Target Phonemes Research Articles

Cortical Generators and Connections Underlying Phoneme Perception: A Mismatch Negativity and P300 Investigation.

The cortical generators of the pure tone MMN and P300 have been thoroughly studied. Their nature and interaction with respect to phoneme perception, however, is poorly understood. Accordingly, the cortical sources and functional connections that underlie the MMN and P300 in relation to passive and active speech sound perception were identified.An inattentive and attentive phonemic oddball paradigm, eliciting a MMN and P300 respectively, were administered in 60 healthy adults during simultaneous high-density EEG recording. For both the MMN and P300, eLORETA source reconstruction was performed. The maximal cross-correlation was calculated between ROI-pairs to investigate inter-regional functional connectivity specific to passive and active deviant processing.MMN activation clusters were identified in the temporal (insula, superior temporal gyrus and temporal pole), frontal (rostral middle frontal and pars opercularis) and parietal (postcentral and supramarginal gyrus) cortex. Passive discrimination of deviant phonemes was aided by a network connecting right temporoparietal cortices to left frontal areas. For the P300, clusters with significantly higher activity were found in the frontal (caudal middle frontal and precentral), parietal (precuneus) and cingulate (posterior and isthmus) cortex. Significant intra- and interhemispheric connections between parietal, cingulate and occipital regions constituted the network governing active phonemic target detection. A predominantly bilateral network was found to underly both the MMN and P300.While passive phoneme discrimination is aided by a fronto-temporo-parietal network, active categorization calls on a network entailing fronto-parieto-cingulate cortices. Neural processing of phonemic contrasts, as reflected by the MMN and P300, does not appear to show pronounced lateralization to the language-dominant hemisphere.

Spike-phase coupling of subthalamic neurons to posterior opercular cortex predicts speech sound accuracy.

Speech provides a rich context for understanding how cortical interactions with the basal ganglia contribute to unique human behaviors, but opportunities for direct intracranial recordings across cortical-basal ganglia networks are rare. We recorded electrocorticographic signals in the cortex synchronously with single units in the basal ganglia during awake neurosurgeries where subjects spoke syllable repetitions. We discovered that individual STN neurons have transient (200ms) spike-phase coupling (SPC) events with multiple cortical regions. The spike timing of STN neurons was coordinated with the phase of theta-alpha oscillations in the posterior supramarginal and superior temporal gyrus during speech planning and production. Speech sound errors occurred when this STN-cortical interaction was delayed. Our results suggest that the STN supports mechanisms of speech planning and auditory-sensorimotor integration during speech production that are required to achieve high fidelity of the phonological and articulatory representation of the target phoneme. These findings establish a framework for understanding cortical-basal ganglia interaction in other human behaviors, and additionally indicate that firing-rate based models are insufficient for explaining basal ganglia circuit behavior.

Do Linguistic Factors Impact Phonological Awareness in L2? A Study of Phonological Awareness of English by Adult Saudi Learners

The study explores the impact of certain linguistic factors on phonological awareness ability in the second language. This study examines the effect of three linguistic factors on Saudi university students’ L2 phonological awareness: the linguistic environment (single vs. clustered), the linguistic affiliation of the phoneme (novel vs. non-novel), and the phonological representation of the lexical item that contains the target phoneme (real-word vs. non-word). The linguistic factors that are examined and controlled in this study represented essential differences between the participants’ L1 and L2, hence highlighting the effect of L1-L2 distance. The participants were 48 university students majoring in English language. Two phonological awareness tasks were administered, a phoneme deletion task and a phonological judgement task, to test phonological awareness at the phonemic and phonotactic levels. The results showed that the linguistic environment of the phoneme had a significant impact on the participants’ L2 phonological awareness. The linguistic affiliation of the target phoneme was another linguistic factor that affected the participants’ L2 phonological awareness. Their perception of novel L2 phonemes was considerably poorer than non-novel phonemes. This result confirms the validity of the linguistic affiliation hypothesis in explaining phonemic awareness in L2. Additionally, the results revealed that the quality of the phonological representation plays a significant role in the participants’ performance on the phonological awareness tasks in L2 and that the lexical status of the item affected this underlying phonological representation. The findings of this study offer theoretical and practical implications for the acquisition and teaching of a second language.

