Speech Learning Research Articles

Влияние обучающей среды на имплицитное и эксплицитное научение новым словам: результаты пилотажного исследования

The availability of virtual reality (VR) tools and the attractiveness of their interactivity for users have influenced the spread of this technology in the field of language educational programs. However, scientific studies of the effectiveness of VR in comparison with traditional methods are few and show conflicting results, which can be explained by the influence of additional factors, such as the learner's motor activity and the speech learning strategies used. In order to clarify the role of these factors, we developed a natural design of learning tasks in VR on a computer monitor, based on the auditory presentation of new words to participants together with their visual referents in the context of interrogative sentences. The controlled variables were speech learning strategies (Fast Mapping/Explicit Encoding) and motor response to the question (high-velocity low amplitude hand movements). 16 respondents learned 8 nouns each in the two learning environments. Learning outcomes were assessed using the recognition task. Accuracy of the answers was analyzed using RM-ANOVA, the reaction time using the Wilcoxon test. The correctness of recognition of new words did not differ significantly after using VR (55%) or a computer monitor (61%). Words learned with high-velocity whole-hand movements were significantly better for participants when they learned through fast mapping, while words learned with low amplitude finger movements were significantly better with explicit encoding while using a computer monitor. Explicit Encoding learned words with small amplitude movements were recognized faster using VR then a computer monitor. The pilot study showed the effectiveness of the semantic assimilation of new words in both learning environments with the combined influence of speech learning strategies and the student's motor activity in this process.

An update on autosomal recessive hearing loss and loci involved in it

Hearing plays an important role in human development and childhood speech learning for the proper functioning and development of people in society. Hearing loss (HL) is one of the most abnormal disabilities that affect the human senses. This disability may be due to genetic or environmental factors or both. Congenital HL is a disorder that occurs in at least 1 in 1000 births. At least 42 genetic loci are associated with syndromes, while more than 163 are associated with nonsyndromic HL (NSHL), and no specific gene therapy treatment has yet been proposed. Investigate the types of genes involved in regulating hair cell adhesion “and evaluate functions such as intracellular transport, the release of neurotransmitters, ion homeostasis, and hair cell cytoskeleton, and whether defects in them can impair cochlear and inner ear function.” Can help diagnose and treat the disease through various methods, including gene therapy. Given the complex internal and external structures of the ear, nervous system, and auditory mechanisms, it is not surprising that abnormalities in hundreds of different genes may lead to HL. In recent years, with the increasing number of studies on genes involved in congenital HL, counseling and treatment options with the help of gene therapy have increased. In this study, we aimed to describe genes and proteins and their functions in NSHL in the inner ear for screening and diagnostic programs of live birth and classify the genes involved in this model of deafness to open the door to gene therapy. It is on these genes. We hope to develop new molecular and gene therapies for autosomal recessive NSHL.

Second language acquisition of evidentiality in French and English in a narrative task

AbstractEvidentiality, i.e. the linguistic encoding of the mode of access to information (direct perception, inference, hearsay), despite not being fully grammaticalized in English and French, is expressed through a variety of means. This paper seeks to determine how a relatively non-salient concept in the source and target languages can be acquired by L2 learners. Using an oral elicited narrative task, we determine what markers of direct perception and inference are commonly used by native speakers of French (n = 10) and English (n = 10) and L2 learners of those two languages (at three levels of proficiency,n = 10 per group), and at which level they emerge. Our results point to a much more frequent use of inferential markers than direct perception markers, to slightly different patterns of evidential marking in French and in English, and to a late emergence of evidential markers in the speech of learners, who display sensitivity to their discursive functions, with types and tokens increasing as a function of proficiency level.

