Phoneme Error Pattern by Heritage Speakers of Spanish on an English Word Recognition Test

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (04) ◽  
pp. 352-365
Author(s):  
Lu-Feng Shi
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Recognition Test ◽  
Native Language ◽  
English Word ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Error Pattern ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
English Monolingual

Background: Heritage speakers acquire their native language from home use in their early childhood. As the native language is typically a minority language in the society, these individuals receive their formal education in the majority language and eventually develop greater competency with the majority than their native language. To date, there have not been specific research attempts to understand word recognition by heritage speakers. It is not clear if and to what degree we may infer from evidence based on bilingual listeners in general. Purpose: This preliminary study investigated how heritage speakers of Spanish perform on an English word recognition test and analyzed their phoneme errors. Research Design: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational design was employed. Study Sample: Twelve normal-hearing adult Spanish heritage speakers (four men, eight women, 20–38 yr old) participated in the study. Their language background was obtained through the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire. Nine English monolingual listeners (three men, six women, 20–41 yr old) were also included for comparison purposes. Data Collection and Analysis: Listeners were presented with 200 Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 words in quiet. They repeated each word orally and in writing. Their responses were scored by word, word-initial consonant, vowel, and word-final consonant. Performance was compared between groups with Student’s t test or analysis of variance. Group-specific error patterns were primarily descriptive, but intergroup comparisons were made using 95% or 99% confidence intervals for proportional data. Results: The two groups of listeners yielded comparable scores when their responses were examined by word, vowel, and final consonant. However, heritage speakers of Spanish misidentified significantly more word-initial consonants and had significantly more difficulty with initial /p, b, h/ than their monolingual peers. The two groups yielded similar patterns for vowel and word-final consonants, but heritage speakers made significantly fewer errors with /e/ and more errors with word-final /p, k/. Conclusions: Data reported in the present study lead to a twofold conclusion. On the one hand, normal-hearing heritage speakers of Spanish may misidentify English phonemes in patterns different from those of English monolingual listeners. Not all phoneme errors can be readily understood by comparing Spanish and English phonology, suggesting that Spanish heritage speakers differ in performance from other Spanish–English bilingual listeners. On the other hand, the absolute number of errors and the error pattern of most phonemes were comparable between English monolingual listeners and Spanish heritage speakers, suggesting that audiologists may assess word recognition in quiet in the same way for these two groups of listeners, if diagnosis is based on words, not phonemes.

scholarly journals Gender agreement in interface contexts in the oral production of heritage speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 93-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brechje van Osch ◽  
Aafke Hulk ◽  
Petra Sleeman ◽  
Pablo Irizarri van Suchtelen
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Error Pattern ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
First Generation Immigrants ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Pronominal Reference ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

In this paper we present an analysis of Spanish heritage speakers’ oral production of gender agreement outside the DP as an innovative source of support for the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace & Filiaci 2006). We demonstrate that, besides commonly known factors such as the gender, animacy and morphology of the antecedent, the interface domain in which gender agreement takes place also seems to play a role in how accurately heritage speakers apply gender agreement. Pronominal reference, located at the external syntax-discourse interface, turns out to be more problematic than adjectival predication, which pertains to the internal morpho-syntax interface. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility that, besides the amount of input heritage speakers receive, the quality of this input may also play a role in their gender agreement accuracy, given that the heritage speakers’ error pattern with respect to linguistic factors is very similar to that of first generation immigrants.

