Aural Recognition Research Articles

Cross-linguistic effects of form overlap in aural recognition of Spanish–English cognates

Abstract This study investigated the effect of cross-linguistic overlap in L1 and L2 auditory recognition of Spanish–English cognates. The study examined the correlation between objective and subjective measures of overlap and analyzed how these measures predict patterns in auditory recognition. 62 Spanish-speaking learners of English and 63 English-speaking learners of Spanish completed two auditory lexical decision tasks in Spanish and English and a rating task, where they rated the perceived phonological similarity of cognates. The results revealed moderate correlations between subjective and objective measures of overlap. While orthographic overlap had no effect, increased phonological overlap facilitated recognition in L1 and L2 Spanish and English and had larger effects in L2 recognition. Perceived similarity was the best predictor among the measures of overlap. The findings support models suggesting that cross-linguistic co-activation is facilitated by increased form similarity and studies reporting modality dependent effects of cross-linguistic form overlap in lexical recognition.

Acústica del violín y reconocimiento tímbrico por músicos profesionales y no-músicos

El objetivo de este trabajo fue indagar en las posibilidades tímbricas producidas por dos violinistas profesionales y analizar la capacidad de reconocimiento de los sonidos resultantes, tanto por una muestra de músicos como de no-músicos, con el fin de valorar la importancia que se le debe dar al timbre en el proceso de enseñanza del violín. Para ello, se ha seleccionado una muestra de 60 adultos, de los cuales la mitad son músicos profesionales titulados y la otra mitad carecen de formación musical reglada. Se utilizó como instrumento la prueba experimental Ikarak que consiste en la ejecución de distintos sonidos y su reconocimiento auditivo. Se hallaron resultados que muestran puntuaciones altas en el reconocimiento auditivo de los sonidos tanto en el grupo de músicos como en el de no-músicos. Por otro lado, los resultados muestran una correlación de pequeña magnitud entre ambos grupos, que resulta no ser estadísticamente significativa. Tras los resultados se pueden establecer programas potenciadores de la sensibilización tímbrica, con el fin de fomentar que la totalidad del alumnado de conservatorio alcance su máximo potencial y un alto rendimiento, ya que éstos son el reflejo de un aprendizaje más eficaz. Palabras clave: Timbre, reconocimiento auditivo, acústica violín, enseñanza musical.

The role of aural recognition in L2 Spanish mood selection

It is widely recognized that the development of mood selection in Spanish poses a unique challenge for English-speaking L2 learners, but the role that aural mood recognition plays in this process has yet to be fully explored (Collentine, 2010). This present study, conducted with intermediate-advanced L2 Spanish students, considers issues of aural saliency for regular and irregular present subjunctive forms, and argues that if students cannot perceive mood modeled in spoken input, the necessary frequency-driven, form-meaning connections essential for acquisition could be hindered, impacting mood production (Ellis, 2002, 2009). These exploratory results suggest a positive correlation between phonological sensitivity to the present subjunctive form and target-like mood production, especially when coupled with mood noticing strategies. The outcome of this study offers insight into L2 mood selection development and adds support to pedagogical approaches that strengthen aural mood recognition and encourage explicit strategies for mood processing.

The Use of YouTube to Improve Students’ Acuity and Analytic Skills in Discussion of Issues in Music Performance

The emergence of YouTube as a public and easily accessible resource for musical performances provides both opportunities and challenges for tertiary level music teaching. The simultaneous combination of visual and aural recognition greatly aids the understanding of music performance practice issues: listening and scrutiny of video footage of both historical and recent performances is an important research activity for developing understanding of past and current performance practices. Such learning enables the skill development and stylistic awareness to underpin more authentic or aesthetically pleasing individual musical interpretation and performance. The authors conducted a study in 2012 to evaluate the use of YouTube footage in classroom settings to initiate discussion of performance practices and raise students’ awareness of the effect of the individual persona on a given interpretation. The study found that students developed a more nuanced understanding of what was needed, visually and aurally, to create stylish and professionally credible performances as well as gaining greater awareness and understanding of criteria that can be used to assess the performance of others. A follow up study in 2014 evaluated tertiary music performance students’ subsequent use of YouTube outside the classroom environment. The data strongly suggests that the earlier use of YouTube as a teaching tool in the curriculum and the development of critical awareness and judgment in that forum has contributed to this cohort’s willingness to engage with this audio-visual resource for personal learning and that they exhibit a high degree of critical judgment in their viewing and use of the resource

