Phonetic convergence in temporal organization during shadowed speech

The goal of this study was to examine phonetic convergence (when one imitates the phonetic characteristics of another talker) in various measures of temporal organization during shadowed speech across different American English dialects. Participants from the Northern and Midland American English dialect regions, plus several "mobile" talkers, were asked to read 72 sentences to establish a baseline for temporal organization, and then to repeat the same 72 sentences after Northern, Midland, and Southern model talkers. Measures of temporal organization (i.e., %V, ΔC, ΔV, rPVI-C, and nPVI-V) were calculated for the read sentences, shadowed sentences, and model talker sentences. Statistical analysis of the differences in distance between the model talker sentences and the shadowers' read and shadowed sentences, respectively, revealed significant convergence by all three shadowing groups toward the model dialects for ΔV, and significant divergence by Mobile talkers away from the model talkers for nPVI-V. Though the result of divergence by Mobile talkers was unexpected, both results provide evidence that support previous studies, which claim that social perception is a large contributing factor in convergence and divergence. These results are also consistent with previous findings demonstrating variation across dialects in temporal organization and, in addition, provide evidence for variation across dialects in convergence in temporal organization.The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research ScholarshipNo embargoAcademic Major: Linguistic

Immediate and Distracted Imitation in Second-Language Speech: Unreleased Plosives in English

The paper investigates immediate and distracted imitation in second-language speech using unreleased plosives. Unreleased plosives are fairly frequently found in English sequences of two stops. Polish, on the other hand, is characterised by a significant rate of releases in such sequences. This cross-linguistic difference served as material to look into how and to what extent non-native properties of sounds can be produced in immediate and distracted imitation. Thirteen native speakers of Polish first read and then imitated sequences of words with two stops straddling the word boundary. Stimuli for imitation had no release of the first stop. The results revealed that (1) a non-native feature such as the lack of the release burst can be imitated; (2) distracting imitation impedes imitative performance; (3) the type of a sequence interacts with the magnitude of an imitative effec

Master of Science

thesisAlthough many studies have examined acoustic and sociolinguistic differences between male and female speech, the relationship between talker speaking style and perceived gender has not yet been explored. The present study attempts to determine whether clear speech, a style adopted by talkers who perceive some barrier to effective communication, shifts perceptions of femininity for male and female talkers

The listening talker: A review of human and algorithmic context-induced modifications of speech

International audienceSpeech output technology is finding widespread application, including in scenarios where intelligibility might be compromised - at least for some listeners - by adverse conditions. Unlike most current algorithms, talkers continually adapt their speech patterns as a response to the immediate context of spoken communication, where the type of interlocutor and the environment are the dominant situational factors influencing speech production. Observations of talker behaviour can motivate the design of more robust speech output algorithms. Starting with a listener-oriented categorisation of possible goals for speech modification, this review article summarises the extensive set of behavioural findings related to human speech modification, identifies which factors appear to be beneficial, and goes on to examine previous computational attempts to improve intelligibility in noise. The review concludes by tabulating 46 speech modifications, many of which have yet to be perceptually or algorithmically evaluated. Consequently, the review provides a roadmap for future work in improving the robustness of speech output

Speech modifications in interactive speech: Effects of age, sex and noise type

When attempting to maintain conversations in noisy communicative settings, talkers typically modify their speech to make themselves understood by the listener. In this study, we investigated the impact of background interference type and talker age on speech adaptations, vocal effort and communicative success. We measured speech acoustics (articulation rate, mid-frequency energy, fundamental frequency), vocal effort (correlation between mid-frequency energy and fundamental frequency) and task completion time in 114 participants aged 8–80 years carrying out an interactive problem-solving task in good and noisy listening conditions (quiet, non-speech noise, background speech). We found greater changes in fundamental frequency and mid-frequency energy in non-speech noise than in background speech and similar reductions in articulation rate in both. However, older participants (50+ years) increased vocal effort in both background interference types, whereas younger children (less than 13 years) increased vocal effort only in background speech. The presence of background interference did not lead to longer task completion times. These results suggest that when the background interference involves a higher cognitive load, as in the case of other speech of other talkers, children and older talkers need to exert more vocal effort to ensure successful communication. We discuss these findings within the communication effort framework. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part II)’