During Lipreading Training With Sentence Stimuli, Feedback Controls Learning and Generalization to Audiovisual Speech in Noise

This study investigated the effects of external feedback on perceptual learning of visual speech during lipreading training with sentence stimuli. The goal was to improve visual-only (VO) speech recognition and increase accuracy of audiovisual (AV) speech recognition in noise. The rationale was that spoken word recognition depends on the accuracy of sublexical (phonemic/phonetic) speech perception; effective feedback during training must support sublexical perceptual learning. Normal-hearing (NH) adults were assigned to one of three types of feedback: Sentence feedback was the entire sentence printed after responding to the stimulus. Word feedback was the correct response words and perceptually near but incorrect response words. Consonant feedback was correct response words and consonants in incorrect but perceptually near response words. Six training sessions were given. Pre- and posttraining testing included an untrained control group. Test stimuli were disyllable nonsense words for forced-choice consonant identification, and isolated words and sentences for open-set identification. Words and sentences were VO, AV, and audio-only (AO) with the audio in speech-shaped noise. Lipreading accuracy increased during training. Pre- and posttraining tests of consonant identification showed no improvement beyond test-retest increases obtained by untrained controls. Isolated word recognition with a talker not seen during training showed that the control group improved more than the sentence group. Tests of untrained sentences showed that the consonant group significantly improved in all of the stimulus conditions (VO, AO, and AV). Its mean words correct scores increased by 9.2 percentage points for VO, 3.4 percentage points for AO, and 9.8 percentage points for AV stimuli. Consonant feedback during training with sentences stimuli significantly increased perceptual learning. The training generalized to untrained VO, AO, and AV sentence stimuli. Lipreading training has potential to significantly improve adults' face-to-face communication in noisy settings in which the talker can be seen.

이집트인 학습자의 한국어 모음 지각과 산출*

This study aims to discuss how Egyptian learners of Korean perceive and categorize Korean vowels, how Koreans perceive Korean vowels they pronounce, and how Egyptian learners’ Korean vowel categorization affects their perception and production of Korean vowels. In Experiment 1, 53 Egyptian learners were asked to listen to Korean test words pronounced by Koreans and choose the words they had listened to among 4 confusable words. In Experiment 2, 117 sound files (13 test words×9 Egyptian learners) recorded by Egyptian learners were given to Koreans and asked to select the words they had heard among 4 confusable words. The results of the experiments show that “new” Korean vowels that do not have categorizable ones in Egyptian Arabic easily formed new categories and were therefore well identified in perception and relatively well pronounced, but some of them were poorly produced. However, Egyptian learners poorly distinguished “similar” Korean vowels in perception, but their pronunciation was relatively well identified by native Koreans. Based on the results of this study, we argued that the Speech Learning Model (SLM) and Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) explain the L2 speech perception well, but they are insufficient to explain L2 speech production and therefore need to be revised and extended to L2 speech production.

Research on intelligent language translation system based on deep learning algorithm

In order to improve the effect of intelligent language translation, this paper analyzes the problems of the MSE cost function used by most of the current DNN-based speech enhancement algorithms and proposes a deep learning speech enhancement algorithm based on perception-related cost functions. Moreover, this paper embeds the suppression gain parameter estimation into the architecture of the traditional speech enhancement algorithm and converts the relationship between the noisy speech spectrum and the enhanced speech spectrum into a simple multiplication relationship based on suppression gain combined with deep learning algorithms to construct an intelligent language translation system. Moreover, this paper evaluates the translation effect of the system, analyzes the actual results, and uses simulation tests to verify the performance of the intelligent language translation model constructed in this paper. From the experimental results, it can be seen that the intelligent language translation system based on deep learning algorithms has good results.