Word Recognition Processing Efficiency as a Component of Second Language Listening

This study investigated the application of the speeded lexical decision task to L2 aural processing efficiency. One-hundred and twenty Japanese university students completed an aural word/nonword task. When the variation of lexical decision time (CV) was correlated with reaction time (RT), the results suggested that the single-word recognition task could be successfully applied to the L2 aural modality. However, when CV and RT were correlated with L2 listening ability, a statistically significant relationship was not found. It was concluded that the single-word word recognition task might not be suited to measuring L2 aural word recognition efficiency.

Avifauna do Parque Estadual de Vila Rica do Espírito Santo, Fênix, Paraná

A avifauna do Parque Estadual de Vila Rica do Espírito Santo foi estudada a partir de 1982 até o ano de 2007 com a finalidade de obter a sua composição de espécies de aves. Situado no município de Fênix, no estado do Paraná, essa unidade de conservação está inserida em uma região cuja paisagem é um mosaico de fragmentos da floresta Estacional Semidecidual entre extensas áreas destinadas ao plantio de grãos, cana-de-açúcar e pastagens. Possui uma área de 354 ha recoberta em sua maioria por uma floresta secundária em estádio avançado de regeneração e por capoeiras. O inventário foi realizado utilizando em conjunto os métodos de reconhecimento visual e auditivo e por capturas com redes ornitológicas, durante quatro períodos, uma primeira amostragem em 1982, o segundo período com 40 expedições a campo entre 1986 e 1999 e o terceiro e quarto períodos conduzidos, respectivamente, de 2002 a 2003 e 2006, totalizando em mais 16 expedições. Esta pesquisa revelou a ocorrência de 259 espécies de aves distribuídas em 55 famílias e 22 ordens. A predominância de espécies representantes da ordem Passeriformes e da subordem dos Suboscines sugere que a assembléia de aves do parque é caracterizada por elementos silvícolas. Esse ambiente é o mais representativo no parque e abriga o maior numero de espécies, 189 espécies, destacando-se a ocupação por aves tamnícolas (164 spp.), corticícolas (14 spp.) e terrícolas (11 spp). O PV por abrigar 14 espécies ameaçadas de extinção e uma alta riqueza de espécies apresenta uma alta importância na paisagem regional como uma unidade de conservação. Essa paisagem composta por alguns remanescentes é fundamental para a manutenção da diversidade local, ainda mais quando essas florestas estão protegidas de alguma forma, como o caso do Parque Estadual Vila Rica do Espírito Santo que é uma unidade de conservação de uso restrito.

Conventional Expressions as a Pragmalinguistic Resource: Recognition and Production of Conventional Expressions in L2 Pragmatics

This study investigates the source of second language (L2) learners’ low use of conventional expressions—one part of pragmalinguistic competence—by investigating the relationship between recognition and production of conventional expressions in L2 pragmatics. Two tasks—an aural recognition task and an oral production task—were completed by 122 learners of English as a second language with mixed‐language backgrounds and 49 native speakers of English divided among peers and teachers. The aural recognition task presented 60 expressions to which participants responded with one of three levels of self‐assessed familiarity, operationalized as an estimate of how often they hear a given expression (I often/sometimes/never hear this). The computer‐delivered production task included 32 scenarios to which participants responded orally. Results show that recognition of conventional expressions is a necessary condition for production but not sufficient. Lower use of conventional expressions by learners may have multiple sources: lack of familiarity with some expressions; overuse of familiar expressions, which subsequently reduces the opportunity to use more targetlike expressions; level of development; and sociopragmatic knowledge.

