Native Swedish Speakers Research Articles

First Language Matters: Event-Related Potentials Show Crosslinguistic Influence on the Processing of Placement Verb Semantics.

Second language (L2) learners experience challenges when word meanings differ across L1 and L2, and often display crosslinguistic influence (CLI) in speech production. In contrast, studies of online comprehension show more mixed results. Therefore, this study explored how L2 learners process fine-grained L2 verb semantics in the domain of caused motion (placement) and specifically the impact of having similar vs. non-similar semantics in the L1 and L2. Specifically, we examined English (20) and German (21) L2 learners of Swedish and native Swedish speakers (16) and their online neurophysiological processing and offline appropriateness ratings of three Swedish placement verbs obligatory for placement supported from below: sätta “set,” ställa “stand,” and lägga “lay.” The learners’ L1s differed from Swedish in that their placement verbs either shared or did not share semantic characteristics with the target language. English has a general placement verb put, whereas German has specific verbs similar but not identical to Swedish, stellen “set/stand” and legen “lay.” Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants watched still frames (images) of objects being placed on a table and listened to sentences describing the event with verbs that either matched the image or not. Participants also performed an offline appropriateness rating task. Both tasks suggested CLI. English learners’ appropriateness ratings of atypical verb use differed from those of both native Swedish speakers’ and German learners, with no difference in the latter pair. Similarly, German learners’ ERP effects were more similar to those of the native Swedish speakers (increased lateral negativity to atypical verb use) than to those of the English learners (increased positivity to atypical verb use). The results of this explorative study thus suggest CLI both offline and online with similarity between L1 and L2 indicating more similar processing and judgments, in line with previous production findings, but in contrast to previous ERP work on semantic L2 processing.

Native Word Order Processing Is Not Uniform: An ERP Study of Verb-Second Word Order.

Studies of native syntactic processing often target phrase structure violations that do not occur in natural production. In contrast, this study examines how variation in basic word order is processed, looking specifically at structures traditionally labelled as violations but that do occur naturally. We examined Swedish verb-second (V2) and verb-third (V3) word order processing in adult native Swedish speakers, manipulating sentence-initial adverbials (temporal idag ‘today’, spatial hemma ‘at home’ and sentential kanske ‘maybe’) in acceptability judgements, in simultaneously recorded event-related potentials (ERP) to visually presented sentences and in a written sentence completion task. An initial corpus study showed that the adverbials differ in frequency in fronted position (idag > kanske > hemma), and although all occur mainly with V2 word order, kanske occurs more frequently with V3 in natural production than both idag and hemma. The experimental results reflected these patterns such that V2 sentences were overall more frequently produced and were deemed more acceptable than V3 sentences. The ERP results consisted of a biphasic N400/P600 response to V3 word order that indicated effects of word retrieval and sentence reanalysis. We also found consistent effects of adverbials. As predicted, V3 was produced more frequently and judged as more acceptable in Kanske sentences than in sentences with the other two adverbials. The ERP analyses showed stronger effects for idag and hemma with V3, especially regarding the P600. The results suggest that the naturally occurring word order ‘violation’, V3 with kanske, is processed differently than V3 with other adverbials where the V2 norm is stronger. Moreover, these patterns are related to individuals’ own production patterns. Overall, the results suggest a more varied native word order processing than previously reported.

