Abstract
Understanding the development of spoken language in young children has become increasingly important for advancing basic theories of language acquisition and for clinical practice. However, such a goal requires refined measurements of speech articulation (e.g., from the tongue), which are difficult to obtain from young children. In recent years though, technological advances have allowed developmental researchers to make significant steps in that direction. For instance, movements of the tongue, an articulator that is essential for spoken language, can now be tracked and recorded in children with ultrasound imaging. This technique has opened novel research avenues in (a)typical language acquisition, enabling researchers to reliably capture what has long remained invisible in the speech of young children. Within this context, we have designed an experimental platform for the recording and the processing of kinematic data: SOLLAR (Sonographic and Optical Linguo-Labial Articulatory Recording system). The method has been tailored for children, but it is suitable for adults. In the present article, we introduce the recording environment developed to record over 100 children and 30 adults within SOLLAR. We then describe SOLLAR’s data processing framework, providing examples of data visualization and a summary of strengths and limitations.
Highlights
In the past decade, empirical research in the developmental domain has benefited from increasingly sophisticated methods for investigating the attention, perception, and recognition abilities of children and infants (e.g., EEG, fNIRs, eye-movement tracking, pupillometry)
Before the data collection starts, the participant relations experimenter (PE) engages with the child familiarizing him/her with the ultrasound device in a playful way, explaining the space mission’s goals with excitement, asking what they know about planets and how they feel about the space adventure
With SOLLAR, we have developed an approach that avoids intimidating head restraint and minimizes deleterious movement, while accommodating the vertical jaw displacements associated with normal speech (Figure 2)
Summary
Empirical research in the developmental domain has benefited from increasingly sophisticated methods for investigating the attention, perception, and recognition abilities of children and infants (e.g., EEG, fNIRs, eye-movement tracking, pupillometry). Authors of the present article have conducted various kinematic studies with young children (Ménard & Noiray, 2011; Ménard, Prémont, Trudeau-Fissette, Turgeon, & Tiede, 2020; Noiray, Ménard, Cathiard, Abry, & Savariaux, 2004; Noiray et al, 2010; Noiray et al, 2013; Song, Demuth, & Shattuck-Hufnagel, 2012; Turgeon, Trudeau-Fissette, Fitpatrick, & Meénard, 2017) Leveraging those experiences, we have designed our most recent studies as imaginary interstellar journeys during which child participants pilot a mock spaceship integrated within the SOLLAR platform. In consideration of children’s limited attention spans, we make sure that recordings do not exceed 40 minutes including introduction of the study, set-up, and breaks
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