Aural and automatic forensic speaker recognition in mismatched conditions

In this article, we compare aural and automatic speaker recognition in the context of forensic analyses, using a Bayesian framework for the interpretation of evidence.We use perceptual tests performed by non-experts and compare their performance with that of an automatic speaker recognition system. These experiments are performed with 90 phonetically untrained subjects. Several forensic cases were simulated, using the Polyphone IPSC-02 database, varying in linguistic content and technical conditions of recording. We estimate the strength of evidence for both humans and the baseline automatic system, calculating likelihood ratios using perceptual scores for humans and log-likelihood scores for the automatic system. A methodology analogous to the Bayesian interpretation in forensic automatic speaker recognition is applied to the perceptual scores given by humans in order to estimate the strength of evidence. The degradation of the accuracy of human recognition in mismatched recording conditions is contrasted with that of the automatic system under similar recording conditions. The conditions considered are fixed telephone, cellular telephone and noisy speech in forensically realistic conditions. The perceptual cues that the human subjects use to perceive differences in voices are studied, along with their importance in different recording conditions. We observe that while automatic speaker recognition shows higher accuracy in matched conditions of training and testing, its performance degrades significantly in mismatched conditions. Aural recognition accuracy is also observed to degrade from matched conditions to mismatched conditions and in mismatched conditions, the baseline automatic systems showed comparable or slightly degraded performance compared to the aural recognition systems. The baseline automatic system with adaptation to noisy conditions showed comparable or better performance than aural recognition. The higher level perceptual cues used by human listeners in order to recognise speakers are discussed. We also discuss the possibility of increasing the accuracy of automatic systems using the perceptual cues that remain robust to mismatched recording conditions.

The Effects of Computer-Based Expository and Discovery Methods of Instruction on Aural Recognition of Music Concepts

This study presents a comparison of the effectiveness of computer-based expository and discovery methods of instruction for fostering the aural recognition of selected musical concepts. The expository method (EM) contained the instructional sequence (a) definition of the concept, (b) examples, (c) practice exercises. The discovery method (DM) contained the instructional sequence (a) examples, (b) practice exercises, (c) opportunity to verbalize discovery, (d) definition of the concept. The DM group spent more time than the EM group working with the software (p = .03). The groups did not differ significantly on total time spent in instruction (p = .19). No significant differences were found between treatments on the posttest or retention test. Both groups improved from pretest to posttest and declined from posttest to retention test (p < .01). A relationship was found between subjects' ability to define the concepts verbally and their ability to recognize aurally examples of the musical concepts. Greater variance was found among DM subjects.

Elementary Directed Listening to Music: A Singing Approach versus a Nonsinging Approach

The basic purpose of this study was to compare a singing approach to a nonsinging approach with regard to aural thematic recognition and thematic preference. The sample consisted of 241 students in Grades 5 and 6. Upon completion of the researcher-developed art music listening program, participating teachers administered the Thematic Aural Perception Test and Musical Thematic Preference Questionnaire. These researcher-generated tests had reliability coefficients of .84 and .87, respectively. Analyses of variance indicated that subjects who sang thematic material had a significantly higher rate of aural recall ( p < .05) than subjects who did not sing. There was no significant difference with regard to preference. Evaluative comments from the participating teachers were valuable in formulating suggestions for teaching and further research.

PERCEPTUA.ND LEXICA.ACTORS IN A CAS.F LETTER-BY-LETTER READING

We report the case of a letter-by-letter reader (MJ) who showed normal processing of single letters and who could normally access the orthographic input lexicon when presented with letter names for aural recognition, or when allow ed enough tim e to process a visually presented letter string. However, MJ showed severe difficulties in simultaneously processing multiple letters and other simple visual stimuli. Furthermore, she does not have normal access to lexical orthographic representations and their meanings when stimuli are presented for too brief a time to allow for serial processing of the letter string. We found no evidence of (partial) lexical or semantic access without corresponding recognition of the letters in a word: No signs of implicit reading were observed w hen the input stimuli were controlled for the relevant visual features; “implicit reading” was only obtained under conditions that allowed sophisticated guessing. This pattern of results is interpreted as indicating that LBL reading (at least in MJ) results from damage to prelexical processing mechanisms. In MJ's case, the deficit reflects the degraded transfer of information from a normal visual processing system in the right hemisphere to a normal language processing system in the left hemisphere.