Impact on routine psychiatric diagnostic practice from implementing the DSM-5 cultural formulation interview: a pragmatic RCT in Sweden

BackgroundCulture and social context affect the expression and interpretation of symptoms of distress, raising challenges for transcultural psychiatric diagnostics. This increases the risk that mental disorders among migrants and ethnic minorities are undetected, diagnosed late or misdiagnosed. We investigated whether adding a culturally sensitive tool, the DSM-5 core Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), to routine diagnostic procedures impacts the psychiatric diagnostic process.MethodWe compared the outcome of a diagnostic procedure that included the CFI with routine diagnostic procedures used at Swedish psychiatric clinics. New patients (n = 256) admitted to a psychiatric outpatient clinic were randomized to a control (n = 122) or CFI-enhanced diagnostic procedure (n = 134) group. An intention-to-treat analysis was conducted and the prevalence ratio and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated across arms for depressive and anxiety disorder diagnoses, multiple diagnoses, and delayed diagnosis.ResultsThe prevalence ratio (PR) of a depressive disorder diagnosis across arms was 1.21 (95% CI = 0.83-1.75), 33.6% of intervention-arm participants vs. 27.9% of controls. The prevalence ratio was higher among patients whose native language was not Swedish (PR =1.61, 95% CI = 0.91-2.86). The prevalence ratio of receiving multiple diagnoses was higher for the CFI group among non-native speaking patients, and lower to a statistically significant degree among native Swedish speakers (PR = .39, 95% CI = 0.18-0.82).ConclusionsThe results suggest that the implementation of the DSM-5 CFI in routine psychiatric diagnostic practice may facilitate identification of symptoms of certain psychiatric disorders, like depression, among non-native speaking patients in a migration context. The CFI did not result in a reduction of patients with a non-definite diagnosis.Trial registrationISRCTN51527289, 30/07/2019. The trial was retrospectively registered.

Health literacy and e-health literacy among Arabic-speaking migrants in Sweden: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundHealth inequities arise when the public cannot access and understand health information in an easy, accessible, and understandable way. Evidence supports that health literacy (HL) is a determinant for health outcomes, and when HL is limited this may have a major impact on morbidity as well as mortality. Migrants are known to have limited HL. Therefore, this study aimed to explore comprehensive health literacy (CHL) and electronic health literacy (eHL) among Arabic-speaking migrants in Sweden.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study conducted in Sweden. A total of 703 persons were invited to participate between February and September 2019. Two questionnaires – the Health Literacy Survey European Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16) and the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) – and questions about self-perceived health and Internet use were distributed in Swedish and Arabic. Various statistical analyses were performed to determine the associations for limited CHL and eHL.ResultsA total of 681 respondents were included in the analysis. Of these, 334 (49%) were native Arabic-speaking migrants and 347 (51%) were native Swedish-speaking residents. CHL and eHL differed between the groups. The Arabic speakers had significantly lower mean sum scores in eHL 28.1 (SD 6.1) vs 29.3 (6.2), p = 0.012 and lower proportion of sufficient CHL 125 (38.9%) vs 239 (71.3%), p < 0.001 compared to Swedish speakers. Multiple regression analysis showed on associations between limited CHL and eHL and being Arabic speaking, less Internet use, and not finding the Internet to be important or useful. Furthermore, longer time spent in Sweden was associated with higher levels of CHL among the Arabic speakers, (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.91–0.98, p < 0.01).ConclusionsCHL and eHL differ between Arabic-speaking migrants and native Swedish speakers, but also between Arabic speakers who have lived different lengths of time in Sweden. Though it seems that the eHealth literacy is less affected by language spoken, the Internet is suggested to be an appropriate channel for disseminating health information to Arabic-speaking migrants.

