Articulation rate in Swedish child-directed speech increases as a function of the age of the child even when surprisal is controlled for

In earlier work, we have shown that articulation rate in Swedish child-directed speech (CDS) increases as a function of the age of the child, even when utterance length and differences in articulation rate between subjects are controlled for. In this paper we show on utterance level in spontaneous Swedish speech that i) for the youngest children, articulation rate in CDS is lower than in adult-directed speech (ADS), ii) there is a significant negative correlation between articulation rate and surprisal (the negative log probability) in ADS, and iii) the increase in articulation rate in Swedish CDS as a function of the age of the child holds, even when surprisal along with utterance length and differences in articulation rate between speakers are controlled for. These results indicate that adults adjust their articulation rate to make it fit the linguistic capacity of the child.Comment: 5 pages, Interspeech 201

Language specificity of infant-directed speech: speaking rate and word position in word-learning contexts

Previous research indicates that infant-directed speech (IDS) is usually slower than adult-directed speech (ADS) and mothers prefer placing a focused word in isolation or utterance-final position in (English) IDS, which may benefit word learning. This study investigated the speaking rate and word position of IDS in two typologically-distinct languages: Dutch and Mandarin Chinese. We used a storybook-telling task to elicit semi-spontaneous ADS and IDS. The storybook contained target words that were familiar or unfamiliar to children. For each language, we asked: (1) whether IDS was slower than ADS; (2) whether mothers slowed down to highlight unfamiliar words; (3) whether the speaking rate of IDS changed between 18 and 24 months; and (4) whether mothers preferred placing unfamiliar words in isolation or utterance-final position in IDS. Results suggest that Dutch IDS, but not Mandarin Chinese IDS, was slower than ADS. Also, only Dutch mothers slowed down specifically when introducing unfamiliar words in IDS. In both languages, mothers placed target words in isolation (but not in utterance-final position) more frequently in IDS. These results suggest that the temporal modifications in IDS may vary across languages. Thus, language-specificity of IDS and its implications for language acquisition should be considered in future research.Theoretical and Experimental Linguistic

Language specificity of infant-directed speech: speaking rate and word position in word-learning contexts

Previous research indicates that infant-directed speech (IDS) is usually slower than adult-directed speech (ADS) and mothers prefer placing a focused word in isolation or utterance-final position in (English) IDS, which may benefit word learning. This study investigated the speaking rate and word position of IDS in two typologically-distinct languages: Dutch and Mandarin Chinese. We used a storybook-telling task to elicit semi-spontaneous ADS and IDS. The storybook contained target words that were familiar or unfamiliar to children. For each language, we asked: (1) whether IDS was slower than ADS; (2) whether mothers slowed down to highlight unfamiliar words; (3) whether the speaking rate of IDS changed between 18 and 24 months; and (4) whether mothers preferred placing unfamiliar words in isolation or utterance-final position in IDS. Results suggest that Dutch IDS, but not Mandarin Chinese IDS, was slower than ADS.Also, only Dutch mothers slowed down specifically when introducing unfamiliar words in IDS. In both languages, mothers placed target words in isolation (but not in utterance-final position) more frequently in IDS. These results suggest that the temporal modifications in IDS may vary across languages. Thus, language-specificity of IDS and its implications for language acquisition should be considered in future research.Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

A spanyol artikulációs tempó a nyelvoktatás vonatkozásában

Jelen kutatás tárgya a spanyol nyelven folytatott (fél)spontán beszéd artikulációs tempója. Egyfelől négy spanyol anyanyelvi dialektus (észak-spanyolországi, dél-spanyolországi, mexikói, argentínai-uruguayi) átlagos tempóértékét vizsgáljuk, másfelől pedig B2-es KER szintű magyar ajkú nyelvtanulók artikulációs tempóját hasonlítjuk össze a négy spanyol nyelvjárás átlagos artikulációs tempójával. Kutatásunk alapját a következő hipotézisek képezik: (i) (fél)spontán beszédkor az európai spanyol dialektusok átlagos artikulációs tempója magasabb, mint az amerikai dialektusoké; (ii) az általunk vizsgált B2-es KER szintű magyar nyelvtanulók artikulációs tempója alacsonyabb, mint az általunk vizsgált bármely spanyol nyelvjárás átlagos tempóértéke. Dolgozatunkban az elméleti háttér után a vizsgálatunkban résztvevő adatközlőket mutatjuk be, majd az elemzésünk során használt módszertant is részletezzük. Az artikulációs tempó megállapításához (fél)spontán beszédként meghatározható interjúkat elemeztünk: a hangfelvételeket szegmentáltuk és annotáltuk a Praat nevű fonetikai-akusztikai programban. Eredményeink az első hipotézisünket nem támasztották alá, ugyanis (i) leggyorsabbnak a mexikói, a leglassabbnak pedig az észak-spanyolországi nyelvjárás bizonyult; a második feltételezésünk azonban alátámasztást nyert, mivel (ii) az általunk vizsgált egyik B2-es KER szintű magyar anyanyelvű nyelvtanuló sem érte el bármely elemzett spanyol dialektus átlagos értékét

One Model to Rule them all: Multitask and Multilingual Modelling for Lexical Analysis

When learning a new skill, you take advantage of your preexisting skills and knowledge. For instance, if you are a skilled violinist, you will likely have an easier time learning to play cello. Similarly, when learning a new language you take advantage of the languages you already speak. For instance, if your native language is Norwegian and you decide to learn Dutch, the lexical overlap between these two languages will likely benefit your rate of language acquisition. This thesis deals with the intersection of learning multiple tasks and learning multiple languages in the context of Natural Language Processing (NLP), which can be defined as the study of computational processing of human language. Although these two types of learning may seem different on the surface, we will see that they share many similarities. The traditional approach in NLP is to consider a single task for a single language at a time. However, recent advances allow for broadening this approach, by considering data for multiple tasks and languages simultaneously. This is an important approach to explore further as the key to improving the reliability of NLP, especially for low-resource languages, is to take advantage of all relevant data whenever possible. In doing so, the hope is that in the long term, low-resource languages can benefit from the advances made in NLP which are currently to a large extent reserved for high-resource languages. This, in turn, may then have positive consequences for, e.g., language preservation, as speakers of minority languages will have a lower degree of pressure to using high-resource languages. In the short term, answering the specific research questions posed should be of use to NLP researchers working towards the same goal.Comment: PhD thesis, University of Groninge