Psychometric Functions for Shortened Administrations of a Speech Recognition Approach Using Tri-Word Presentations and Phonemic Scoring

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 879-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley A. Gelfand ◽  
Jessica T. Gelfand
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Recognition Test ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Original Study ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Adult Participants

Method Complete psychometric functions for phoneme and word recognition scores at 8 signal-to-noise ratios from −15 dB to 20 dB were generated for the first 10, 20, and 25, as well as all 50, three-word presentations of the Tri-Word or Computer Assisted Speech Recognition Assessment (CASRA) Test (Gelfand, 1998) based on the results of 12 normal-hearing young adult participants from the original study. Results The psychometric functions for both phoneme and word scores were very similar and essentially overlapping for all set sizes. Performance on the shortened tests accounted for 98.8% to 99.5% of the full (50-set) test variance with phoneme scoring, and 95.8% to 99.2% of the full test variance with word scoring. Shortening the tests accounted for little if any of the variance in the slopes of the functions. Conclusions The psychometric functions for abbreviated versions of the Tri-Word speech recognition test using 10, 20, and 25 presentation sets were described and are comparable to those of the original 50-presentation approach for both phoneme and word scoring in healthy, normal-hearing, young adult participants.

scholarly journals Native Language Interference in English L2 Word Recognition and Word Integration Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Nazanin Biglari ◽  
Esli Struys
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Word ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Positive Aspect ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
French Speaking

The current study was planned to investigate the interference of the native language in English word recognition and word integration skills in L1 speakers of French and Persian. The participants of the study were 48 intermediate and upper intermediate native Persian and French-speaking EFL learners studying in VUB and ULB universities in Brussels, Belgium. All in all, based on the results of ANCOVA, there was a strong and positive relationship between EFL learners' word recognition and word integration skills and their L1(first language). The RT (reaction time) resulting from the LDT (lexical decision task) showed that the Persian EFL participants were able to outperform French EFL participants, though Persian and English are orthographically and typologically distant languages. On the other hand, in a word integration task, French participants showed superiority over Persian participants in the direct object reading time that emphasized the positive aspect of L1 interference as facilitation.

Effects of native language on the use of segmental and suprasegmental cues to stress in English word recognition: An eye-tracking study

2016 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 3336-3336
Author(s):  
Katrina Connell ◽  
Simone Hüls ◽  
Maria Teresa Martínez-García ◽  
Zhen Qin ◽  
Seulgi Shin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Native Language ◽  
English Word ◽  
Suprasegmental Cues

scholarly journals Free Field Word recognition test in the presence of noise in normal hearing adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 665-669
Author(s):  
Gleide Viviani Maciel Almeida ◽  
Angela Ribas ◽  
Jorge Calleros
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Recognition Test ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Normal Hearing

How do Spanish heritage speakers in the US assign gender to English nouns in Spanish-English code-switching?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Nofiya Denbaum ◽  
Ana de Prada Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mode Effect ◽  
Bilingual Speaker ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Abstract Previous studies have observed different gender assignment strategies for English nouns in Spanish-English code-switching (CS). However, these studies have not investigated the role of noun gender canonicity of the Spanish equivalent, they have only examined participants in bilingual speaker mode, and most studies have not explored the role of bilingual language experience. The current study compares gender assignment by heritage speakers of Spanish in a monolingual speaker mode and a bilingual speaker mode, considering the role of noun gender canonicity and CS experience. Results revealed a language mode effect, where participants used significantly more masculine determiners with the same feminine nouns in the CS session than those in the Spanish monolingual session where they used a feminine determiner. Further evidence of a language mode effect was found in the effect of noun canonicity and bilingual language experience. Noun canonicity was only significant in the Spanish monolingual session, where participants used significantly more masculine determiners with non-canonical nouns. Bilingual language experience was only significant in the CS session, where regular codeswitchers used more masculine default determiners than infrequent codeswitchers and non-codeswitchers, while in Spanish-only, all these groups behaved similarly.