Health literacy and e-health literacy among Arabic speaking migrants in Sweden

Abstract Background Health inequities arise when the public cannot access and understand health information in an easy, accessible, and understandable way, which may be partly due to limited health literacy (HL). Migrants may have limited HL. A subgroup that may have limited HL is migrants. This study explored comprehensive health literacy (CHL) and electronic health literacy (eHL) among Arabic-speaking migrants in Sweden. Methods A cross-sectional observational study conducted in Sweden year 2019. Data was collected among Swedish and Arabic speakers through the Health Literacy Survey European Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16), the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), and questions about self-perceived health and Internet use. Arabic speakers CHL and eHL was compared with native Swedish speakers. Various statistical analyses were performed to determine the associations and predictors for limited CHL and eHL. Results A total of 681 respondents were included in the analysis. CHL and eHL differed between the native Arabic-speaking migrants and the native Swedish speakers. The Arabic speaking migrants had significantly lower CHL and eHL mean sum scores. Predictors for limited CHL and eHL were being Arabic speaking, less Internet use, and not finding the Internet to be important or useful. Time spent in Sweden was associated with higher levels of both CHL and eHL. Conclusions CHL and eHL differ between Arabic-speaking migrants and native Swedish speakers, but difference in eHL was smaller than difference in CHL and there was a difference in both CHL and eHL related to time spent in Sweden. Internet can therefore be seen as an appropriate channel for disseminating health information to Arabic-speaking migrants in Sweden. Key messages Internet can be considered an appropriate channel to distribute health information to Arabic-speaking migrants in Sweden. Time spent in Sweden is associated with higher eHL and CHL levels among Arabic-Speaking migrants.

Social Categorization Based on Language and Facial Recognition

Two experimental studies were conducted to replicate the effect found by Baus et al. where language as a marker of social categories affected recognition of faces in an old/new paradigm. In Study 1, we presented faces along with utterances in Swedish and in English to native Swedish speakers. Faces presented along with Swedish utterances were not recognized better than faces presented along with English utterances. In Study 2, we used another language pair and presented faces along with utterances in Swedish and in Spanish to native Swedish speakers. Faces presented along with Swedish utterances were recognized better than faces presented along with Spanish utterances. Our results suggest that language functions as a marker of social categories and that, similarly to other markers of social categories, it can be modulated by various factors and is not unconditional.

Psychometric evaluation of the Swedish version of the 30-item endometriosis health profile (EHP-30)

BackgroundThe 30-Item Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-30) is a specific instrument measuring quality of life among women with endometriosis. Although the Swedish version of EHP-30 is widely used in research and clinical settings, it has not yet been evaluated psychometrically. Ensuring validity and reliability is of most importance when using translated instruments. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the EHP-30.MethodsThis study was conducted at a Swedish referral university hospital specializing in endometriosis. Data collection was performed in January 2013. The EHP-30 was sent to 369 randomly selected women with a laparoscopy-verified endometriosis diagnosis. The psychometric evaluation included evaluation of data completeness, score distributions, floor and ceiling effects, internal consistency, factor analysis and test-retest reliability.ResultsOut of the 211 women with endometriosis who answered the questionnaire, 128 were native Swedish speakers who had experienced symptoms of endometriosis during the past 4 weeks, and were included in the psychometric evaluation. Data completeness was 99.5%. The highest median score was found in the Control and Powerlessness subscale, and lowest in Pain. Distributions towards ill health were found in all subscales except for the pain subscale, but there were no noteworthy floor or ceiling effects. Internal consistency was good (Cronbach’s α 0.83–0.96). Factor analysis could roughly confirm three of the five subscales. The test-rest analysis showed good reliability. Scores were systematically lower during the second measurement.ConclusionsWe conclude that the Swedish version of EHP-30 is a valid and reliable instrument to measure health-related quality of life in women with endometriosis. It is understandable, acceptable and usable and can be recommended for use in clinical daily routines and for research purposes.

In context: emotional intent and temporal immediacy of contextual descriptions modulate affective ERP components to facial expressions.

In this study, we explored how contextual information about threat dynamics affected the electrophysiological correlates of face perception. Forty-six healthy native Swedish speakers read verbal descriptions signaling an immediate vs delayed intent to escalate or deescalate an interpersonal conflict. Each verbal description was followed by a face with an angry or neutral expression, for which participants rated valence and arousal. Affective ratings confirmed that the emotional intent expressed in the descriptions modulated emotional reactivity to the facial stimuli in the expected direction. The electrophysiological data showed that compared to neutral faces, angry faces resulted in enhanced early and late event-related potentials (VPP, P300 and LPP). Additionally, emotional intent and temporal immediacy modulated the VPP and P300 similarly across angry and neutral faces, suggesting that they influence early face perception independently of facial affect. By contrast, the LPP amplitude to faces revealed an interaction between facial expression and emotional intent. Deescalating descriptions eliminated the LPP differences between angry and neutral faces. Together, our results suggest that information about a person’s intentions modulates the processing of facial expressions.