Practica Musica Version 3.0.3, Ear Training Software for Macintosh. Ars Nova Software

Serious and effective training in aural skills is best achieved through interaction in a workshop setting, the traditional milieu being one in which some outside person performs exercises and examples that test students' aural recognition. In addition, it has been proven that the efficacy of any single program relates directly to the consistency and frequency of training sessions. This fact is not surprising, considering the neuro-muscular nature of the skill; any muscle needs regular exercise, of gradually increasing difficulty, in order to improve. With the aid of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in ear training, academic programs are no longer bound by limitations in human resources. As criteria of flexibility and interaction are refined, students are increasingly able to perform for themselves exercises that can be tailored to address specific handicaps, and to receive accurate and detailed feedback on their personal progress. The result is a significant reduction in the absolute need for human interaction. If the latest crop of ear training software is any indicator, it is conceivable that human interaction, except for guidance and supervision, may eventually become superfluous, at least for everything but the most advanced applications. Practica Musica may be the most comprehensive software currently available, at least for academic, i.e., institutional, purposes, Ars Nova is well aware of the need to track individual student progress, and has come up with a variety of flexible solutions. A single copy can be personalized for up to four people, which is beneficial for home use or for very small classes. For larger classes the number of student users may be expanded through the use of Student Files, for institutions with only one computer, or portable Student Disks, which are particularly useful if students need to be able to use any available computer. Using either of these options, a Progress Report tracks individual progress through four levels of achievement, and keeps a running count of the points gained in each level. Passwords are available for the protection of personal files (Student File Password) and instructor options (Practica Musica Password); the latter also protects any custom melodies from being opened for editing. With or without the password option, students may see their own report at any time, and instructors may view anyone's report. Like most available ear training software, Practica Musica is compatible. (Unfortunately, while it will play back anything to a sound source, it allows for entry of pitch only. Rhythms must be added via the mouse or computer keyboard.) A MIDI Settings window offers a number of choices for users who are well-versed in using a instrument. Significantly, however, even with its myriad options, Practica Musica's programmers have not ignored the need for better internal sound production. The use of finely honed sampled sounds for piano, guitar, and voice has greatly improved the lot for those users without capability (though a sound source is still the best option whenever possible). At startup Practica Musica displays a piano keyboard (or optionally a guitar fret-board) and a single staff. Access to exercises and options is through a series of windows and pull-down menus, a format pleasantly familiar to Macintosh users. Entering notes may be done on the staff, keyboard, or fretboard with the mouse, computer keys, or instrument keys. A harmony setting determines whether notes will stick on the staff as they are entered (up to a maximum of four notes), or will disappear when the key/mouse is released. In practice mode Practica Musica will identify any intervals or standard three- or four-note chords played, an application that could prove both entertaining and instructional for students. Practica Musica labels all exercises Activities; students can easily select the activity and the level of play (1 through 4) through a pull-down menu. …

A Further Investigation of Certain Learning Aspects in the Aural Recognition of Melodic Intervals

A Further Investigation of Certain Learning Aspects in the Aural Recognition of Melodic Intervals

The Effects of Order of Presentation and Knowledge of Results on the Aural Recognition of Melodic Intervals

The Effects of Order of Presentation and Knowledge of Results on the Aural Recognition of Melodic Intervals

