Lexical stress constrains English-learning infants’ segmentation in a non-native language

Megha Sundara,Victoria E Mateu

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.08.013

Abstract

Infants’ ability to segment words in fluent speech is affected by their language experience. In this study we investigated the conditions under which infants can segment words in a non-native language. Using the Head-turn Preference Procedure, we found that monolingual English-learning 8-month-olds can segment bisyllabic words in Spanish (trochees and iambs) but not French (iambs). Our results are incompatible with accounts that rely on distributional learning, language rhythm similarity, or target word prosodic shape alone. Instead, we show that monolingual English-learning infants are able to segment words in a non-native language as long as words have stress, as is the case in English. More specifically, we show that even in a rhythmically different non-native language, English-learning infants can find words by detecting stressed syllables and treating them as word onsets or offsets.

Highlights

The ability to find words from fluent speech is crucial for learning language
In Part I, we report results from four experiments to adjudicate whether the rhythm hypothesis, the distributional learning account, the Metrical Segmentation account, or the lexical stress account better explains infants’ segmentation in a non-native language
Infants success at segmenting Spanish iambs is consistent with a distributional learning account, but not with a Metrical Segmentation account, under which English-learning infants should only segment trochees

Summary

Introduction

The ability to find words from fluent speech is crucial for learning language. This is so because words are rarely produced in isolation, even in speech addressed to infants (Aslin, 1993; Brent & Siskind, 2001; van deWeijer, 1997). We investigated infants’ ability to find words in a non-native language, a critical first step in investigating the bases of bi/ multilingual acquisition in infancy. Previous cross-linguistic research shows that early in development, infants rely on statistical cues to find words (Goodsitt, Morgan, & Kuhl, 1993; Saffran, Aslin, & Newport, 1996; Pelucchi, Hay, & Saffran, 2009). One such statistical cue is the probability of co-occurrence of syllables. A distributional learning account predicts successful segmentation by infants in any non-native language, given sufficient information about syllable cooccurrence probabilities

Methods

Results

Conclusion