Evaluating two ways for marking Swedish phonological length in written text

Abstract The study compares two different graphic marking systems designed to help L2 learners of Swedish notice and realize phonological length. In System A, 22 L2 learners read aloud three /VːC/ words with length marked under long vowels and three /VCː/words with dots under short vowels. Twenty-two other L2 learners read the same words marked by the other system (System B) that underlines long vowels and long consonants. As a control group, 20 native Swedish speakers read the same words without any marking. We measured and compared the temporal realizations of the six words by all the three groups. System B readers realized Swedish phonological length more closely to the way that native speakers did, compared to System A readers. These results suggest that prompting both long vowels and long consonants can be more effective than marking long and short vowels.

Speech characteristics in the congenital and childhood-onset forms of myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a slowly progressive multi-systemic disease with an autosomal-dominant inheritance caused by a mutation on chromosome 19 (19q13.3). To explore speech characteristics in a group of individuals with the congenital and childhood-onset forms of DM1 in terms of intelligibility, speech-sound production, nasality and compensatory articulation. A further aim was to analyse whether speech characteristics were correlated to subforms of DM1 and if speech outcome could be related to muscle strength. Fifty native Swedish speakers (7-29 years old) with the congenital and childhood-onset forms of DM1 and 13 healthy controls participated in the study. The intelligibility of spontaneous speech, speech-sound production - single-word and sentence repetition - including percentage consonants correct (PCC) and compensatory articulation, were evaluated by speech-language pathologists from video recordings. A nasometer and lip-force meter were used for objective evaluations of nasality and orofacial strength. In severe (n = 9) and mild congenital DM1 (n = 13), all participants had impaired intelligibility to some degree, while this applied to 79% of those with childhood DM1 (n = 28). PCC for bilabials were 53.9% in severe congenital DM1, 57.4% in mild congenital DM1 and 85.3% in childhood DM1; the corresponding results for dentals were 69.3%, 59.2% and 87.3%. Bilabials were most often compensated for with interdental or labiodental articulation. Dentals were substituted with interdental articulation. Velars were seldom affected. The mean nasalance score was high in the study group compared with controls and with normative data and the majority had weak lips. Maximum lip force, as well as the mean nasalance score, correlated significantly with the intelligibility score. The deviant production of bilabial consonants, interdental articulation and hypernasal speech are characteristic features of dysarthria in congenital and childhood DM1. Dysarthria is more frequent and more severe in congenital DM1 compared with childhood DM1. Most individuals with congenital DM1 and childhood-onset DM1 will need speech therapy from a young age. For some children with incomprehensible speech or severe neurodevelopmental disorders, alternative and augmentative ways of communication will be part of the treatment.

Cognitive Processing Speed, Working Memory, and the Intelligibility of Hearing Aid-Processed Speech in Persons with Hearing Impairment.

