Language Production Research Articles

Exploring Students’ Perceptions of Role-Playing Activities in Boosting English Speaking Confidence

This study explores students’ perceptions of role-playing as a pedagogical approach in language learning. A questionnaire was administered to 112 participants to gauge their views on the effectiveness of role-playing in enhancing language proficiency. The results indicate a generally favorable perception among students, highlighting role-playing’s ability to simulate real-life situations, promote engagement, and foster creativity in language use. Participants reported that role-playing activities effectively facilitated the practice of spontaneous language production and enhanced student engagement. Various types of role-playing activities were evaluated, revealing that scripted role-playing increased confidence, semi-scripted formats supported the use of set phrases, and improvised role-plays improved fluency. Additionally, students recognized benefits such as improved speaking fluency and pronunciation. However, challenges such as performance anxiety and time management issues were also identified. This research highlights the significant potential of role-playing in language education while addressing the associated challenges, suggesting that careful implementation can maximize its benefits.

The more proficient the learners, the less sophisticated their L2 vocabulary?

Abstract Mean-frequency scores of lexical sophistication are used to evaluate written and spoken language production. They are calculated using word frequencies extracted from a reference corpus. Using mixed-effects regression models, we analyse the strength of the relationship between L2 proficiency and mean-frequency scores in spoken and written texts using reference corpora representing different modes and registers. We control for task and topic effects. We observe that mean-frequency measures of lexical sophistication are considerably more influenced by the mode and register of the reference corpus used to calculate these scores than by language users’ proficiency level. Advanced language users produce more frequent vocabulary, typical of the target register, in both spoken monologues and written essays. These results provide evidence in favour of a conceptual and terminological shift from lexical sophistication to register appropriateness (as suggested by Durrant & Brenchley, 2019) to refer to the construct captured by mean-frequency scores of vocabulary use.

Text availability and the speaker’s visibility in simultaneous interpreting: effects on the process, product, and interpreters’ perceptions

ABSTRACT The input condition in simultaneous interpreting (SI) varies in practice, yet the effects of different input modalities on SI still remain largely unknown. To that end, text availability and the speaker’s visibility, two typical sources of multimodal input, were chosen to explore the effects of input modality on the SI process (fluency), product (accuracy), and interpreters’ perceptions. Data were collected from thirty student interpreters performing four comparable speeches from English to Chinese in four different conditions: audio-only, audio-video (speaker visible), audio-text (verbatim text available), and audio-video-text (speaker visible and verbatim text available). The results from analyzing audio recordings, questionnaires, and interview data showed that the increase in redundant information did not deteriorate the interpreting fluency and accuracy. Input modality had a significant effect on SI, with text availability significantly facilitating source language comprehension and target language production at the global level. However, text availability also introduced challenges in ear-eye-voice coordination at the local level. Additionally, the speaker’s visibility performed a supplementary function by promoting engagement and providing paralinguistic cues that facilitate communication. Individual differences existed in interpreters’ perceptions under different input conditions, with different challenges reported. These findings expand our understandings of multimodal processing in SI.

Oral reading promotes predictive processing in Chinese sentence reading: eye movement evidence.

Fluent sentence reading is widely acknowledged to depend on top-down contextual prediction, wherein sentential and contextual cues guide the pre-activation of linguistic representations before encountering stimuli, facilitating subsequent comprehension. The Prediction-by-Production hypothesis posits an explanation for predictive processes in language comprehension, suggesting that prediction during comprehension involves processes associated with language production. However, there is a lack of eye movement evidence supporting this hypothesis within sentence reading contexts. Thus, we manipulated reading mode and word predictability to examine the influence of language production on predictive processing. Participants engaged in silent or oral reading of sentences containing either high or low-predictable target words. Eye movements were recorded using the Eyelink1000 eye tracker. The findings revealed a higher skipping rate and shorter fixation times for high-predictable words compared to low-predictable ones, and for silent compared to oral reading. Notably, interactive effects were observed in the time measures (FFD, SFD, GD) during first-pass reading, indicating that word predictability effects were more pronounced during oral reading than silent reading. The observed pattern of results suggests that the activation of the production system enhances predictive processing during the early lexical access, providing empirical support for the Prediction-by-Production hypothesis in eye movement sentence reading situations, extending the current understanding of the timing and nature of predictions in reading comprehension.

Syntactic priming as implicit learning in German child language.

We investigated syntactic priming in German children to explore crosslinguistic evidence for implicit learning accounts of language production and acquisition. Adult descriptions confirmed that German speakers (N=27) preferred to spontaneously produce active versus passive transitive and DO versus PO dative forms. We tested whether German-speaking children (N=29, M age =5.3, 15 girls/14 boys) could be primed to produce these dispreferred forms and whether such priming effects would persist across a target phase. Children first heard a block of priming sentences and then described a block of target pictures. They demonstrated significant priming effects for passive and PO dative structures, and these priming effects did not differ between the first and second halves of the block of target trials. These patterns of German child language production are consistent with implicit learning accounts of syntactic priming.

Language Profiles of School-Age Children With 16p11.2 Copy Number Variants in a Clinically Ascertained Cohort.

Individuals with proximal 16p11.2 copy number variants (CNVs), either deletions (16p11.2DS) or duplications (16p11.2Dup), are predisposed to neurodevelopmental difficulties and disorders, such as language disorders, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of the current study was to characterize language profiles of school-age children with proximal 16p11.2 CNVs, in relation to the normative sample and unaffected siblings of children with 16p11.2DS. Standardized language tests were conducted in 33 school-age children with BP4-BP5 16p11.2 CNVs and eight unaffected siblings of children with 16p11.2DS to evaluate language production and comprehension skills across various language domains. A standardized intelligence test was also administered, and parents completed a standardized questionnaire to assess autistic traits. Language profiles were compared across 16p11.2 CNVs and intrafamilial pairs. The influence of nonverbal intelligence and autistic traits on language outcomes was investigated. No significant differences were found between children with 16p11.2DS and those with 16p11.2Dup, although both groups exhibited significantly poorer language skills compared to the normative sample and unaffected siblings of children with 16p11.2DS. Severe language deficits were identified in 70% of individuals with 16p11.2 CNVs across all language subdomains, with significantly better receptive vocabulary skills than overall receptive language abilities. In children with 16p11.2DS, expressive language deficits were more pronounced than receptive deficits. In contrast, only in children with 16p11.2Dup did nonverbal intelligence influence their language outcomes. The current study contributes to the deeper understanding of language profiles in 16p11.2 CNVs in a clinically ascertained cohort, indicating generalized deficits across multiple language domains, rather than a syndrome-specific pattern targeting specific subdomains. The findings underscore the importance of early diagnosis, targeted therapy, and monitoring of language skills in children with 16p11.2 CNVs. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27228702.

"Look Who's Talking": Language Patterns in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth Across Different Conversation Partners.

Autistic individuals have varying levels of verbal fluency which can impact social outcomes. Although 70-75% of autistic individuals have functional language, findings regarding language patterns (syntax and semantics) in autistic adolescents remain inconclusive. Additionally, previous studies of language complexity use narrative samples, which do not capture autistic language in conversation. The current study examined language patterns in autistic (n = 20) and non-autistic (n = 17) youth aged 9-16 years during a conversation with a familiar versus unfamiliar adult. The study aimed to address gaps in the literature regarding autistic youth's language patterns, particularly in conversation, and the impact of speaking partners. Recordings of the conversation task were transcribed using SALT software conventions to yield measures of language production. Average length of communication units was higher among autistic compared to non-autistic youth, and among all youth when talking with familiar compared to unfamiliar partners. Youth speech also reflected greater linguistic diversity with familiar interlocutors, with no differences between autistic and non-autistic youth. Additionally, familiar interlocutors used more speech elicitation strategies (i.e., questions, prompts) than unfamiliar interlocutors across groups and interlocutors speaking with autistic youth used more speech elicitation strategies. These findings identify important similarities and differences between autistic and non-autistic youth and interlocutor speech that provide a better understanding of language patterns in autism. Importantly, this study can increase understanding and enhance support of autistic youth by highlighting that some aspects of autistic youth's language patterns in the context of conversation may be currently underestimated.

Influence of Teacher Beliefs on Employing EBT (Evidence-Based Teaching) in Creative Writing Lessons

Children who do not master writing skills risk possible failure because they cannot complete written assignments on time. The complex nature of writing as a language production skill requires thorough planning and problem-solving. Research emphasises that children who struggle to write tend to remain behind in their writing skill development. Hence, it is necessary to strengthen writing instruction, such as by incorporating research-based methods. The purpose of this article was to explore teachers’ perceptions of and beliefs in teaching creative writing and employing evidence-based teaching (EBT) in their lessons. Data were generated through two focus group interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Purposive sampling was used to recruit Grade 3 teachers from two primary schools. The data revealed that teachers believed themselves to be inadequately trained to effectively teach creative writing. The findings suggest that teachers believe they have little time to explore the usefulness of evidence-based strategies as they already battle to complete the syllabus; there is little guidance on how to go about teaching creative writing; and how they currently teach is in line with the policy guidelines. This article recommends that the Ministry of Education and universities reinforce pre- and in-service teacher training programmes by teaching diverse evidence-based strategies, for example, self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), consolidate curriculum knowledge, and strengthen continuous professional development programmes to boost teachers as reflective practitioners.

EXPRESS: Aging of lexical access in Chinese spoken word production: A picture-word interference study.

It remains unknown how language production processes decline with age. Using a picture-word interference task, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of aging on lexical access, and the contributions of language-specific and domain-general factors to semantic, phonological, and orthographic effects in Chinese spoken word production. After controlling for years of education, language comprehension, and domain-general cognitive abilities, we found a larger semantic interference effect for older speakers than for younger speakers, while the phonological effect and orthographic effect were comparable for the two age groups, supporting the transmission deficit hypothesis. Furthermore, discourse comprehension and general cognitive abilities were found to contribute to the phonological effect in older adults, but not in younger adults. Our findings indicate that both language-specific factors and domain-general factors contribute to the aging of spoken word production together.

Morphological encoding in language production: Electrophysiological evidence from Mandarin Chinese compound words.

This study investigates the role of morphology during speech planning in Mandarin Chinese. In a long-lag priming experiment, thirty-two Mandarin Chinese native speakers were asked to name target pictures (e.g., "" /shan1/ "mountain"). The design involved pictures referring to morpheme-related compound words (e.g., "" /shan1yang2/ "goat") sharing a morpheme with the first (e.g., "" /shan1/ "mountain") or the second position of the targets (e.g., /nao3/ "brain" with prime /dian4nao3/ "computer"), as well as unrelated control items. Behavioral and electrophysiological data were collected. Interestingly, the behavioral results went against earlier findings in Indo-European languages, showing that the target picture naming was not facilitated by morphologically related primes. This suggests no morphological priming for individual constituents in producing Mandarin Chinese disyllabic compound words. However, targets in the morpheme-related word condition did elicit a reduced N400 compared with targets in the morpheme-unrelated condition for the first position overlap in the ERP analyses but not for the second, suggesting automatic activation of the first individual constituent in noun compound production. Implications of these findings are discussed.

A Corpus-Based Multifactorial Study of Help/help to Alternation in Learners’ Language: From the Perspective of Probabilistic Grammar

This corpus-based multifactorial study delves deeper into the well-known alternation between bare and full infinitive complements, specifically regarding the help concordances. It extends the line of research to learners’ language productions with a focus on comparing and contrasting the probabilistic grammatical knowledge reflected in the help/ help to choices, which are constrained by a complex network of factors. Regression modeling indicates that constraints such as the horror aequi and certain morphological forms of the verb help are comparatively stable among groups of Chinese English language learners and native English speakers. Therefore, the principle of cognitive complexity and the avoidance strategy fueling infinitive variations are further tested. While the object typology differs in effect strength, it also prompts consideration of cultural influences on the part of Chinese English learners. In addition, two different patterns of interaction effects are explored in each dataset, which implies that learners’ language choice is usage-based, determined by an unconscious assessment of multiple clues that are learned from language input and shaped by language experiences.

A robust temporal map of speech monitoring from planning to articulation

Speakers continuously monitor their own speech to optimize fluent production, but the precise timing and underlying variables influencing speech monitoring remain insufficiently understood. Through two EEG experiments, this study aimed to provide a comprehensive temporal map of monitoring processes ranging from speech planning to articulation.In both experiments, participants were primed to switch the consonant onsets of target word pairs read aloud, eliciting speech errors of either lexical or articulatory-phonetic (AP) origin. Experiment I used pairs of the same stimuli words, creating lexical or non-lexical errors when switching initial consonants, with the degree of shared AP features not fully balanced but considered in the analysis. Experiment II followed a similar methodology but used different words in pairs for the lexical and non-lexical conditions, fully orthogonalizing the number of shared AP features.As error probability is higher in trials primed to result in lexical versus non-lexical errors and AP-close compared to AP-distant errors, more monitoring is required for these conditions. Similarly, error trials require more monitoring compared to correct trials. We used high versus low error probability on correct trials and errors versus correct trials as indices of monitoring.Across both experiments, we observed that on correct trials, lexical error probability effects were present during initial stages of speech planning, while AP error probability effects emerged during speech motor preparation. In contrast, error trials showed differences from correct utterances in both early and late speech motor preparation and during articulation. These findings suggest that (a) response conflict on ultimately correct trials does not persist during articulation; (b) the timecourse of response conflict is restricted to the time window during which a given linguistic level is task-relevant (early on for response appropriateness-related variables and later for articulation-relevant variables); and (c) monitoring during the response is primarily triggered by pre-response monitoring failure. These results support that monitoring in language production is temporally distributed and rely on multiple mechanisms.

Communication During Exertion: Language Production And Comprehension Performance During Exercise At The Ventilatory Threshold.

Communication During Exertion: Language Production And Comprehension Performance During Exercise At The Ventilatory Threshold.

Tongue Twisters in English: Examining the Dynamics of Language Production and Working Memory in Pakistani English Learners

Tongue Twisters in English: Examining the Dynamics of Language Production and Working Memory in Pakistani English Learners

Combining low-technology augmentative and alternative communication with regular aphasia treatment: interim findings of a hospital-based RCT in post-stroke patients

ABSTRACT Background Previous research indicates that low-technology (low-tech) augmentative and alternative communication interventions (AACT) can enhance communication skills in individuals with post-stroke aphasia in China. However, there is limited evidence for low-tech AACT in inpatient settings. Aim This study aims to evaluate the impact of low-tech AACT combined with speech-language therapy (SLT) on communication skills related to basic needs, quality of life, and spoken language function among individuals with post-stroke aphasia in an inpatient setting. Methods & Procedures Twelve participants with aphasia having difficulty in daily communication were randomly assigned to an experimental group, receiving 30 minutes of SLT and 30 minutes of low-tech AACT per session (AACT + SLT), or a control group, receiving 60 minutes of SLT per session (SLT), over ten sessions in two weeks. Primary outcomes were measured using the basic needs (CBN) domain of the functional assessment of communication skills for adults (FACS). Secondary outcomes included scores from the Chinese version of the stroke-specific quality of life scale (SS-QOL) and subtests of spoken language production and comprehension from the aphasia battery of Chinese (ABC). The study was registered in the Chinese clinical trial registry (ChiCTR2000028870). Results The results indicated a significant improvement in the CBN domain of FACS in the AACT + SLT group, with larger clinically significant changes compared to the SLT group. The AACT+ SLT group also showed significantly higher overall scores on the SS-QOL and more significant improvements in the content of spontaneous speech than the SLT group after intervention. Comparable improvements were observed in other subtests of the ABC between the two groups. Conclusions Incorporating low-tech AACT into regular SLT in inpatient settings can improve communication for basic needs in an in-patient setting, facilitate language recovery, and potentially support the overall quality of life, compared to SLT alone, for people with post-stroke aphasia. This combined approach demonstrates preliminary feasibility in hospital settings, suggesting the value of low-tech AACT in aphasia rehabilitation.

Teaching Parents via Online Asynchronous Training to Use Speech-Generating Devices with Their Autistic Children: A Pilot Study.

Background/Objectives: Telepractice interventions have been found to alleviate barriers families face when seeking communication interventions. This study is a multiple-baseline single-subject design that measures parent communication opportunities and parent responsiveness to determine if parent training through online modules created for parents of children with communication support needs can be effective for training parents of autistic children with communication support needs. Methods: This study replicates work by utilizing online training used as well as the same variables and definitions. This study expands the original study by providing the children with speech-generating devices (SGDs). SGDs are an assistive technology tool to increase language production and give access to language to minimally verbal autistic people. A central difference between this study and study is that the only training parents received was the online modules and written instructions to set up the SGD. Results: Overall, the POWR modules appear to positively impact the communication opportunities provided by the parent during play and activities, increase child communication, and improve parent proficiency in implementing the POWR strategy. Conclusions: There is a need for a larger single-case study or a randomized control trial to replicate these findings. Additional instruction may be needed for parents of children with autism around responsive interactions. This study adds to innovative ways of providing family-centered training and access to AAC for those with barriers to service.

Is it up to language? Pragmatic competence in Croatian preschool children with autism and typical development

Objectives The relationship between structural language ability and pragmatics is not fully understood, in either individuals with autism or those with typical development (TD). Despite the well-established understanding that core deficits in autism lie in pragmatics, specific pragmatic behaviours that distinguish autistic children (AC) from their TD peers are not sufficiently described. The aims of this study were as follows: to investigate the differences in language abilities and pragmatic competence between AC and those with TD; to examine the relationship between language comprehension/production and pragmatic competence in both groups; and to identify the items of pragmatic composite that are most discriminative in detecting AC. Methods The participants in this study were preschool-aged children with TD (N = 45; mean age 65.5 months) and AC with average nonverbal IQ scores (N = 32; mean age 72.9 months). Language production and comprehension abilities were assessed using the New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (4th edition), and pragmatic competence was measured using the Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC). Results For all language and pragmatic variables, AC performed worse than those with TD. Pragmatic competencies did not correlate with structural language skills in either group, except for a correlation between language production and coherence in the TD. Finally, certain pragmatic behaviours common to many AC and rarely found in children with TD were identified as potential distinguishing features between the two groups. Conclusions This study underscores the importance of incorporating pragmatic assessments alongside traditional language evaluations and suggests that interventions should target pragmatic competence specifically, especially in preschool AC.

Understanding ‘understanding music’ in Proust

ABSTRACT Sonic events of various kinds (musical and otherwise) are often complex semiotic occasions in Proust’s Recherche. One of the ways we attest to the meaningfulness of sounds we hear, to our understanding of them, is by applying language to them. When we talk or write about sounds or react to them, we also produce social effects. This – by inducing us to react to them and then produce language about them – is one of the ways sounds make social meanings happen in Proust (and in general). By examining language produced about sounds from a couple different volumes of the Recherche, I investigate what Bourdieu calls the differential social effect of works of art. I consider how scenes of language production around sound and music in the novel are constructed to reveal the social effects of apprehending sound and reacting to it. Finally, I speculate on how all of this work the novel does is part of a larger project of understanding: understanding what it means to understand musical sounds.

Deliberate synchronization of speech and gesture: effects of neurodiversity and development

Abstract The production of speech and gesture is exquisitely temporally coordinated. In autistic individuals, speech-gesture synchrony during spontaneous discourse is disrupted. To evaluate whether this asynchrony reflects motor coordination versus language production processes, the current study examined deliberately performed hand movements during speech in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical youth. Neurotypical adult performance provided a mature baseline. Participants read aloud rhythmic nursery rhymes, while producing a beat-like hand movement. An automated pixel-change video measure identified kinematic peaks; using smoothed acoustic envelope analyses, we identified peaks in speech. Results indicated few diagnostic group differences in explicit speech-movement coordination, although adolescent performance differed from adults. Adults demonstrated higher tempo and greater rhythmicity in their coordination; this group difference suggests that the method is sufficiently subtle to reveal individual differences and that this form of complex coordination undergoes ongoing maturation beyond adolescence. The sample is small, and thus results are necessarily preliminary. In the context of prior speech-gesture coordination studies, these findings of intact synchrony are consistent with the hypothesis that it is the demands of discourse planning, rather than motor coordination, that have led to prior findings of asynchrony during spontaneous speech; this possibility awaits future research.

Grandpa, tell me a story! Narrative ability in healthy aging and its relationship with cognitive functions and Theory of Mind

ABSTRACT Healthy aging affects the linguistic and cognitive abilities involved in narrative production. However, few studies provided a comprehensive assessment of narrative skills in aging and their association with cognitive and Theory of Mind (ToM) functions. We explored how aging influences narrative skills, at both micro- (i.e. lexical and grammatical) and macrolinguistic (i.e. pragmatic and discourse) levels. Sixty healthy adults divided into three age-groups (20–40, 65–75, 76–86 years old) were administered tasks assessing narrative production skills, executive functions (EFs), and ToM. A network approach was used to explore how micro- and macrolinguistic skills were associated to different cognitive and ToM functions. The analyses revealed age-related effects on various aspects of language production, including phonology, semantic retrieval, sentence complexity, coherence, cohesion, and lexical informativeness. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between linguistic measures, ToM skills and cognitive functions such as working and long-term memory and inhibition.