Abstract
The importance of the English language has been increasing as various fields have become more globalized. When Japanese people try to acquire foreign language such as English, learners find it difficult to perceive speech-sounds such as the phonemes /l/ and /r/ that are absent in their native language (e.g., “light”/lάit/ and “right”/rάit/). Recent studies report that a unique sound that deviates from a repetitive background sound induces pupillary dilation response (PDR) regardless of whether attention is directed to the sound or not. In this study, we investigated whether deviation in higher-order processing such as language processing induces PDR, and the possibility of determining implicit subjective English proficiency. A behavioural auditory distinguishing ability test was performed prior to the main experiment to quantitatively evaluate participants’ ability to distinguish English words. Then, by conducting an oddball paradigm-employing stimulus including the phonemes /l/ and /r/ with simultaneous pupil diameter recording, a significant dilation was evoked by /l/-/r/ speech sounds presented as deviant stimuli. Moreover, a strong correlation between the PDR amplitude and participants’ ability to distinguish English words was found; that is, individuals with higher ability to distinguish such words displayed a prominent PDR. Also, the PDR difference between the two groups classified by discrimination ability suggests that PDR might be sensitive to higher-order characteristics involved in language processing, which is independent from the aspects of physical sound and cognitive load.
Highlights
To deal with intensifying competition in the globalized modern information society, English is regarded as a highly practical language
These studies have focused on subconscious perceptual learning incepted by biological signals, for instance, by showing the state of brain activity to the learner using neurofeedback technology combined with fMRI and EEG measurement technologies[5,6]
The physical differences in speech stimulation can be distinguished in either group, there is a distinction in pupillary dilation reflex (PDR). Considering these facts, we address the possibility that PDR is sensitive to other higher-order characteristics involved in language processing, such as speech processing related to lrADA
Summary
To deal with intensifying competition in the globalized modern information society, English is regarded as a highly practical language. Despite many years of study, many Japanese fare poorly in English proficiency These learning problems due to discrimination difficulties between phonemes that are non-existent in the first language are not unique to Japanese speakers learning English, as, for example, they occur among English speakers learning Mandarin[4]. To date, when Japanese learners practicing English listening skills, in most cases the learner attempts to discriminate between words including phonemes /l/ and /r/, and the learner is informed whether their answers are correct or not[5] This method requires a long time for the learner to acquire the ability to distinguish the foreign sounds. If auditory deviation of English pronunciation appears in the PDR, it might be possible to establish a method to estimate subjective auditory distinguishing ability of words including phonemes /l/ and /r/ from non-contact pupil measurement, which has a much lower computational cost than fMRI or EEG
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