Auditory startle disrupts speech coordination

Abstract Speech production requires temporal coordination between the actions of different functional groupings of muscles in the human body. Crucially, such functionally organized units, or “modules”, may be susceptible to disruption by an external stimulus such as a startling auditory stimulus (SAS; >120dB), enabling a possible window into the internal structure of learned speech movements. Following on the observation that SAS is known to accelerate the release of pre-planned actions, the current study examines lip kinematics in SAS-induced responses during speech movements to test whether this accelerated release applies on the scale of entire syllables or on the scale of smaller functional units. Production measures show that SAS-elicited bilabial movements in [ba] syllables are prone to disruption as measured by discontinuity in velocity profiles. We use a 3D finite element method (FEM) biomechanical model to simulate the temporal interaction between muscle groupings in speech. Simulation results indicate that this discontinuity can be accounted for as an instance of temporally decoupled coordination across neuromuscular modules. In such instances, the muscle groupings controlling lip compression and jaw opening, which normally fire sequentially, appear more likely to be activated synchronously.

The Role of Age and Exposure in English Vowel Perception and Production among Native Swahili Speakers

Vowel perceptual studies in Foreign Language Acquisition (FLA) settings where L1 is dominant are generally scarce. The aim of this study, therefore, is to explore the role of the age and exposure factors in the perception and production of English vowels [ɑ-ɜ; æ-ɑ; i-ɪ] by the native Swahili speakers whose exposure to the English language is through formal instruction in a predominantly FLA situation. The participants (n=40) were classified into two groups: Young learners and adult learners. Using Flege’s Speech Learning Model (SLM), we administered a vowel perception test, and a vowel production exercise. The results confirm that adult learners have an edge over younger learners whereby the former exhibited greater accuracy in determining vowel contrasts and production than the latter. Although both groups shared common difficulties in discriminating the vowel sounds, adult learners had recourse to their prolonged exposure and ingeniously used previously acquired knowledge and skills in sentence structure and meaning to aid discrimination in comparison to the younger learners. Finally, the study supports the SLM contention that adults retain capacities to acquire L1 to perceive the properties of L2 speech sounds and establish new phonetic categories.

Етикетні мовленнєві акти в аспекті лінгводидактики

Abstract. The works of M. Kurushina, I. Linchak, I. Lysenko, M. Shevchenko, H. Sokolova, T. Plotnikovа, D. Polyakov, I. Valchenko and І. Zozula are devoted to the issue of teaching methods in a foreign language audience at the beginner level in Ukrainian linguistics. They study special features of the formation of reading and speaking skills in the Ukrainian language. They examine the types of lexical units, grammatical categories, multi-genre texts that are appropriate for studying at the initial stage. Modern methods of teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language are based on the communicative approach, which resulted in a paradigm shift from the study of vocabulary and grammar to language acquisition through speech acts as ways of communicative interaction in specific communication situations. At the beginner level of learning the Ukrainian as a foreign language, speakers (foreigners studying in Ukraine, students of Ukrainian Studies in the world, the Ukrainian diaspora, children of migrant workers studying at Saturday and Sunday schools abroad) should master the skills of realizing the following etiquette speech acts: apologies, greetings, wishes, thanks, congratulations and farewells. In this regard, the present paper considers features of realization of etiquette speech acts to successfully introduce them into the educational process of Ukrainian as a foreign language at the beginner level (A1). The paper outlines a set of etiquette speech acts, which are studied in a foreign language audience at the beginner level and describes the socio-cultural context of their realization, communicative situation, an addresser / addressee status, communicative goal. It also identifies lexical and grammatical means for the verbalization of etiquette speech acts, which will be studied by foreign language speakers at the beginner level. These are utterances and lexemes that form the content of the relevant speech acts to meet the communicative needs at the beginner level (phrases of greetings and farewells, names of the holidays, names of abstract concepts, etc.). A set of grammatical categories is specified for making correct utterances: indirect cases of nouns and personal pronouns, exclamatory case of nouns; for correct naming of the addressee: conjugation of verbs (to greet / to wish) in the present tense, noun-adjective agreement, examples of verb government, etc. The object of the analysis is also language means of forms of address to the interlocutor, which belong to the global rules of communication, determine its tone, and the violation of which often causes communicative deviations in the Ukrainian language. A system of exercises and tasks for reading, listening, developing monologue and dialogic speech provides effective learning of the etiquette speech acts.

