning-related changes differed from those observed for the noise stimulus. These training-induced changes in sensory evoked responses were followed by an increased negative peak (between 275 and 330 msec) over fronto-central sites and by an increase in sustained activity over the parietal regions. Although the former was also observed for the noise stimulus, the latter was specific to the speech sounds. The results are consistent with a top–down nonspecific attention effect on neural activity during learning as well as a more learning-specific modulation, which is coincident with behavioral improvements in speech identification.

scholarly journals Ease and Difficulty in L2 Pronunciation Teaching: A Mini-Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Grantham O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Suprasegmental Features ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Realistic Goal ◽  
L2 Pronunciation

Both L2 learners and their teachers are concerned about pronunciation. While an unspoken classroom goal is often native-accented speech (i.e., a spoken variety of the mother tongue that it not geographically confined to a place within a particular country), pronunciation researchers tend to agree that comprehensible speech (i.e., speech that can be easily understood by an interlocutor) is a more realistic goal. A host of studies have demonstrated that certain types of training can result in more comprehensible L2 speech. This contribution considers research on training the perception and production of both segmental (i.e., speech sounds) and suprasegmental features (i.e., stress, rhythm, tone, intonation). Before we can determine whether a given pronunciation feature is easy or difficult to teach and—more importantly—to learn, we must focus on: 1) setting classroom priorities that place comprehensibility of L2 speech at the forefront; and 2) relying upon insights gained through research into L2 pronunciation training. The goal of the mini-review is to help contextualize the papers presented in this collection.

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