Phonetic convergence in the speech of Polish learners of English

This dissertation examines variability in the phonetic performance of L2 users of English and concentrates on speech convergence as a result of exposure to native and non-native pronunciation. The term speech convergence refers to a process during which speakers adapt their linguistic behaviour according to who they are talking or listening to. Previous studies show that the phenomenon may take place both in a speaker’s L1 (e.g. Giles, 1973; Coupland, 1984; Gregory and Webster, 1996; Pardo, 2006; Babel; 2010) and L2 (e.g. Beebe, 1977; Berkowitz, 1986; Lewandowski, 2012; Rojczyk, 2013; Trofimovich and Kennedy, 2014). Speech convergence can be subdivided into three types of linguistic behaviour: convergence (the process of making one’s speech more similar to that of another person), divergence (the process of moving away from the speech of another person) and maintenance (the process of maintaining one’s default linguistic behaviour in spite of exposure to the speech of another person). The dissertation consists of four chapters; the first two provide theoretical background, the next two describe the study and its findings. Chapter One is concerned with previous research on speech convergence. The chapter reviews the methodology and approaches used in previous work and discusses the range of factors that may affect convergence strategies. Chapter Two provides an overview of relevant studies in the field of L2 phonetics. It describes the structure and formation of the L2 sound system and the numerous socialpsychological, linguistic and psycholinguistic variables that may influence L2 phonetic performance. Chapter Three describes the study on speech convergence in the pronunciation of Polish learners of English, i.e. the aims, hypotheses, methodology and results. In Chapter Four, the results of the study on phonetic convergence in the speech of Polish learners of English are analysed and discussed. The phenomenon of speech convergence has been explored under different names and with the use of various frameworks and methodological procedures. Some researchers refer to the process as accommodation and investigate it by analysing spontaneous conversational data (e.g. Giles, 1973; Bourhis and Giles, 1977; Coupland, 1984; Gregory and Webster, 1996). Other researches use the term imitation and examine the phenomenon in socially minimal, laboratory-based settings (e.g. Goldinger, 1998; Schokley et al., 2004; Delvaux and Soquet, 2007; Nielsen, 2011). Irrespective of terminological and methodological differences, the results of previous studies on phonetic convergence indicate that the process is conditioned by 171 a variety of linguistic (e.g. Mitterer and Ernestus, 2008; Babel, 2009; Brouwer et al., 2010; Nielsen, 2011) and social-psychological factors (Giles, 1973; Bilous i Krauss, 1988; Gregory and Webster, 1996; Pardo, 2006; Babel, 2009, Yu et al., 2013) Research on L2 acquisition and non-native pronunciation shows that the development of the L2 sound system is a complex and dynamic process. It has been argued that the productions of L2 users are generated by interlanguage (IL), an independent linguistic system that encompasses elements of the learner’s L1 and L2 but does not correspond exactly to either the NL or the TL (e.g. Selinker, 1972; 1992). Importantly, previous findings indicate that the phonetic performance of non-native speakers is influenced not only by their L1 and L2 sound systems but also by a range of various psycholinguistic (e.g. Flege, 1987; Flege et al., 2003) and social-psychological factors (e.g. Taylor et al., 1971; Zuengler, 1982; Gatbonton et al., 2011). The process of adapting one’s pronunciation as a result of exposure to another person’s speech has been detected in the productions of L2 users (e.g. Beebe, 1977; Berkowitz, 1986; Lewandowski, 2012; Rojczyk, 2013; Trofimovich and Kennedy, 2014). Similarly as in the case of L1 speech convergence, previous studies show that the magnitude of L2 speech convergence may depend upon a variety of social-psychological and linguistic variables. An interesting aspect of L2 phonetic convergence that has not yet been thoroughly explored is the comparison of pronunciation shifts upon exposure to the speech of native speakers of the TL as compared with pronunciation shifts upon exposure to the speech of other learners. The aim of the study was to address this issue by investigating and comparing L2 convergence strategies upon exposure to native and non-native pronunciation. The study concentrated on the phonetic performance of advanced Polish learners of English, who were exposed to two pronunciation varieties: Polish-accented English and native English. The participants were 38 native speakers of Polish, majoring in English Studies and recruited from the University of Lodz. The subjects listened to pre-recorded productions provided by two model talkers/interlocutors: a native speaker of Standard Southern British English and a native speaker of Polish (a qualified phonetician imitating a heavy Polish accent in English). The phonetic variables under investigation were the following: aspiration in word-initial /p t k/, pre-voicing in word-initial /b d g/, vowel duration as a cue for consonant voicing in English /æ e ɪ iː/. The experimental procedure consisted of several phases. First, the informants were instructed to identify the target words in an auditory naming task (baseline condition). Next, they were asked to listen to pre-recorded English words provided by the two 172 model talkers/interlocutors and to identify the words by saying them out loud (imitation condition). Finally, the subjects were required to read the target words for the two model talkers/interlocutors to listen to at a later time (accommodation condition). Following the production stage of the experiment, the participants completed a questionnaire whose purpose was to gauge attitudes towards native and foreign-accented English. Three hypotheses were formulated to be tested in the course of the study. Hypothesis 1 predicted that convergence strategies following exposure to native and non-native English will vary as a function of model talker/interlocutor. Hypothesis 2 predicted that convergence strategies following exposure to native and non-native English will be affected by the subjects’ attitudes towards native and Polish-accented English. Hypothesis 3 predicted that convergence strategies following exposure to native and non-native English will differ as a function of phonetic context (place of articulation and vowel category). Acoustic and statistical analysis of the data revealed that the subjects modified their linguistic behaviour following exposure to the speech of the model talkers/interlocutors, which corroborates the claim that L2 speech convergence phenomena are present in nonnative pronunciation. Hypothesis 1 was partially supported by the results of the study. It was found that speech behaviour following exposure to native and non-native English varied as a function of model talker/interlocutor in all but two instances (accommodation on pre-voicing and imitation of vowel duration). The results suggests that when using a second language, speakers may use different convergence strategies depending on the native/non-native status of the model talker or interlocutor. Hypothesis 2 was partially supported by the data. The results indicate that a strong preference for target-like pronunciation may prompt learners to converge towards native speech and diverge from foreign-accented speech. However, the factor does not seem to operate if a learner has not succeeded in mastering a given TL pronunciation feature, i.e. the impact of attitudinal factors on the magnitude of convergence in non-native pronunciation appears to be conditioned by the stage of acquisition of a given TL phonetic feature. Hypothesis 3 was not borne out the results obtained in the study. It was found that convergence strategies following exposure to native and non-native English did not vary depending on phonetic context. Overall, the findings of the study provide support for the claim that the process of speech convergence operates in L2 pronunciation and imply that certain social-psychological and psycholinguistic factors may have an impact on learners’ convergence strategies