Disruption of speech motor adaptation with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the articulatory representation in primary motor cortex

When auditory feedback perturbation is introduced in a predictable way over a number of utterances, speakers learn to compensate by adjusting their own productions, a process known as sensorimotor adaptation. Despite multiple lines of evidence indicating the role of primary motor cortex (M1) in motor learning and memory, whether M1 causally contributes to sensorimotor adaptation in the speech domain remains unclear. Here, we aimed to assay whether temporary disruption of the articulatory representation in left M1 by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) impairs speech adaptation. To induce sensorimotor adaptation, the frequencies of first formants (F1) were shifted up and played back to participants when they produced “head”, “bed”, and “dead” repeatedly (the learning phase). A low-frequency rTMS train (.6 Hz, subthreshold, 12 min) over either the tongue or the hand representation of M1 (between-subjects design) was applied before participants experienced altered auditory feedback in the learning phase. We found that the group who received rTMS over the hand representation showed the expected compensatory response for the upwards shift in F1 by significantly reducing F1 and increasing the second formant (F2) frequencies in their productions. In contrast, these expected compensatory changes in both F1 and F2 did not occur in the group that received rTMS over the tongue representation. Critically, rTMS (subthreshold) over the tongue representation did not affect vowel production, which was unchanged from baseline. These results provide direct evidence that the articulatory representation in left M1 causally contributes to sensorimotor learning in speech. Furthermore, these results also suggest that M1 is critical to the network supporting a more global adaptation that aims to move the altered speech production closer to a learnt pattern of speech production used to produce another vowel.

Role of training task on learning and maintenance of noise-vocoded speech

Listeners who utilize cochlear implants demonstrate variability in speech recognition outcomes. Experience with the auditory signal via structured auditory training has been shown to improve speech perception. A primary goal of aural rehabilitation is optimizing training paradigms to maximize speech understanding gains observed following training. The current study examined the role of the training task on adaptation to noise-vocoded speech signals as a foundational step towards clinical recommendations for cochlear implant users. Three groups of listeners were assigned to one of three training tasks: transcription with feedback, transcription without feedback, or talker identification. All listeners completed transcription test phases before training, immediately after training, and one-week following training. At each test, keyword accuracy was measured at the sentence-initial and sentence-final position for high and low-predictability sentences. Immediately following training, listeners showed improved transcription for both sentence positions, which was mediated by sentence predictability, and learning was comparable across training tasks, in line with previous findings. Critically, gains were also maintained equivalently among training groups one week later. Our results converge with growing findings pointing towards utilizing non-traditional training tasks to maximize perceptual learning of noise-vocoded speech and point towards rehabilitation considerations for cochlear implant users.

Impaired phonetic learning in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder primarily associated with its motor consequences. However, it also has important implications for cognitive functions, including speech production (Altmann and Troche, 2011), the perception of speech intensity (Richardson and Sussman, 2019), and visual category learning (Shohamy et al., 2008), due to its effects on subcortical brain systems that rely on dopamine. In the present study, we examine the effects of PD on a variety of speech perception tasks: one of non-native phonetic learning, one of learning to comprehend rate-compressed speech, one of learning to understand accented speech, and one probing the use of speech rate to guide word segmentation. People with PD showed significant deficits when compared to young and age-matched controls in their ability to adapt to rate-compressed speech. Within the population of those with PD, participants using levodopa-based medication performed significantly worse on the non-native learning task than a small subset of participants without such medication. This suggests that changes in dopamine regulation and use associated with PD have significant effects on higher-level aspects of speech perception such as speech learning.