日本語・英語の比較研究に基づく英語教育法に関する研究

The purpose of this report is 1) to make clear the weak points of Japanese in hearing and in pronouncing English, and 2) to show a teaching method of English, poposed by 0. Saheki, to overcome these weak points.Subjects (Table 1): first, second and third year pupils of Junior High School A, of the average intelligence level of pupils in Kyoto City, taught throughout the current academic year by a single member of the staffs of the same school: first year pupils of Junior High School B, also of average in telligence, taught by 0. Saheki for one year; first, second and third year Saheki English School pupils: and freshmen of College D and E.Procedures. 1. Aural Recognition of English Phonemes. The Subjects were asked to listen to and write down 1) familiar English words spoken by a Japanese, 2) by an American, and 3) unfamiliar ones by the Japanese (Table 2, 3, 4),2. Pronunciation of English Phonemes. The subjects were asked to pronounce English words (Table 5). The tests were given at the middle of the current academic year to Junior High School pupils and at the beginning of the year to College Students. After the tests the E College freshmen were taught by O. Saheki and were tested again. The number of the subjects who answered correctly were compared between groups by X2-test (Table 2, 4, 5). Results. 1. Aural Recognition of English Phonemes. Most of the subjects, except those taught by O. Saheki, could not recognize English phonemes (Table 2, 3). It is considered that the subjects heard them in the framework of the Japanese phoneme system. Out of the School A, the younger were the more successful in recognizing them. The longer the subjects had been taught by a traditional teaching method (teaching translation and grammatical analysis of written English without practice in hearing or pronunciation), the more rigid their framework of Japanese phoneme system became. The results of aural tests pronounced by a Japanese and by an American were almost the same (Table 3). As for the subjects of School A, not all who recognized phonemes in familiar words could hear and spell syllables of words which they had not learned, though most of the Saheki School subjects could (Table 4).2. Pronunciation of English Phonemes. The results of the pronunciation were almost the same as those of the aural recognition. Most of the subjects, except those taught by 0. Saheki, pronounced English phonemes in the framework of the Japanes phoneme system. The following teaching process of hearing and pronouncing English phonemes was proporsed by O.Saheki (Fig. 1). At first introduction is given in the difference between the Japanese and English phoneme systems to pupils using some fundamental and varied English phoneme pairs and corresponding Japanese phonemes, e. g. /1/ [1]: /r/ [r] and Japanese /r [i] in initial position of words, /s/ [s]: /s/ (s) and Japanese/s/ [G] etc., not only in hearing but also in pronouncing. The more differentiated the subjects' English phoneme system becomes, the more English phoneme pairs are introduced. And there is a systematic comparison of the differencebetween Japanese and English. The subjects are also trained to comprehend the relation between articulation and spelling of English words' syllables.Most of the subjects, not only the Saheki School pupils but also School B pupils and even College E students, had established a differentiated English phonemes system both in hearing and pronouncing by the end of a course of one year with lessons with O. Saheki.

Acoustic Simulation of Underwater Sounds

Training of sonar personnel in the recognition of underwater sounds can be greatly facilitated by electronic simulation of target-radiated noises. For simulation purposes, radiated noise from a vessel is composed of a shaped broad-band noise-spectra and line-spectra components. A broad-band spectrum is modulated at a frequency corresponding to the blade rate of the ship's propellers. Although the basic signature can be defined from an analysis of the radiated noise, the qualities that aurally distinguish one class of target from another or different operating modes of a target are subjective in nature and must be added to the basic signature for a purpose of audio recognition. A typical class of noise that must be considered is cavitation. This paper describes the process of simulating a ship signature. A tape recording demonstrates the buildup of a radiated-noise signature for a cargo vessel and highlights the audio cues used for aural recognition.

Aural Recognition Time for Multi-Dimensional Signals

Aural Recognition Time for Multi-Dimensional Signals

Instrumentation for Psychoacoustic Testing

An automatic programming and data-tabulating apparatus has been developed for use in studies of the aural recognition of pulsed signals in noise backgrounds. The equipment provides considerable precision and flexibility both in the control of the signals and backgrounds presented to the subject and in the processing and tabulating of the operators' responses. Pulsed signals up to eight seconds in length are available, and filter band widths from one thousand cycles per second down to one-fourth cycle per second are provided for filtering the signal and noise before they are presented to the test subjects. The subjects' booths are located in a sound isolated room to minimize the effect of airplane and building noise on the experiments.

The Effects of Very Narrow Band Filtering on the Aural Recognition of Pulsed Signals in Noise Backgrounds

Experiments have been conducted to determine the dependence of aural recognition of pulsed signals on the pulse length, signal-to-noise ratio, and the bandwidth of the filter through which the signal and noise were passed. The pulse lengths used ranged from one-fourth second to four seconds, and the filter bandwidths ranged from one-fourth cycle to one thousand cycles and were centered at eight hundred cycles. Signals randomly spaced in the noise background were presented to eight trained subjects. Least-square estimates of the signal-to-noise ratios required for fifty percent signal recognition were made, and their values were plotted as a function of pulse length and filter band width.

The Aural Recognition of Pulsed Signals in Very Narrow-Band Noise Backgrounds

Experimental studies of the aural recognition of pulsed sinusoidal signals in noise backgrounds have been extended to include masking by bands of random noise less than 1 cycle per second in width. The results of these narrow-band masking experiments are of particular value in establishing more accurate electrical circuit representations for the human hearing mechanism as a pulsed-signal detector.