Master of Arts

thesisOne way talkers can increase intelligibility is by producing clear speech. Though clear speech, as opposed to conversational speech (ConvS), generally increases intelligibility (known as the clear speech intelligibility benefit), not all talkers exhibit the same degree of benefit. Ferguson showed that while intelligibility increased across talkers for clear speech, when looking at individual talkers, the benefit ranged from -12.1 -33.3%. While most talkers were more intelligible during clear speech, some talkers actually became less intelligible. To explain individual differences like these, most researchers have explored acoustic, temporal, and syntactic factors. The current study probes three additional factors, ones relating to talker background: talker experience communicating with nonnative (L2) speakers, talkers' attitudes toward nonnatives, and talker experience as an L2 speaker. Twenty L2 English listeners transcribed sentences from 20 L1 English speakers as they were produced in ConvS and nonnative directed speech (NNDS; a type of clear speech). Intelligibility scores for ConvS and NNDS were compared to measure individual differences in intelligibility and to calculate the clear speech benefit for each talker. Scores were compared with the talkers' answers on a questionnaire to determine whether the variables affected the talkers' intelligibility. Results of the transcription task showed greater overall intelligibility for NNDS than ConvS; however, this was not the case for all talkers. Additionally, talkers varied widely in the benefit they provided the L2 listeners. When comparing results to the questionnaire, only talker experience as an L2 speaker was shown to affect intelligibility for L2 listeners

Do talkers produce less dispersed phoneme categories in a clear speaking style?

This study investigated whether adaptations made in clear speaking styles result in more discriminable phonetic categories than in a casual style. Multiple iterations of keywords with word-initial /s/-/ʃ/ were obtained from 40 adults in casual and clear speech via picture description. For centroids, cross-category distance increased in clear 8 speech but with no change in within-category dispersion and no effect on discriminability. However, talkers produced fewer tokens with centroids in the ambiguous region for the /s/-/ʃ/ distinction. These results suggest that, whereas interlocutor feedback regarding communicative success may promote greater segmental adaptations, it is not necessary for some adaptation to occur