Working memory, selective attention, and input variability differentially contribute to non-native phonetic learning

Our recent training study demonstrated that acoustic variability, independent of talker variability, promotes nonnative phonetic learning with an enhanced audiovisual adaptive protocol of high variability phonetic training (HVPT). In this follow-up study, we further investigated how cognitive factors may contribute to the learning process. Forty native Chinese adults were randomly assigned to a multiple-talker (MT) group and a single-talker (ST) group to learn the English /i/-/I/ contrast. Pre- and two-post-tests (one week after training and three months after training) employed the natural word identification task. Participants were also tested on working memory and selective attention prior to training. Consistent with previous results, MT and ST training produced similar improvements in the immediate post-test. While significant retention was observed only in the ST group after three months, retention was also found in some participants in the MT group. More importantly, in the MT group, working memory capacity predicted the immediate improvements, while selective attention predicted the amount of retained training effects. No such associations were found in the ST group. These results added new evidence for the differential roles of working memory and selective attention in speech learning. Learners with greater working memory abilities and attentional resources are more likely to benefit from increased acoustic variability in HVPT.

Semantic Components of the Russian Preposition “Через” in Combination With Different Locums and its Expression in the Persian Language

In the Russian language the preposition “cherez (through)” is used in its typical contexts to refer to spatial characteristics in which an action or movement takes place. However, there are cases in the Persian language when there is no clear boundary among the spatial prepositions corresponding to the preposition “cherez (through)”, which causes difculty for Iranian learners to choose the correct one. At the same time one and the same Persian preposition can be expressed by different Russian prepositions which lead to regular mistakes in the speech of Iranian students. Tus, for instance, Iranian students use the preposition “az miyan-e” / (among) in the meaning of the Russian prepositions “cherez” (through), “mezhdu”, “ckvoz” (within) and “iz” (from), although these prepositions are different in meaning and function. In this article, the locations used in combination with the preposition “through” are systematically classifed to explain their specifc features. In addition, the ways of expressing the spatial meanings of the preposition “through” in the Persian language are addressed in order to raise Iranian learners’ awareness of possible mistakes. Te novelty of the article is in the attempt to compare semantic and spatial features of the Russian preposition “cherez (through)” with its correlates in the Persian language. Te fndings of this study can be of interest to RFL teachers, in particular in Iran, as they will highlight common mistakes in the speech of Iranian learners when using the preposition “through”, and to RFL textbook developers.

Sensorimotor information flow and the acquisition of speech

In 1999, Doupe and Kuhl published a review of “Birdsong and Human Speech” for the Annual Review of Neuroscience that detailed the commonalities and differences between the two species’ vocal learning and the acquisition of species-specific communicative signals. As part of the review, we outlined a model for both species learning, suggesting that an initial period of sensory learning was followed by a period of sensorimotor learning. We argued that auditory experience establishes memory representations of species-typical auditory input, followed by sensorimotor learning, which is guided by the learned sensory information. In this presentation, I will review both behavioral and neural data suggesting that the model needs to be revised for human speech learning. Data suggest that from the earliest moments of life, sensory and motor information for human speech is interwoven. Bidirectional influences have been documented. I will describe a possible neural mechanism that may account for this sensorimotor information flow, and also a revision of the Doupe and Kuhl model.

Learning non-native speech stop voicing as a result of exposure to foreign film

While access to authentic input from native speakers is critical when learning to produce speech in another language (Flege et al., 1997; Flege etal., 1995; MacKay et al., 2001; inter alia), this option is not always accessible to all learners. With that in mind, this study explores how another type of naturalistic exposure, foreign film, can contribute to the development of L2 speech by specifically examining non-native stop voicing. To explore this research question, French speech shadowing data from naïve, monolingual English participants (n = 59) was collected before and after watching a short film in French. Collected productions were analyzed acoustically (voice onset time [VOT]) and through a series of AXB-style native French listener perceptual judgements (n = 221). While the acoustic analysis of VOT did not reveal a significant effect of film on duration when compared to a control group (n = 15), native listeners perceived post-film exposure productions to be significantly more target-like than pre-film exposure productions. This finding suggests that although VOT was seemingly unaffected by foreign film exposure, participants adjusted alternative acoustic correlates of voicing and that these modifications were perceptible to native listeners. This ultimately provides evidence for the effectiveness of foreign film exposure in non-native speech learning.