The effects of incidental learning and input frequency on the perception of non-native speech

The current study investigated the extent to which naive listeners could incidentally acquire non-native phonemic contrasts and the degree to which the frequency of exposure to the target phonemes affects their learning. A total of 100 English speakers were assigned to the following conditions: (1) 0-occurrence; (2) 2-occurrence; (3) 10-occurrence; (4) 20-occurrence; or (5) 30-occurrence. The participants watched a video that provided instruction on counting numbers in Korean while incidentally exposing them to various repetitions of the target phonemes. All participants completed a pretest, an immediate posttest, and a delayed posttest, each comprising an AX discrimination task. The effects of incidental exposure were found only in the 10-occurrence condition, in both the immediate posttest and the delayed posttest. While the current study demonstrates the overall efficacy of incidental exposure on the perception of non-native speech, it also highlights the important role that selective attention plays in language learning.

Developing an algorithm to characterize context-based speech patterns as cue production profiles

The surface articulation of an underlying phoneme commonly fluctuates depending on the context. For instance, the associated acoustic cues for a /t/ phoneme produced at the beginning of an utterance may be distinct from the acoustic cues of a /t/ phoneme that is preceded and followed by a vowel. Thus, for an individual speaker or speaker group, we can investigate what specific phonemic contexts result in the associated acoustic cues to be produced. An algorithm has been developed which matches a target phoneme to its corresponding acoustic cues. For a given database, we can recover all of the contexts in which a phoneme was produced and tabulate the various acoustic cue production patterns that arose. Finally, we label these patterns by their speech production type (e.g., standard production, flapping, etc.) and produce an output in the form of a cue production profile. As a result, this profile would allow for the association of a set of acoustic cues in specific phonemic contexts for an individual speaker or speaker group, such as speakers from a specific dialect region. The algorithm can also be expanded to include prosodic cues to account for how stress and intonation can affect phoneme production.

A Contrastive Perspective on English and Dutch Front Monophthongs

This paper explores the front pure vowels of English and Dutch from a contrastive standpoint. It basically aims to quantitatively discover the degree to which English and Dutch front monophthong systems are different from each other and proceeds to make some early yet data-driven predictions about the comparative levels of difficulty that the English-speaking learners of Dutch and the Dutch-speaking learners of English as a foreign language would experience while learning their target languages. Applying the same method designed for a quantitative-contrastive phonemic analysis in the earlier works of 2015 and 2019, the researchers prove that the front monophthong systems of English and Dutch are considerably different (81.82%) from each other and that the acquisition workload is heavier (83.33:80) for English speaking learners of Dutch as a foreign language than it is for Dutch speaking learners of English. In contrast, learners of English will need to generate a greater degree (83.33:80) of substratum counter-influence than learners of Dutch in order to achieve an acceptable level of accuracy in the articulation of their target phonemes. Although both groups of learners retain one vowel sound that occurs as phonetically identical phoneme (16.67:20), the final indication is that the English front monophthong system is likely to pose a greater challenge for its learners. Spectrum, Volume 17, June 2022: 31-46

Aural and written language elicit the same processes: Further evidence from the missing-phoneme effect.

When readers are asked to detect a target letter while reading for comprehension, they miss it more frequently when it is embedded in a frequent function word than in a less frequent content word. This missing-letter effect has been used to investigate the cognitive processes involved in reading. A similar effect, called the missing-phoneme effect has been found in aural language when participants listen to the narration of a text while searching for a target phoneme. In three experiments, we tested the hypothesis that both effects derived from the same cognitive processes, by isolating the role of word frequency and word function. In Experiment 1, we used a paper and pencil procedure for reading and a continuous narration for the listening task. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used a rapid serial visual or auditory presentation procedure to control for the effects of preprocessing upcoming information: parafoveal processing in reading and coarticulation in aural language processing. Parallel findings were observed in the reading and listening tasks. In all experiments, there was an effect of word function, and there was an effect of word frequency in Experiments 1 and 3. Results are interpreted in light of the attentional disengagement model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Clinical application of usage-based phonology: Treatment of cleft palate speech using usage-based electropalatography

Purpose To investigate whether a novel electropalatography (EPG) therapy, underpinned by usage-based phonology theory, can improve the accuracy of target speech sounds for school-aged children and adults with persistent speech sound disorder (SSD) secondary to cleft palate +/− lip. Method Six consecutively treated participants (7–27 years) with long-standing speech disorders associated with cleft palate enrolled in a multiple baseline (ABA) within-participant case series. The usage-based EPG therapy technique involved high-volume production of words. Speech was assessed on three baselines prior to therapy, during weekly therapy, at completion of therapy, and 3 months post-therapy. Percent correct of target phonemes in untreated words and continuously connected speech were assessed through acoustic phonetic transcription. Intra- and inter-transcriber agreement was determined. Result Large to medium treatment effect sizes were shown for all participants following therapy (15–33 sessions). Percentage of targets correct for untreated words improved from near 0% pre-therapy, to near 100% for most target sounds post-therapy. Generalisation of target sounds to spontaneous connected speech occurred for all participants and ranged from 78.95−100% (M = 90.66; SD = 10.14) 3 months post-therapy. Conclusion Clinically significant speech change occurred for all participants following therapy. Response to the novel therapeutic technique is encouraging and further research is indicated.

French pronunciation instruction using the PACE model

AbstractAs an overwhelming amount of research has demonstrated that educator preparation programs do not adequately prepare instructors to teach pronunciation, this study aims to help teachers of foreign languages to implement and improve pronunciation instruction (PI) in their classroom by adapting PACE (Presentation, Attention, Co‐construction, and Extension), the commonly used model for grammar instruction. The present study explores the efficacy of this model in improving learners' ability (1) to associate target phonemes with the appropriate phonological context and (2) to produce target phonemes distinctly in a spontaneous speech task. Data suggest that a modified PACE model for PI can be effective in both intermediate‐ and advanced‐level courses. The possibility of adapting an existing and well‐known method for teaching grammar would allow teachers to implement and/or improve their PI with minimal additional training.

Frequency effects in Spanish phonological speech errors: Weak sources in the context of weak syllables and words.

The present study examines the effects of the frequency of phoneme, syllable, and word units in the Granada corpus of Spanish phonological speech errors. We computed several measures of phoneme and syllable frequency and selected the most sensitive ones, along with word (lexeme) frequency to compare the frequencies of source, target, and error units at the phoneme, syllable, and word levels. Results showed that phoneme targets have equivalent frequency to matched controls, whereas source phonemes are lower in frequency than chance (the Weak Source effect) and target phonemes (the David effect). Target, source, and error syllables and words also were of lower frequency than chance, and error words (when they occur) were lowest in frequency. Contrary to most current theories, which focus on faulty processing of the target units, present results suggest that faulty processing of the source units (phonemes, syllables, and words) is an important factor contributing to phonological speech errors. Low-frequency words and syllables have more difficulty ensuring that their phonemes, especially those of low frequency, are output only in their correct locations.

Effect of Integrated Phonological Awareness Intervention for Children with Speech Sound Disorders

Objectives: Some children with speech sound disorders (SSD) are likely to have difficulty with phonological awareness skills and develop reading problems when they reach school age. This study aimed to examine the effect of the integrated phonological awareness intervention for children with SSD.Methods: Three children with SSD participated in the intervention study. All of them were 5 years old and showed consonant accuracy of about 50-80% in word levels of the Assessment of Phonology and Articulation for Children (APAC) test. They had no previous experience in speech therapy or specific phonological awareness training. Integrated phonological awareness which emphasized production practices for target phonemes as well as phonological awareness tasks were provided to the three children for approximately 12 weeks within a multiple baseline and AB design.Results: All the three children showed improvements in consonant accuracy of spontaneous speech as well as all target phonemes. Also, they showed progress in phonological awareness skills at syllable and body-coda levels. The intervention effects were maintained after the intervention phases were completed.Conclusion: This study confirmed that integrated phonological awareness intervention was effective in improving articulation and phonological awareness skills for children with SSD. It is expected that the intervention would prevent them from showing reading difficulties.

Effect of Integrated Phonological Awareness Intervention for Children with Speech Sound Disorders

Objectives: Some children with speech sound disorders (SSD) are likely to have difficulty with phonological awareness skills and develop reading problems when they reach school age. This study aimed to examine the effect of the integrated phonological awareness intervention for children with SSD.Methods: Three children with SSD participated in the intervention study. All of them were 5 years old and showed consonant accuracy of about 50-80% in word levels of the Assessment of Phonology and Articulation for Children (APAC) test. They had no previous experience in speech therapy or specific phonological awareness training. Integrated phonological awareness which emphasized production practices for target phonemes as well as phonological awareness tasks were provided to the three children for approximately 12 weeks within a multiple baseline and AB design.Results: All the three children showed improvements in consonant accuracy of spontaneous speech as well as all target phonemes. Also, they showed progress in phonological awareness skills at syllable and body-coda levels. The intervention effects were maintained after the intervention phases were completed.Conclusion: This study confirmed that integrated phonological awareness intervention was effective in improving articulation and phonological awareness skills for children with SSD. It is expected that the intervention would prevent them from showing reading difficulties.

The Relationship Between Speech Perception, Speech Production, and Vocabulary Abilities in Children: Insights From By-Group and Continuous Analyses.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary abilities in children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs), analyzing the data both by group and continuously. Sixty-one Australian English-speaking children aged 48-69 months participated in this study. Children's speech production abilities ranged along the continuum from SSDs through to typical speech. Their vocabulary abilities ranged along the continuum from typical to above average ("lexically precocious"). Children completed routine speech and language assessments in addition to an experimental Australian English lexical and phonetic judgment task. When analyzing data by group, there was no significant difference between the speech perception ability of children with SSDs and that of children without SSDs. Children with above-average vocabularies had significantly better speech perception ability than children with average vocabularies. When analyzing data continuously, speech production and vocabulary were both significant positive predictors of variance in speech perception ability, both individually in simple linear regression and when combined in multiple linear regression. There was also a significant positive correlation between perception and production of two of the four target phonemes tested (i.e., /k/ and /ʃ/) among children in the SSD group. Results from this study provide further insight into the complex relationship between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary abilities in children. While there is a clinical and important need for categorical distinctions between SSDs and typically developing speech, findings further highlight the value of investigating speech production and vocabulary abilities continuously and categorically. By capturing the heterogeneity among children's speech production and vocabulary abilities, we can advance our understanding of SSDs in children. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22229674.

Do People With Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia Improve or Worsen Across Repeated Sequential Word Trials?

During motor speech examinations for suspected apraxia of speech (AOS), clients are routinely asked to repeat words several times sequentially. The purpose of this study was to understand the task in terms of the relationship among consecutive attempts. We asked to what extent phonemic accuracy changes across trials and whether the change is predicted by AOS diagnosis and sound production severity. One hundred thirty-three participants were assigned to four diagnostic groups based on quantitative metrics (aphasia plus AOS, aphasia-only, and aphasia with two borderline speech profiles). Each participant produced four multisyllabic words 5 times consecutively. These productions were audio-recorded and transcribed phonetically and then summarized as the proportion of target phonemes that was produced accurately. Nonparametric statistics were used to analyze percent change in accuracy from the first to the last production based on diagnostic group and a broad measure of speech sound accuracy. Accuracy on the repeated words deteriorated across trials for all groups, showing reduced accuracy from the first to the last repetition for 62% of participants. Although diagnostic groups differed on the broad measure of speech sound accuracy, severity classification based on this measure did not determine degree of deterioration on the repeated words task. Responding to a request to say multisyllabic words 5 times sequentially is challenging for people with aphasia with and without AOS, and as such, performance is prone to errors even with mild impairment. For most, the task does not encourage self-correction. Instead, it promotes errors, regardless of diagnosis, and is, therefore, useful for screening purposes.

Speech Production Errors in Children With Cleft Palate With or Without Cleft Lip.

The purpose of this study was to describe the frequency of speech production errors in children with cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP±L) and explore characteristics related to speech production errors. Fifty-six children with nonsyndromic CP±L between the ages of 4;0 and 7;11 (years;months) were included in this study. The children's audio-recorded production of a sentence repetition task was transcribed using narrow transcription and coded for speech error type. Children used, on average, 18 speech errors during the sentence repetition task that sampled 59 phoneme targets. On average, phonological errors were used most frequently, with nine errors per sample, followed by anterior oral speech errors at four errors per sample, and non-oral compensatory errors at three errors per sample. Individual-level characteristics including age and cleft type were related to frequency of phonological errors and anterior oral speech errors, respectively. One treatment-level characteristic, hypernasality, was related to use of non-oral compensatory errors and passive speech errors. This study identified the most frequent speech production errors as phonological errors, followed by anterior oral speech errors and non-oral compensatory errors. Individual-level and treatment-level characteristics were related to speech production errors. Future research should explore additional characteristics that may influence use of speech production errors. Clinically, this study adds information regarding speech error types that should be monitored throughout cleft care, including phonological errors that were most prevalent among this sample. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22044095.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Video-Modeling for Teaching Articulation in Verbal Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Verbal children with autism often present communication difficulties such as articulation disorders. As a result they are not able to communicate effectively and sometimes their attempts to communicate may take the form of challenging behaviors. Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of video-modeling in increasing the communication skills in verbal children with autism. Moreover other studies have shown that video-modeling, as a treatment package, can maintain strength and generalize all the newly learned skills. In this study, we will extend the use of video-modeling across 3 verbal children who have been diagnosed with autism and simultaneously exhibit articulation disorders in phoneme /r/ in three different positions within words. We will implement multiple baseline design across behaviors (i.e., target phoneme at the beginning, middle, and end of the words). The effectiveness will be evaluated by focusing on pre to follow-up changes of our participants’ articulation.

Local stability and long distance reliability of tongue ultrasound spline metrics

Tongue ultrasound data arecommonly analyzed by using different metrics. In this study, we evaluate the local stability and long distance reliability of Average Nearest Neighbour Distance (Zharkova and Hewlett, 2009), Median Point-by-Point Distance (Palo, 2020), Procrustes analysis and Modified Curvature Index (Dawson et al., 2015). A metric which has good local stability should map a time-series of splines to a smooth scalar (or vector) time-series and not be very sensitive to small errors in the splining. Similarly, a metric with good long distance reliability should differentiate dissimilar tongue contours—such as different phoneme targets—reliably and without small splining errors significantly affecting the results. We test the metrics with simulated data generated from actual spline data. First, we select keyframes at phoneme target positions. Second, we vary the sampling frequency artificially by interpolating the splines between the keyframes. Third, we vary the level of splining noise by adding small perturbations to the splines at varying magnitudes and frequencies. Based on the simulation results, we will calculate the distributions of each of the metrics as conditioned by sampling frequency and noise level. The code and simulation data will be publicly available.

Word Recognition in English Place Assimilation by L1 and L2 Listeners: An Eye Tracking Study

This study explores the dynamics of lexical activation by comparing the time course of word recognition between assimilated forms (e.g., ca[tp] in cat box) and noncoronal forms (e.g., ca[p] in cap box). Using the Visual World Paradigm, an eye-tracking method, the main goal was to investigate how gradient modification in place assimilation context influences L1 and L2 listeners’ real time word recognition in English. Twenty native Korean learners of English, as well as fourteen native English listeners took part in the listening task integrated into the eye-tracking experiment. The participants were given aural input in the form of instructions (e.g., look at the cat/cap box) and asked to pick the word they had just heard between two options (e.g., cat or cap) on the screen while or after they listened to the input. Their eye movements over the visual screen while listening, along with their keyboard-press responses were recorded for the main analysis. The results showed both English and Korean listeners displayed higher proportions of fixations on the target (e.g., cat) than on the competitor words (e.g., cap) in assimilation contexts (e.g., ca[tp] box), as well as higher proportions of fixations on targets (e.g., cap) than on competitors (e.g., cat) in non-assimilation contexts (e.g., ca[p] box). However, the discrepancy of fixation proportions between targets and competitors was more obvious for the English listeners than for the Korean listeners. In other words, although the L2 listenersin addition to L1 listeners were able to use acoustic variations when identifying the target phonemes, the L1 listeners revealed a higher certainty level than their L2 counterparts. Furthermore, the divergence points between targets and competitors wereshown to appear earlier for the L1 listeners than for the L2 listeners.

FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF PHONEMES IN HINDI

Hindi, an Indo-Aryan language is the national language of India and the state language of various North Indian states of India such as Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh etc. Statistics on the phonemes of a language provides useful information in the field of speech language pathology, audiology, linguistics and communication engineering. The data can be effectively used for the assessment and selection of target phonemes for treatment of various communication disorders, develop phonetically balanced word lists for audiological testing, and teach foreign language. It also provides valuable information to device text to speech systems and automatic speech recognition systems. The earlier data on frequently occurring phonemes in numerous Indian languages were derived from written sources. However, information from spoken language may be of more significance compared to written language. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequently occurring phonemes in spoken Hindi. Participants were native speakers of Hindi in the age range of 20 to 70 years. Eighteen group conversation samples were recorded. The samples were transcribed using IPA transcription. Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software was used to analyze the samples in order to obtain the frequently occurring phonemes. Descriptive statistics was applied for the same. Results revealed that phonemes /n, a, e, f, h, k/ were the most frequently occurring phonemesin Hindi. Aspirated phonemes (/gh/, /ʈh/, /ph/, /ɖh/) were the least present phonemes in the data. High and front vowels were more frequently present in spoken Hindi. Considering the manner of articulation, nasals and stops had higher occurrence. Alveolar dominated considering the place of articulation of phonemes. The applications of the study are extensive and can be utilized efficiently in a variety of disciplines.

FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF PHONEMES IN HINDI

Hindi, an Indo-Aryan language is the national language of India and the state language of various North Indian states of India such as Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh etc. Statistics on the phonemes of a language provides useful information in the field of speech language pathology, audiology, linguistics and communication engineering. The data can be effectively used for the assessment and selection of target phonemes for treatment of various communication disorders, develop phonetically balanced word lists for audiological testing, and teach foreign language. It also provides valuable information to device text to speech systems and automatic speech recognition systems. The earlier data on frequently occurring phonemes in numerous Indian languages were derived from written sources. However, information from spoken language may be of more significance compared to written language. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequently occurring phonemes in spoken Hindi. Participants were native speakers of Hindi in the age range of 20 to 70 years. Eighteen group conversation samples were recorded. The samples were transcribed using IPA transcription. Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software was used to analyze the samples in order to obtain the frequently occurring phonemes. Descriptive statistics was applied for the same. Results revealed that phonemes /n, a, e, f, h, k/ were the most frequently occurring phonemesin Hindi. Aspirated phonemes (/gh/, /ʈh/, /ph/, /ɖh/) were the least present phonemes in the data. High and front vowels were more frequently present in spoken Hindi. Considering the manner of articulation, nasals and stops had higher occurrence. Alveolar dominated considering the place of articulation of phonemes. The applications of the study are extensive and can be utilized efficiently in a variety of disciplines.