Causative verbs in the grammar of Spanish heritage speakers

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve Zyzik
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Verb Classes ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Acceptance Rates ◽  
Intransitive Verbs ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

This study examines argument structure overgeneralizations among heritage speakers of Spanish who exhibit varying degrees of proficiency in the heritage language. Two questions motivated the design of the study: (1) Do heritage speakers differ from native speakers in their acceptance of causative errors? And if so, (2) which classes of verbs are most susceptible to this overgeneralization? A sentence acceptability task targeting two verb classes (unaccusatives and unergatives) was administered to 58 heritage speakers and a comparison group (n = 22) of monolingually-raised native speakers of Spanish. The results confirm that heritage speakers, in contrast to native speakers, accept causative errors with a variety of intransitive verbs. Unaccusative verbs are more readily accepted in transitive frames than unergatives for all groups. Acceptance rates for individual verbs are a function of the particular verb’s compatibility with external causation as well as the possibility of being transitive in English.

scholarly journals Gender in Unilingual and Mixed Speech of Spanish Heritage Speakers in The Netherlands

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Ivo Boers ◽  
Bo Sterken ◽  
Brechje van Osch ◽  
M. Carmen Parafita Couto ◽  
Janet Grijzenhout ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Translation Equivalent ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Switching Mode ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

This study examines heritage speakers of Spanish in The Netherlands regarding their production of gender in both their languages (Spanish and Dutch) as well as their gender assignment strategies in code-switched constructions. A director-matcher task was used to elicit unilingual and mixed speech from 21 participants (aged 8 to 52, mean = 17). The nominal domain consisting of a determiner, noun, and adjective was targeted in three modes: (i) Unilingual Spanish mode, (ii) unilingual Dutch mode, and (iii) code-switched mode in both directions (Dutch to Spanish and Spanish to Dutch). The production of gender in both monolingual modes was deviant from the respective monolingual norms, especially in Dutch, the dominant language of the society. In the code-switching mode, evidence was found for the gender default strategy (common in Dutch, masculine in Spanish), the analogical gender strategy (i.e., the preference to assign the gender of the translation equivalent) as well as two thus far unattested strategies involving a combination of a default gender and the use of a non-prototypical word order. External factors such as age of onset of bilingualism, amount of exposure and use of both languages had an effect on both gender accuracy in the monolingual modes and assignment strategies in the code-switching modes.

scholarly journals Perspective-Taking With Deictic Motion Verbs in Spanish: What We Learn About Semantics and the Lexicon From Heritage Child Speakers and Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Goldin ◽  
Kristen Syrett ◽  
Liliana Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Independent Evidence ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Bilingual Learner ◽  
To Come ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
English Monolingual

In English, deictic verbs of motion, such as come can encode the perspective of the speaker, or another individual, such as the addressee or a narrative protagonist, at a salient reference time and location, in the form of an indexical presupposition. By contrast, Spanish has been claimed to have stricter requirements on licensing conditions for venir (“to come”), only allowing speaker perspective. An open question is how a bilingual learner acquiring both English and Spanish reconciles these diverging language-specific restrictions. We face this question head on by investigating narrative productions of young Spanish-English bilingual heritage speakers of Spanish, in comparison to English monolingual and Spanish dominant adults and children. We find that the young heritage speakers produce venir in linguistic contexts where most Spanish adult speakers do not, but where English monolingual speakers do, and also resemble those of young monolingual Spanish speakers of at least one other Spanish dialect, leading us to generate two mutually-exclusive hypotheses: (a) the encoding of speaker perspective in the young heritage children is cross-linguistically influenced by the more flexible and dominant language (English), resulting in a wider range of productions by these malleable young speakers than the Spanish grammar actually allows, or (b) the young Spanish speakers are exhibiting productions that are in fact licensed in the grammar, but which are pruned away in the adult productions, being supplanted by other forms as the lexicon is enriched. Given independent evidence of the heritage speakers' robust Spanish linguistic competence, we turn to systematically-collected acceptability judgments of three dialectal varieties of monolingual adult Spanish speakers of the distribution of perspective-taking verbs, to assess their competence and adjudicate between (a) and (b). We find that adults accept venir in contexts in which they do not produce it, leading us to argue that (a) venir is not obligatorily speaker-oriented in Spanish, as has been claimed, (b) adults may not produce venir in these contexts because they instead select more specific motion verbs, and (c) for heritage bilingual children, the more dominant language (English) may support the grammatically licensed but lexically-constrained productions in Spanish.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document