New vs. similar sound production accuracy: The uneven fight

The Speech Learning Model states that the process of equivalence classification reduces the accuracy of a similar L2 sound by forming an L1-L2 merged category whereas new sounds tend to be pronounced with greater accuracy due to lack of perceptual linkage with an L1 category (Flege 1995). We found further support for this differentiation in the production of the canonical schwa as a new sound by L1 Polish/L2 English speakers and as a similar sound by L1 Romanian/L2 English speakers, who produced an L1-L2 schwa merger. The aim of the current paper is to further investigate the production accuracy of new and similar sounds. First of all, a control group that consisted of native Romanian speakers was used to analyse the L1-L2 similar sound merger. Secondly, a measure of overall pronunciation ability based on foreign accent ratings (FAR) was included. The results confirm that production accuracy for new sounds is much greater than for similar sounds which form merged diaphones with the equivalent L1 sound. As a result, neither sound is produced on target when compared to a native speaker reference. Moreover, new sound production accuracy benefits much more from an increase in general proficiency and overall L2 pronunciation ability.

Language and Learner Specific Influences on the Emergence of Consonantal Place and Manner Features.

This article focuses on the emergence of consonantal place and manner feature categories in the speech of first language learners. Starting with an overview of current representational approaches to phonology, we take the position that only models that allow for the emergence of phonological categories at all levels of phonological representation (from sub-segmental properties of speech sounds all the way to word forms represented within the child’s lexicon) can account for the data. We begin with a cross-linguistic survey of the acquisition of rhotic consonants. We show that the types of substitutions affecting different rhotics cross-linguistically can be predicted from two main observations: the phonetic characteristics of these rhotics and the larger system of categories displayed by each language. We then turn to a peculiar pattern of labial substitution for coronal continuants in the speech of a German learner. Building on previous literature on the topic, we attribute the emergence of this pattern to distributional properties of the child’s developing lexicon. Together, these observations suggest that our understanding of phonological emergence must involve a consideration of multiple, potentially interacting levels of phonetic and phonological representation.

Upaya Meningkatkan Keterampilan Berpidato dengan Metode Modeling The Way Secara Online di Kelas VI SDN Rembang 1 Kota Blitar

Abstract. Learning Indonesian is a learning that has 4 aspects that must be achieved by students, namely aspects of writing, reading, listening, and speaking. In teaching speech in class VI, students must learn in compiling speech texts and in delivering the speech in public. Speech learning activities in Class VI SDN Rembang 1, Sanawetan District, Blitar City in semester 2 of the 2020/2021 Academic Year still show the lack of success of teachers in teaching to students, especially in online learning so there needs to be an appropriate learning method. This requires teachers to conduct research, while the research is used qualitatively on students in learning Indonesian. The type of research used is Classroom Action Research (CAR). Data analysis techniques used are data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The learning facilities used are learning using the Modeling The Way method, which is a teaching method carried out by the teacher providing a scenario for a sub-discussion to be demonstrated by students in front of the class.

When it’s not appropriate to adapt: Toddlers’ learning of novel speech patterns is affected by visual information

In adults, perceptual learning for speech is constrained, such that learning of novel pronunciations is less likely to occur if the (e.g., visual) context indicates that they are transient. However, adults have had a lifetime of experience with the types of cues that signal stable vs. transient speech variation. We ask whether visual context affects toddlers’ learning of a novel speech pattern. Across conditions, 19-month-olds (N = 117) were exposed to familiar words either pronounced typically or in a novel, consonant-shifting accent. During exposure, some toddlers heard the accented pronunciations without a face present; others saw a video of the speaker producing the words with a lollipop against her cheek or in her mouth. Toddlers showed the weakest learning of the accent when the speaker had the lollipop in her mouth, suggesting that they treated the lollipop as the cause of the atypical pronunciations. These results demonstrate that toddlers’ adaptation to a novel speech pattern is influenced by extra-linguistic context.