Previous studies have demonstrated that successful listening with advanced signal processing in digital hearing aids is associated with individual cognitive capacity, particularly working memory capacity (WMC). This study aimed to examine the relationship between cognitive abilities (cognitive processing speed and WMC) and individual listeners’ responses to digital signal processing settings in adverse listening conditions. A total of 194 native Swedish speakers (83 women and 111 men), aged 33–80 years (mean = 60.75 years, SD = 8.89), with bilateral, symmetrical mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss who had completed a lexical decision speed test (measuring cognitive processing speed) and semantic word-pair span test (SWPST, capturing WMC) participated in this study. The Hagerman test (capturing speech recognition in noise) was conducted using an experimental hearing aid with three digital signal processing settings: (1) linear amplification without noise reduction (NoP), (2) linear amplification with noise reduction (NR), and (3) non-linear amplification without NR (“fast-acting compression”). The results showed that cognitive processing speed was a better predictor of speech intelligibility in noise, regardless of the types of signal processing algorithms used. That is, there was a stronger association between cognitive processing speed and NR outcomes and fast-acting compression outcomes (in steady state noise). We observed a weaker relationship between working memory and NR, but WMC did not relate to fast-acting compression. WMC was a relatively weaker predictor of speech intelligibility in noise. These findings might have been different if the participants had been provided with training and or allowed to acclimatize to binary masking noise reduction or fast-acting compression.

Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and the association with symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress in a multi-ethnic pregnant population in southern Sweden

ObjectivesThis study aims to describe the prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and analyze associations with symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress (PTS) in pregnancy, by ethnic background. Study designThis is a cross-sectional study of the Swedish data from the Bidens cohort study. Ethnicity was categorized as native and non-native Swedish-speakers. Women completed a questionnaire while attending routine antenatal care. The NorVold Abuse Questionnaire (NorAQ) assessed a history of emotional, physical or sexual abuse. The Edinburgh Depression Scale-5 measured symptoms of depression. Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress (PTS) included intrusion, avoidance and numbness. ResultsOf 1003 women, 78.6% were native and 21.4% were non-native Swedish-speakers. Native and non-native Swedish-speakers experienced a similar proportion of lifetime abuse. Moderate emotional and physical abuse in childhood was significantly more common among non-native Swedish-speakers. Sexual abuse in adulthood was significantly more prevalent among native Swedish-speakers. Emotional and sexual abuse were significantly associated with symptoms of depression for both natives and non-natives. Physical abuse was significantly associated with symptoms of depression for non-natives only. All types of abuse were significantly associated with symptoms of PTS for both native and non-native Swedish-speakers. Adding ethnicity to the multiple binary regression analyses did not really alter the association between the different types of abuse and symptoms of depression and PTS. ConclusionThe prevalence of lifetime abuse did not differ significantly for native and non-native Swedish-speakers but there were significant differences on a more detailed level. Abuse was associated with symptoms of depression and PTS. Being a non-native Swedish-speaker did not influence the association much.

Exploring the lack of a disfluency effect: evidence from eye movements

An eye-tracking study with 60 native Swedish speakers (18–30 years) was conducted to investigate the positive effects on learning outcomes predicted by the disfluency effect. Subtle low-pass filtering was used as a disfluency manipulation and compared with a control condition using regular text. The text was presented on four separate text presentation screens (TPSs), and eye movements were recorded. A free recall task was given 25 min later, and working memory capacity (WMC) was assessed to test if it would moderate learning outcomes. The disfluency manipulation had no effect on learning outcomes, total reading times on words or lines, first- or second-pass reading on lines, or average fixation durations. Moreover, the disfluency effect was not moderated by students’ WMC or self-reported prior knowledge of the topic. However, an adaptation to the disfluency manipulation was found. Total reading times on both words and lines were shorter in TPS 1 and 2 in the disfluency condition compared with the control condition, whereas reading times were longer in TPS 3 and 4. It is discussed if failures to replicate the disfluency effect arise from material features, with positive adaptations to disfluency (i.e., higher effort investment) possibly requiring more comprehensive materials.

Working Memory Capacity May Influence Perceived Effort during Aided Speech Recognition in Noise

Recently there has been interest in using subjective ratings as a measure of perceived effort during speech recognition in noise. Perceived effort may be an indicator of cognitive load. Thus, subjective effort ratings during speech recognition in noise may covary both with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and individual cognitive capacity. The present study investigated the relation between subjective ratings of the effort involved in listening to speech in noise, speech recognition performance, and individual working memory (WM) capacity in hearing impaired hearing aid users. In two experiments, participants with hearing loss rated perceived effort during aided speech perception in noise. Noise type and SNR were manipulated in both experiments, and in the second experiment hearing aid compression release settings were also manipulated. Speech recognition performance was measured along with WM capacity. There were 46 participants in all with bilateral mild to moderate sloping hearing loss. In Experiment 1 there were 16 native Danish speakers (eight women and eight men) with a mean age of 63.5 yr (SD = 12.1) and average pure tone (PT) threshold of 47. 6 dB (SD = 9.8). In Experiment 2 there were 30 native Swedish speakers (19 women and 11 men) with a mean age of 70 yr (SD = 7.8) and average PT threshold of 45.8 dB (SD = 6.6). A visual analog scale (VAS) was used for effort rating in both experiments. In Experiment 1, effort was rated at individually adapted SNRs while in Experiment 2 it was rated at fixed SNRs. Speech recognition in noise performance was measured using adaptive procedures in both experiments with Dantale II sentences in Experiment 1 and Hagerman sentences in Experiment 2. WM capacity was measured using a letter-monitoring task in Experiment 1 and the reading span task in Experiment 2. In both experiments, there was a strong and significant relation between rated effort and SNR that was independent of individual WM capacity, whereas the relation between rated effort and noise type seemed to be influenced by individual WM capacity. Experiment 2 showed that hearing aid compression setting influenced rated effort. Subjective ratings of the effort involved in speech recognition in noise reflect SNRs, and individual cognitive capacity seems to influence relative rating of noise type.

Is the P600/SPS affected by the richness of semantic content? A linguistic ERP study in Swedish

The study investigated whether the P600/SPS component is sensitive to the richness of semantic content in sentences. ERPs were recorded while 30 native Swedish speakers read sentences, of which half were syntactically correct and half contained a syntactic violation. Both kinds of sentences came in one of three types of descending semantic completeness: semantically coherent sentences, sentences which were incoherent due to violations of selectional restrictions, or sentences of pseudo words, hence void of lexical content. In the semantically coherent sentences a P600/SPS was found for the syntactic violation. A less salient positivity was found for the violation in the semantically incoherent sentences. No P600/SPS was found for the syntactic violation in the pseudo word sentences and no LAN component in any sentence type. The results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the P600/SPS component reflects a semantically based reanalysis process.

Perceptual evaluation of speech and velopharyngeal function in children with and without cleft palate and the relationship to nasal airflow patterns.

The aim was to study the relationship between perceptual evaluation of speech variables related to velopharyngeal function and the pattern of nasal airflow during the velopharyngeal closing phase in speech in children with and without cleft palate. Fourteen children with cleft lip and palate or cleft palate only and 15 controls aged 7 and 10 years. All were native Swedish speakers. Three experienced listeners performed a blinded perceptual speech evaluation. Nasal airflow was transduced with a pneumotachograph attached to a nasal mask. The duration from peak to 5% nasal airflow, maximum flow declination rate, and nasal airflow at selected points in time during the transition from nasal to stop consonants in bilabial and velar articulatory positions in sentences were estimated. The analysis was focused on the perceptual ratings of "velopharyngeal function" and "hypernasality." A strong association was found between ratings of "velopharyngeal function" and "hypernasality" and the pattern of nasal airflow during the bilabial nasal-to-stop combination /mp/. Both the sensitivity and specificity were 1.00 for the bilabial temporal airflow measure in relation to ratings of "velopharyngeal function." The nasal airflow rate during /p/ in /mp/ had a sensitivity of 1.00 and specificity of 0.92 to 0.96 in relation to ratings of "hypernasality." Assessment of the nasal airflow dynamics during the velopharyngeal closing phase in speech presents quantitative, objective data that appear to distinguish between perceptually normal and deviant velopharyngeal function with high sensitivity and specificity.

