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

Perception of Fa by non-native listeners in a study abroad context

The present study aims at exploring the under-investigated interface between SA and L2 phonological development by assessing the impact of a 3-month SA programme on the pronunciation of a group of 23 Catalan/Spanish learners of English (NNSs) by means of phonetic measures and perceived FA measures. 6 native speakers (NS) in an exchange programme in Spain provided baseline data for comparison purposes. The participants were recorded performing a reading aloud task before (pre-test) and immediately after (post-test) the SA. Another group of 37 proficient non-native listeners, also bilingual in Catalan/Spanish and trained in English phonetics, assessed the NNS' speech samples for degree of FA. Phonetic measures consisted of pronunciation accuracy scores computed by counting pronunciation errors (phonemic deletions, insertions and substitutions, and stress misplacement). Measures of perceived FA were obtained with two experiments. In experiment 1, the listeners heard a random presentation of the sentences produced by the NSs and by the NNSs at pre-test and post-test and rated them on a 7-point Likert scale for degree of FA (1 = “native” , 7 = “heavy foreign accent”). In experiment 2, they heard paired pre-test/post-test sentences (i.e. produced by the same NNS at pre-test and posttest) and indicated which of the two sounded more native-like. Then, they stated their judgment confidence level on a 7-point scale (1 = “unsure”, 7 = “sure”). Results indicated a slight, non-significant improvement in perceived FA after SA. However, a significant decrease was found in pronunciation accuracy scores after SA. Measures of pronunciation accuracy and FA ratings were also found to be strongly correlated. These findings are discussed in light of the often reported mixed results as regards pronunciation improvement during short-term immersion

School-aged children learning second language sounds: The Effects of different learning backgrounds on children’s second language sound production and perception learning

Earlier phonetic research on children’s second language sound learning has primarily focused on naturalistic language learning environments and the comparison of child and adult learners. The aim of this thesis was to examine how 6–13-year-old Finnish children with different learning background factors learn to perceive and produce second language sounds in instructed settings and phonetic training contexts. The background factors examined in Studies I–IV of this thesis were age, language immersion education and music-oriented education. The aim of Study I was to discover how passive auditory training affects 7–12-year-old children’s non-native sound perception. The results showed that the older participants’ (9–12 years) perceived the trained non-native sound after passive auditory training. Study II examined how studying in a language immersion program in elementary school affects 11–13-year-old children’s second language pronunciation. The findings suggest that studying in a language immersion program results in more accurate second language pronunciation when compared to nonimmersive learning. Study III investigated how music-oriented education in elementary school affects 9–11-year-old childen’s ability to learn non-native sound production through auditory training. No significant effects of music-oriented education were found. Study IV aimed to discover how listen-and-repeat training affects 6–7-year-old preschoolers’ non-native sound production. The results showed rapid changes in production after minimal amount of listen-and-repeat training. Overall, the results of Studies I–IV suggested that age of learning has the strongest effect on school-aged children’s second language sound learning.Kouluikäiset lapset oppimassa vieraan kielen äänteitä: Erilaisten oppimistaustojen vaikutus lasten vieraan kielen äänteiden tuoton ja havaitsemisen oppimiseen Aiemmat lasten vieraan kielen äänteiden oppimista selvittävät foneettiset tutkimukset ovat pitkälti keskittyneet luonnollisiin kielenoppimisympäristöihin sekä lapsi- ja aikuisoppijoiden vertailuun. Tämän tutkielman tavoite oli selvittää, kuinka erilaiset oppimisen taustatekijät vaikuttavat 6–13-vuotiaiden suomenkielisten lasten vieraan kielen äänteiden havaitsemisen ja tuoton oppimiseen. Tarkasteltavat taustatekijät olivat ikä ja kieli- tai musiikkiluokalla opiskelu. Tutkimus koostui neljästä osatutkimuksesta. Tutkimuksessa I selvitettiin passiivisen auditorisen treenin vaikutuksia 7–12-vuotiaiden lasten vieraan kielen äänteen havaitsemiseen. Tulokset osoittivat, että vanhemmat (9–12 vuotta) osallistujat havaitsivat treenatun vieraan kielen äänteen passiivisen kuuntelun jälkeen. Tutkimuksessa II tarkasteltiin peruskoulun kieliluokalla opiskelun vaikutuksia 11–13-vuotiaiden lasten vieraan kielen ääntämiseen. Tulokset viittasivat, että kieliluokalla opiskelu johtaa parempaan ääntämistarkkuuteen kuin perinteinen luokkahuoneoppiminen. Tutkimuksen III tavoite puolestaan oli selvittää, vaikuttaako musiikkiluokalla opiskelu 9–11-vuotiaiden lasten kykyyn oppia tuottamaan vieraan kielen äännekontrasti auditorisen treenin avulla. Musiikkiluokalla opiskeluun liittyviä merkitseviä eroja tuoton oppimisessa ei löydetty. Tutkimuksessa IV selvitettiin, kuinka kuuntele-ja-toista treeni vaikuttaa 6–7-vuotiaiden esikoululaisten vieraan kielen äännekontrastin tuottoon. Tulokset osoittivat, että esikoululaiset muuttivat tuottoaan nopeasti vähäisen harjoittelun jälkeen. Kokonaisuudessaan tutkimuksen tulokset antoivat viitteitä siitä, että oppimisikä vaikuttaa kouluikäisten lasten vieraan kielen äänteiden oppimiseen voimakkaammin kuin muut tarkastellut taustatekijät

Comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar native accents under adverse listening conditions

This study aimed to determine the relative processing cost associated with comprehension of an unfamiliar native accent under adverse listening conditions. Two sentence verification experiments were conducted in which listeners heard sentences at various signal-to-noise ratios. In Experiment 1, these sentences were spoken in a familiar or an unfamiliar native accent or in two familiar native accents. In Experiment 2, they were spoken in a familiar or unfamiliar native accent or in a nonnative accent. The results indicated that the differences between the native accents influenced the speed of language processing under adverse listening conditions and that this processing speed was modulated by the relative familiarity of the listener with the native accent. Furthermore, the results showed that the processing cost associated with the nonnative accent was larger than for the unfamiliar native accent

Motoric training alters speech sound perception and production – active listening does not lead into learning outcomes

Accurate speech-sound perception and production are prerequisites for communication in a non-native language. Earlier research has shown that new categorization and pronunciation patterns evolve in different learning settings and that these skills can be trained with various methods. We tested the effects of two types of training protocols on the production and identification of L2 vowels embedded in a pseudo-word context. Group 1 (Producers) participated in a listen and repeat training, where they produced the target stimulus /tᵾ:ti/ and the non-target stimulus /ty:ti/ after the example in a pseudo-randomized order; Group 2 (Listeners) was instructed to count the number of targets /tᵾ:ti/ in the same stimulus train without any motoric production movements. The results showed clearly that listen and repeat training led to plastic changes both in production and in identification, while no learning effects were obtained with the listening paradigm. This suggests a significant role of motoric experience in the acquisition of speech.Peer reviewe

Difficult features of English segmental pronunciation for Finns and related exercises in the third grade workbooks

Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää, mitä niistä englannin segmentaalisen ääntämisen piirteistä, jotka ovat vaikeita suomenkielisille oppilaille, sekä ovat tärkeitä ymmärrettävyyden kannalta, on otettu huomioon kolmannen luokan työkirjojen tehtävissä. Segmentaalisen ääntämisen lisäksi on huomioitu sananpaino sekä englannin ja suomen puhuttujen ja kirjoitettujen muotojen eroista johtuvat vaikeudet. Tutkimusaineistona ovat vuosina 2001–2009 julkaistut kolmannen luokan oppikirjasarjojen työkirjat ja niissä tehtävät, jotka on suunniteltu äänteiden ja sananpainon harjoitteluun. Myös kirjasarjoihin kuuluvia opettajan oppaita on käytetty materiaalina. Metodina on todettujen ongelmallisten ja ääntämisen ymmärrettävyyden kannalta tärkeiden piirteiden ja kerätyn aineiston määrällinen vertailu. Tutkimus osoittaa, että segmentaalisista ongelmallisista piirteistä eniten huomiota on kiinnitetty englannin obstruenttien fortis/lenis oppositioon, mutta ainoastaan sanan alussa. Kuitenkin myös sananloppuinen oppositio aiheuttaa ongelmia ymmärtämiseen ja tähän tulisi kiinnittää enemmän huomiota. Äänteen oikeaan muodostamiseen ja sen kuulemiseen kiinnitettiin toiseksi eniten huomita, mutta vain kaksi kuudesta oppikirjasta sisälsi harjoituksia siihen liittyen. Englannin kielen foneettinen kirjoitus on mukana oppikirjoissa opetuksen alusta lähtien, mutta sen käyttöä ja merkitystä ei selitetä oppilaille, vaikka se on täysin uusi asia suomenkielisille oppilaille. Allofonisiin eroihin kiinnitettiin hyvin huomiota. Vokaalien osalta huomioitavaa on, että pitkää vokaaliäännettä verrattiin tehtävissä suomalaiseen pitkään vokaaliin, vaikka vokaalin pituus ei englannin kielessä ole sanoja erottava piirre samalla lailla kuin suomen kielessä. Vokaalin pituus ei kuitenkaan ole merkityksetön englannin kielessäkään ja liittyen esimerkiksi fortis/lenis oppositioon, se vaikuttaa puheen ymmärrettävyyteen. Enemmän huomiota pitäisi kiinnittää siihen, miten englannin vokaalin pituuseroa opetetaan. Sananpainon opettamiseen ei tutkitussa materiaalissa kiinnitetty ollenkaan huomiota, vaikka se on ongelmallinen suomenkielisille oppilaille ja vaikuttaa ymmärrettävyyteen.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Epenthetic vowels in Japanese: A perceptual illusion?

In four cross-linguistic experiments comparing French and Japanese hearers, we found that the phonotactic properties of Japanese (very reduced set of syllable types) induce Japanese listeners to perceive ``illusory'' vowels inside consonant clusters in VCCV stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 2, we used a continuum of stimuli ranging from no vowel (e.g. ebzo) to a full vowel between the consonants (e.g. ebuzo). Japanese, but not French participants, reported the presence of a vowel [u] between consonants, even in stimuli with no vowel. A speeded ABX discrimination paradigm was used in Experiments 3 and 4, and revealed that Japanese participants had trouble discriminating between VCCV and VCuCV stimuli. French participants, in contrast had problems discriminating items that differ in vowel length (ebuzo vs. ebuuzo), a distinctive contrast in Japanese but not in French. We conclude that models of speech perception have to be revised to account for phonotactically-based assimilations

Reverse production effect: Children recognize novel words better when they are heard rather than produced

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Tania S. Zamuner, Stephanie Strahm, Elizabeth Morin-Lessard, and Michael P. A. Page, 'Reverse production effect: children recognize novel words better when they are heard rather than produced', Developmental Science, which has been published in final form at DOI 10.1111/desc.12636. Under embargo until 15 November 2018. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.This research investigates the effect of production on 4.5- to 6-year-old children’s recognition of newly learned words. In Experiment 1, children were taught four novel words in a produced or heard training condition during a brief training phase. In Experiment 2, children were taught eight novel words, and this time training condition was in a blocked design. Immediately after training, children were tested on their recognition of the trained novel words using a preferential looking paradigm. In both experiments, children recognized novel words that were produced and heard during training, but demonstrated better recognition for items that were heard. These findings are opposite to previous results reported in the literature with adults and children. Our results show that benefits of speech production for word learning are dependent on factors such as task complexity and the developmental stage of the learner.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio