Language Speech Production Research Articles

The impact of L1 structural frequency and cognate status on the timing of L2 production

ABSTRACTThe present study investigates the impact of first language (L1) structural frequency and L1 lexical accessibility, manipulated via cognate status, on second language (L2) speech production. L1 German–L2 English speakers and L1 English speakers completed a production task containing pre- and post-modified possessive noun phrase (NP) constructions (e.g. The actress’s sofa vs. The sofa of the actress) in which the head nouns were English-German cognates (e.g. sofa) or noncognates. While English prefers pre-modified NPs, German has a strong frequency bias for post-modified NPs. L2 English speakers exhibited higher production accuracy than L1 English speakers on post-modified NP sentences. However, facilitative L1 effects in production latencies were restricted to post-modified NP sentences containing cognates and only developed cumulatively after repeated exposure to post-modified NP sentences. We discuss how cognate status and L1 structural frequency differentially influence the accuracy and timing of choosing between different structural alternatives during L2 production.

VOT merger and f0 contrast in Heritage Korean in California

Author(s): Cheng, Andrew | Abstract: Recordings of read speech in Korean and English were made by native South Koreans and Korean Americans of varying generational status (“second-generation” American-born or “1.5-generation” foreign-born) and analyzed for differences in usage of VOT and fundamental frequency to contrast production of Korean lenis and aspirated stops and affricates. The speech was then played back to listeners of Korean heritage and judged metalinguistically regarding proficiency in Korean and other attributes relevant to the speech and demographics of immigrant speakers. Results show that second-generation Korean speakers, especially females, are not showing the collapse of VOT contrast found in the other two groups, one part of the “tonogenetic” sound change nearing completion in Seoul. Female second-generation speakers are also not using f0 to differentiate between the stops to the extent that first- and 1.5- generation speakers are. These second-generation speakers were easily identifiable as having been born in the United States, but the correlation with their generational identification and use of VOT and f0 to contrast lenis and aspirated stops and affricates is mild. It is concluded that because second-generation Korean Americans vary in their production of Korean, there is no clear sociophonetic marker for a Korean American “variety” of the language. The most proficient second-generation speakers closely resemble native speakers and do demonstrate the tonogenetic sound change, but the least proficient second-generation speakers diverge from this norm in a variety of ways. Second-generation Korean American speakers are easily identifiable as not speaking in the same way as native South Korean speakers, although this does not hinge on their use of the f0 contrast. The analysis makes a stronger case for applying new models of language acquisition, speech production, and identity formation to heritage language speakers that differ from those used for bilingual speakers.

Self-monitoring processes in simultaneous interpreting

Abstract In psycholinguistics there is an agreement that self-monitoring is part of the speech production system, it serves the repair of speech errors and disfluencies occurring during the process of speech production. During simultaneous interpreting, where source language speech perception and target language speech production happen simultaneously, the analysis of self-monitoring is of particular importance. In our study we compare self-monitoring processes in the target language texts, interpreted from English into Hungarian, of professional interpreters and trainee interpreters. We examine the frequency of incidence of error – type disfluencies, the editing phase of self-repairs, the frequency of incidence of disfluencies, and the editing phases of repetitions and restarts. Although our data have revealed considerable individual differences between interpreters, some tendencies can be detected. In general, differences can be detected in self-monitoring between professional and trainee interpreters. When compared to data about self-monitoring processes in spontaneous, monolingual Hungarian speech, we can state that there were far fewer phenomena connected to self-monitoring in the target language output of simultaneous interpreters than in monolingual Hungarian texts.

Contrastive Study between Pronunciation Chinese L1 and English L2 from the Perspective of Interference Based on Observations in Genuine Teaching Contexts

<p>Much research has been conducted on factors that impact on second language (L2) speech production in light of the age of L2 acquisition, the length of residence in the L2 environment, motivation, the amount of first language (L1) usage, etc. Very little of this research has taken the perspective of interference between L1 and L2, especially with respect to Asian languages. This article tries to locate the differences in pronunciation between Chinese L1 and English L2 by contrastive analysis through observing genuine teaching and learning contexts, in hope of facilitating English pronunciation pedagogy in China.</p>

Can corrective feedback on second language speech perception errors affect production accuracy?

ABSTRACTThis study investigated whether different types of corrective feedback (CF) in second language speech perception training have differential effects on second language speech production. One hundred Korean learners of English were assigned to five different groups and participated in eight computer-assisted perception training sessions focusing on English vowels. While no CF was provided to the control group, participants in the four treatment groups received one of three types of auditory CF or a visual type of CF. A pretest, an immediate posttest, and a delayed posttest each consisted of a production measurement at a controlled-speech level. Results revealed that the extent to which the participants’ production accuracy benefited from the perception training depended on CF type. In addition, by adopting the perception accuracy data by Lee and Lyster (2016b), the current study found that improvement in perception accuracy was a significant predictor of improvement in production accuracy.

Long-term Communication Outcomes for Children Receiving Cochlear Implants Younger Than 12 Months: A Multicenter Study.

Examine the influence of age at implant on speech perception, language, and speech production outcomes in a large unselected paediatric cohort. This study pools available assessment data (collected prospectively and entered into respective databases from 1990 to 2014) from three Australian centers. Children (n = 403) with congenital bilateral severe to profound hearing loss who received cochlear implants under 6 years of age (excluding those with acquired onset of profound hearing loss after 12 mo, those with progressive hearing loss and those with mild/moderate/severe additional cognitive delay/disability). Speech perception; open-set words (scored for words and phonemes correct) and sentence understanding at school entry and late primary school time points. Language; PLS and PPVT standard score equivalents at school entry, CELF standard scores. Speech Production; DEAP percentage accuracy of vowels, consonants, phonemes-total and clusters, and percentage word-intelligibility at school entry. Regression analysis indicated a significant effect for age-at-implant for all outcome measures. Cognitive skills also accounted for significant variance in all outcome measures except open-set phoneme scores. ANOVA with Tukey pairwise comparisons examined group differences for children implanted younger than 12 months (Group 1), between 13 and 18 months (Group 2), between 19 and 24 months (Group 3), between 25 and 42 months (Group 4), and between 43 and 72 months (Group 5). Open-set speech perception scores for Groups 1, 2, and 3 were significantly higher than Groups 4 and 5. Language standard scores for Group 1 were significantly higher than Groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. Speech production outcomes for Group 1 were significantly higher than scores obtained for Groups 2, 3, and 4 combined. Cross tabulation and χ2 tests supported the hypothesis that a greater percentage of Group 1 children (than Groups 2, 3, 4, or 5) demonstrated language performance within the normative range by school entry. Results support provision of cochlear implants younger than 12 months of age for children with severe to profound hearing loss to optimize speech perception and subsequent language acquisition and speech production accuracy.

Prime Repetition and Korean EFL Learners’ Comprehension and Production of Passives

AbstractThe occurrence of structural priming in second language (L2) speech production has received increased attention over the last decade (McDonough and Trofimovich, 2009; Trofimovich and McDonough, 2011). Although L2 researchers have implemented a variety of priming methods, few studies to date have investigated whether repeating prime sentences affects L2 speakers’ understanding and use of target structures. Therefore, the current study investigated whether prime repetition facilitates English L2 speakers’ comprehension and production of passive constructions. Korean EFL learners (

Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Paired Associate Learning in Aphasia

Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Paired Associate Learning in Aphasia

Neural activation in speech production and reading aloud in native and non-native languages

We used fMRI to investigate neural activation in reading aloud in bilinguals differing in age of acquisition. Three groups were compared: French–English bilinguals who acquired two languages from birth (simultaneous), French–English bilinguals who learned their L2 after the age of 5years (sequential), and English-speaking monolinguals. While the bilingual groups contrasted in age of acquisition, they were matched for language proficiency, although sequential bilinguals produced speech with a less native-like accent in their L2 than in their L1. Simultaneous bilinguals activated similar brain regions to an equivalent degree when reading in their two languages. In contrast, sequential bilinguals more strongly activated areas related to speech-motor control and orthographic to phonological mapping, the left inferior frontal gyrus, left premotor cortex, and left fusiform gyrus, when reading aloud in L2 compared to L1. In addition, the activity in these regions showed a significant positive correlation with age of acquisition. The results provide evidence for the engagement of overlapping neural substrates for processing two languages when acquired in native context from birth. However, it appears that the maturation of certain brain regions for both speech production and phonological encoding is limited by a sensitive period for L2 acquisition regardless of language proficiency.

Second language speech production: Investigating linguistic correlates of comprehensibility and accentedness for learners at different ability levels

ABSTRACTThe current project aimed to investigate the potentially different linguistic correlates of comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) and accentedness (i.e., linguistic nativelikeness) in adult second language (L2) learners’ extemporaneous speech production. Timed picture descriptions from 120 beginner, intermediate, and advanced Japanese learners of English were analyzed using native speaker global judgments based on learners’ comprehensibility and accentedness, and then submitted to segmental, prosodic, temporal, lexical, and grammatical analyses. Results showed that comprehensibility was related to all linguistic domains, and accentedness was strongly tied with pronunciation (specifically segmentals) rather than lexical and grammatical domains. In particular, linguistic correlates of L2 comprehensibility and accentedness were found to vary by learners’ proficiency levels. In terms of comprehensibility, optimal rate of speech, appropriate and rich vocabulary use, and adequate and varied prosody were important for beginner to intermediate levels, whereas segmental accuracy, good prosody, and correct grammar featured strongly for intermediate to advanced levels. For accentedness, grammatical complexity was a feature of intermediate to high-level performance, whereas segmental and prosodic variables were essential to accentedness across all levels. These findings suggest that syllabi tailored to learners’ proficiency level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) and learning goal (comprehensibility or nativelike accent) would be advantageous for the teaching of L2 speaking.

A study of the relationship between receptive and expressive language processing in schizophrenia

Event Abstract Back to Event A study of the relationship between receptive and expressive language processing in schizophrenia Eric Tan1*, Gregory Yelland2 and Susan Rossell3, 4 1 Monash University, Monash-Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Australia 2 Monash University, Australia 3 Swinburne University of Technology, Brain and Psychological Sciences research centre, Australia 4 Monash-Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Australia Background: Traditional language models propose a relationship between the two components of language processing: receptive/comprehension and expressive/production. Dysfunction of language production has been recognised in schizophrenia, notably in the aberrant speech patterns termed formal thought disorder (TD). Presently, language production in schizophrenia is better characterised than language comprehension. This study thus aimed to expand on current understanding of language comprehension in schizophrenia, and examine its relationship to individual TD symptoms. Two aspects were studied: word/lexical recognition, and meaning attribution for words and sentences. Method: Fifty-seven schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients and 48 healthy controls completed a clinical assessment and three language tasks assessing word recognition, synonym identification and sentence comprehension. Poorer patient performance was expected on the latter two tasks. Results: Results indicated that recognition of word form was not impaired in schizophrenia, indicating intact lexical processing. While single word synonym identification was not significantly impaired, there was a tendency to attribute word meanings based on phonological similarity, which increased with severity of some TD symptoms. Importantly, there was a significant sentence comprehension deficit for processing deep structure, which correlated with severity of selective TD symptoms. Conclusions: Sentence comprehension appears to be impaired here, which supports the case for some receptive language processing deficits in schizophrenia. There is also evidence for a relationship between aspects of language comprehension and speech production, which suggests a role for the former in TD aetiology, which differs between individual symptom types (i.e. derailment and circumstantiality). The remediation of language comprehension problems may thus be an avenue to pursue in alleviating TD symptomatology. Keywords: Language, Schizophrenia, syntax, Language comprehension, Language production, formal thought disorder, lexical-semantics Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Language Citation: Tan E, Yelland G and Rossell S (2015). A study of the relationship between receptive and expressive language processing in schizophrenia. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00404 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Mr. Eric Tan, Monash University, Monash-Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia, Eric.Tan@monash.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Eric Tan Gregory Yelland Susan Rossell Google Eric Tan Gregory Yelland Susan Rossell Google Scholar Eric Tan Gregory Yelland Susan Rossell PubMed Eric Tan Gregory Yelland Susan Rossell Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

What an Otolaryngologist Should Know About Evaluation of a Child Referred for Delay in Speech Development

Otolaryngologists are asked to evaluate children who a parent, physician, or someone else believes is slow in developing speech. Therefore, an otolaryngologist should be familiar with milestones for normal speech development, the causes of delay in speech development, and the best ways to help assure that children develop the ability to speak in a normal way. To provide information for otolaryngologists that is helpful in the evaluation and management of children perceived to be delayed in developing speech. Data were obtained via literature searches, online databases, textbooks, and the most recent national guidelines on topics including speech delay and language delay and the underlying disorders that can cause delay in developing speech. Emphasis was placed on epidemiology, pathophysiology, most common presentation, and treatment strategies. Most of the sources referenced were published within the past 5 years. Our article is a summary of major causes of speech delay based on reliable sources as listed herein. Speech delay can be the manifestation of a spectrum of disorders affecting the language comprehension and/or speech production pathways, ranging from disorders involving global developmental limitations to motor dysfunction to hearing loss. Determining the cause of a child's delay in speech production is a time-sensitive issue because a child loses valuable opportunities in intellectual development if his or her communication defect is not addressed and ameliorated with treatment. Knowing several key items about each disorder can help otolaryngologists direct families to the correct health care provider to maximize the child's learning potential and intellectual growth curve.

The perception and production of English speech sounds by Cantonese ESL learners in Hong Kong

This article discusses the perception and production of English speech sounds by Cantonese ESL learners in Hong Kong and examines the validity of the claims of the Speech Learning Model for explaining second language speech production by Hong Kong Cantonese ESL learners. Forty university English majors participated in the study, which included two L2 speech perception tasks, two L1 L2 speech perception tasks, and three L2 speech production tasks. It is found that although the perceived similarity between the L1 and the L2 is inversely related to L2 speech perception, such an inverse relationship between perceived L1 L2 similarity and L2 speech production is not so straightforward and is often mediated by other widespread phonological phenomena such as final obstruent devoicing and final lateral vocalization. Speech perception and speech production, thus, do not bear a strict one-to-one relation, and correct discernment of a target sound does not necessarily lead to correct production. The predictions of the SLM regarding speech production do not seem to be entirely borne out. Further research is needed to investigate the perceptual and production abilities of ESL learners of other linguistic backgrounds.

The Effects of Age on Second Language Grammar and Speech Production

The current study examined the age of learning effect on second language (L2) acquisition. The research goals of the study were twofold: to test whether there is an independent age effect controlling for other potentially confounding variables, and to clarify the age effect across L2 grammar and speech production domains. The study included 118 Mandarin-speaking immigrants and 24 native English speakers. Grammar knowledge was assessed by a grammaticality judgment task, and speech production was measured by native English speaking raters' ratings of participants' foreign accents. Results from the study revealed that the age of learning effect was robust for both L2 domains even after controlling for the influences of other variables, such as length of residence and years of education in the United States. However, the age of learning variable had a stronger impact on speech production than on grammar. The current results support the framework of multiple critical/sensitive periods (Long in Int Rev Appl Linguist 43(4):287-317, 2005; Newport et al. in Language, brain and cognitive development: Essays in honor of Jacques Mehler. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001; Werker and Tees in Dev Psychobiol 46(3):233-251, 2005).

Perceptions of French Fluency in Second Language Speech Production

Abstract: Recent literature in second language (L2) perceived fluency has focused on English as a second language, with a primary reliance on impressions from native-speaker judges, leaving learners’ self-perceptions of speech production unexplored. This study investigates the relationship between learners’ and judges’ perceptions of French fluency under three different task conditions. It also addresses how self-perception of fluency is linked to actual measures of utterance fluency. Participants were 40 adult learners of French at varying levels of proficiency, studying in a university immersion context. The results indicate moderate correlation between L2 learners’ and judges’ perceptions of fluency and offer evidence to validate self-assessment use in language-learning contexts. Across tasks, two measures of utterance fluency were most strongly related to self-perceptions of fluency: mean length of runs and average pause time. The results also revealed the influence of task complexity on L2 fluent performance and are discussed according to the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001, 2003, 2005).

The Acquisitional Value of Recasts in Instructed Second Language Speech Learning: Teaching the Perception and Production of English /ɹ/ to Adult Japanese Learners

The current study investigated the impact of recasts together with form‐focused instruction (FFI) on the development of second language speech perception and production of English /ɹ/ by Japanese learners. Forty‐five learners were randomly assigned to three groups—FFI recasts, FFI only, and Control—and exposed to four hours of communicatively oriented lessons. Whereas many FFI activities including explicit instruction were embedded into the treatment in order for the experimental groups to notice and practice /ɹ/ in a meaningful discourse, an instructor provided recasts only to the FFI‐recast group in response to their mispronunciation of /ɹ/. Perception was measured using a two‐alternative forced choice identification task, while pronunciation performance was elicited using controlled and spontaneous production tests and assessed by 10 naïve native‐speaking listeners. According to the statistical comparisons, whereas the FFI‐only group attained perception and production improvement particularly under trained lexical conditions, the FFI‐recast group demonstrated similar but generalizable gains both in trained and untrained lexical contexts. The results indicate that (a) FFI itself impacts various domains of L2 speech learning processes (perception, controlled, and spontaneous production) and (b) recasts promote learners’ attentional shift away from lexical units as a whole to phonetic aspects of second language speech (i.e., vocabulary to sound learning).

Pronunciation of German suffixes by Japanese native speakers of different proficiency levels

This study investigates an aspect of speech rhythm in German spoken by Japanese native speakers of different proficiency levels. Previous studies on the production of vowel reduction have indicated that this is an area of difficulty for non-native speakers. One study, working on the assumption that second language (L2) speech production is affected by first language (L1), suggested that Japanese native speakers tend to fail at producing the required vowel reductions in unstressed syllables. The present study further investigated this issue by dividing Japanese native speakers into two groups: advanced and elementary learners. The aim of the present study was to investigate acoustic properties of vowel quality (first and second formants) and quantity (durational ratio) of unstressed syllables in German suffixes on the basis of German proficiency levels and the influence of L1. From results, main effect was obtained for the proficiency levels; acoustic analysis showed significant differences between first two formants and durational ratio same to be the factors that caused the difference among the levels. This suggests that L2 learning process may accompany the acquisition of L2 sounds even when rhythmic structures differ between L1 and L2. [Work supported by JSPS.]

Communicative focus on second language phonetic form: Teaching Japanese learners to perceive and produce English /ɹ/ without explicit instruction

ABSTRACTThe current study examines in depth how two types of form-focused instruction (FFI), which are FFI with and without corrective feedback (CF), can facilitate second language speech perception and production of /ɹ/ by 49 Japanese learners in English as a Foreign Langage settings. FFI effectiveness was assessed via three outcome measures (perception, controlled production, and spontaneous production) and also according to two lexical contexts (trained and untrained items). Two experimental groups received 4 hr of FFI treatment to notice and practice the target feature of /ɹ/ (but without any explicit instruction) in meaningful discourse. A control group (n= 14) received comparable instruction in the absence of FFI. During FFI, the instructors provided CF only to students in the FFI + CF group (n= 18) by recasting their mispronunciations of /ɹ/, while no CF was provided to those in the FFI-only group (n= 17). Analyses of pre- and posttests showed that FFI itself can sufficiently promote the development of speech perception and production of /ɹ/ and the acquisitional value of CF in second language speech learning remains unclear. The results suggest that the beginner learners without much phonetic knowledge on how to repair their mispronunciation of /ɹ/ should be encouraged to learn the target sound only through FFI in a receptive mode without much pressure for modified output.

The influence of visual information on the perception of Japanese-accented speech

This study examines how visual information in nonnative speech affects native listener judgments of second language (L2) speech production. Native Canadian English listeners perceived three English phonemic contrasts (/b-v, θ-s, l-ɹ/) produced by native Japanese speakers as well as native Canadian English speakers as controls. Among the stimuli, /v, θ, l, ɹ/ are not existent in the Japanese consonant inventory. These stimuli were presented under audio-visual (AV), audio-only (AO), and visual-only (VO) conditions. The results showed that while overall perceptual judgments of the nonnative phonemes (/v, θ, l, ɹ/) were significantly less intelligible than the native phonemes (/b,s/), the English listeners perceived the Japanese productions of the phonemes /v, θ, b,s/ as significantly more intelligible when presented in the AV condition compared to the AO condition. However, the Japanese production of /ɹ/ was perceived as less intelligible in the AV compared to the AO condition. Further analysis revealed that a significant number of Japanese productions of /ɹ/ lacked lip-rounding, indicating that nonnative speakers’ incorrect articulatory configurations may decrease intelligibility. These results suggest that visual cues in L2 speech productions may be either facilitative or inhibitory in native perception of L2 accented-speech. [Research supported by SFU and SSHRC.]

Studies on Bilateral Cochlear Implants at the University of Wisconsin’s Binaural Hearing and Speech Laboratory

This report highlights research projects relevant to binaural and spatial hearing in adults and children. In the past decade we have made progress in understanding the impact of bilateral cochlear implants (BiCIs) on performance in adults and children. However, BiCI users typically do not perform as well as normal hearing (NH) listeners. In this article we describe the benefits from BiCIs compared with a single cochlear implant (CI), focusing on measures of spatial hearing and speech understanding in noise. We highlight the fact that in BiCI listening the devices in the two ears are not coordinated; thus binaural spatial cues that are available to NH listeners are not available to BiCI users. Through the use of research processors that carefully control the stimulus delivered to each electrode in each ear, we are able to preserve binaural cues and deliver them with fidelity to BiCI users. Results from those studies are discussed as well, with a focus on the effect of age at onset of deafness and plasticity of binaural sensitivity. Our work with children has expanded both in number of subjects tested and age range included. We have now tested dozens of children ranging in age from 2 to 14 yr. Our findings suggest that spatial hearing abilities emerge with bilateral experience. While we originally focused on studying performance in free field, where real world listening experiments are conducted, more recently we have begun to conduct studies under carefully controlled binaural stimulation conditions with children as well. We have also studied language acquisition and speech perception and production in young CI users. Finally, a running theme of this research program is the systematic investigation of the numerous factors that contribute to spatial and binaural hearing in BiCI users. By using CI simulations (with vocoders) and studying NH listeners under degraded listening conditions, we are able to tease apart limitations due to the hardware/software of the CI systems from limitations due to neural pathology.