The influence of L1 on the acquisition of Swedish quantity by native speakers of Spanish, English and Estonian

This study examined the influence of the L1 phonetic system on the acquisition of Swedish quantity distinctions. The aim was to test the hypothesis that difficulty in acquiring an L2 contrastive category is related to the role in the L1 of the phonetic feature upon which the L2 category is based. Twenty native speakers each of American English, Latin American Spanish and Estonian participated. The phonologies of the subjects' L1 display three degrees of overall prominence of the duration feature. The subjects, who had all lived in Sweden for at least 10 years, were given a production and perception test to assess their mastery of Swedish quantity. The Estonian subjects performed much like Swedish controls. However, some native English, and even more Spanish subjects, differed from native speakers of Swedish. A follow-up experiment compared matched groups of native English and Spanish subjects. It showed that experienced and inexperienced groups of native English and Spanish adults were equally successful in learning to produce and perceive Swedish quantity distinctions, but that the native English subjects more closely matched native Swedish speakers than the native Spanish subjects did. Taken together, our results support the feature hypothesis in that these subjects' success in learning the Swedish quantity contrast seems to be related to the role of the duration feature in the L1.

Temporal effects on successive consonants in Swedish

The duration of phonetic components in a syllable is known to be affected by the syllable’s relative prominence, along with the number and articulatory nature of phonological segments in a word. This study addresses the durational effect of these factors on successive segments in Swedish consonant clusters. Ten native Swedish speakers were recorded producing monosyllabic and disyllabic target words which were either focused or not focused in a carrier phrase. Each word contained an /s/+stop cluster or stop+/s/ cluster in which the stop was /p,t/ or /k/. The durations of the /s/ frication and stop closure were measured. Results indicate that focus consistently increases the duration of a cluster and its constituents. In addition, little difference in closure duration was observed among /p,t,k/. Within disyllabic words, the cluster’s first segment, whether a stop or an /s/, was systematically longer than the second segment in both nonfocal and focal conditions. The reverse tendency was found for monosyllabic words; the cluster’s second segment was generally longer than the first segment in the focal condition, and no difference due to position in the cluster was observed for the nonfocal condition. These results are discussed in terms of the relative timing of successive consonants within clusters.

Lexical characteristics of near‐native second‐language learners of Swedish

Abstract Various aspects of the vocabulary of near‐native second‐language learners of Swedish were analysed and compared to that of matched native Swedish speakers. Quantitative measures of lexical usage focussed upon comprised lexical density, lexical variation and lexical sophistication. Further, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of lexical errors was carried out. Data were elicited from 36 students attending the second‐year course of the Swedish gymnasieskola (senior high school level). The population comprised 24 bilingual students, among whom 12 had Finnish and 12 had Spanish as their first language, and 12 monolingual Swedish speakers. Both oral and written data were collected from each student, and, from the bilingual students, data were obtained from both their languages. The oral data consisted of retellings of four narratives, while the written data comprised summary reviews of Charlie Chaplin's silent film, Modem Times. Only the Swedish data are considered in this paper. The results are d...

How cryptic is distorted speech?

A series of tests was conducted examining the ability of native Swedish speakers to learn to comprehend phonologically distorted speech. Two versions of the same text were produced: one with a heavy Chinese accent and one with an artificially produced accent (Cryptic) which was very different in character from the Chinese one. Two groups of 22 subjects listened to either one of the versions. A list of isolated words produced only with the Cryptic accent followed both of the text versions. A third group, acting as a control, listened only to the isolated Cryptic word list. It was shown that the group exposed to the Cryptic text version had almost double the comprehension of the word list as those exposed to either the Chinese accent or to no text prior to the list—both performing equally poorly. We conclude that learning to compensate for a particular accent is specific to that accent and its comprehension will not be augmented by prior exposure to a very different accent, and that this result should hold true for distortions in general. [Work supported by HSFR.]