Contributions of the high-RMS-level segments to the intelligibility of mandarin sentences

Recent evidence suggests that segments carrying more spectral changes [e.g., consonant-vowel boundaries in the middle root-mean-square (RMS) level segments] are important to predict the intelligibility of English sentences. Nevertheless, considering the difference between Mandarin and English languages, it is hypothesized that the high-RMS-level segments might provide more perceptual information to the intelligibility of Mandarin speech. Two studies were conducted in this paper to assess the relative contributions of the high-RMS-level segments to the intelligibility of Mandarin sentences, i.e., speech perception and intelligibility prediction. Results show that 1) Mandarin sentences containing the high-RMS-level (i.e., above the overall RMS level of the whole utterance) segments are more intelligible (i.e., recognition rate up to 91%) than those with the middle-RMS-level segments; and 2) the high-RMS-level segments, which carry more vowel and tonal information, contribute more in predicting the intelligibility of Mandarin sentences in noise.published_or_final_versio

Assessing the perceptual contributions of vowels and consonants to Mandarin sentence intelligibility

published_or_final_versio

Basic Dimensions of Early Reading Skills of Elementary School Students in Bandung

This study is motivated by the need for a descriptive and analytical research related to the basic dimensions of early reading skills of elementary school students to determine the level of students’ reading skills, including their difficulties in learning to read. This study aims to get a picture of the early reading skills of elementary school students in Bandung. The results of this study can be used as a guide for education practitioners, policy makers, and related institutions. Through a descriptive and analytical method, the findings are (1) 98percent of students are able to identify letters in words, to analyze words, to identify the direction of letters, and to arrange letters into words. (2) 96percent of students are able to strip words into syllables, to sort syllables in words, to identify words with the same forms, to identify words with the same meanings, to replace words with logical words, to insert words in incomplete sentences, and to identify abstract words. (3) The students seem to have difficulties in identifying similar consonant sounds, in identifying similarities in vowel and schwa sounds, in identifying sounds that are similar in sentences, and in identifying reversed sounds. Only 57percent of students do not encounter obstacles. (4) 90percent of students are capable of making sentences from random words, making sentences from words that are not sequential, correcting sentences that have wrong words, identifying simple sentences in paragraphs, and understanding simple sentences. (5) 70percent of students have the ability to understand shapes, sizes, locations, and colors. This study has implications for the need for an integrated remedial program that can be used by both teachers and parents, especially for students who have difficulties with sound identification abilities

Relative contributions of consonants and vowels to Mandarin sentence intelligibility

This study investigated the relative contributions of consonants and vowels to Mandarin sentence intelligibility using a noise replacement paradigm. In Experiment 1, 20 young normal-hearing native Mandarin listeners recognized Mandarin sentences with various amounts of segmental information preserved. Results showed that the vowel-only sentences (consonants replaced by noise) yielded a remarkable 3:1 intelligibility advantage over the consonant-only sentences (vowels replaced by noise). This ratio was larger than that found in English, suggesting that vowels contribute more to sentence intelligibility in Mandarin than in English. Intelligibility increased significantly when a little portion at vowel onsets was added to the consonant-only sentences. However, intelligibility of the vowel-only sentences was still maintained high when the same portion of vowel onsets and an equal amount of vowel offsets were replaced by noise, suggesting that vowel onsets contain redundant information to vowel centers for Mandarin sentence recognition. In Experiment 2, the same listeners discriminated tones of vowels with various durations preserved at either onsets or centers. Results were compared with the findings in Experiment 1, and suggested that lexical tones are relatively redundant for Mandarin sentence intelligibility in quiet.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Cross-Situational Statistical Learning of Phonologically Overlapping Words

Abstract Recent research has sought to examine how learners are able to track the co-occurrence of words and objects across moments in time, a behavior commonly termed crosssituational statistical learning. The current experiment was designed to examine if learners can simultaneously determine word-referent pairings while engaging in other cognitive processes that support language learning, such as distinguishing phonologically overlapping words. Participants were presented with a cross-situational statistical learning task with pairs of words in four categories: non-minimal pairs, near minimal pairs, vowel minimal pairs, and consonant minimal pairs. The results revealed that participants were able to simultaneously learn word-referent pairings while distinguishing all four categories of word pairings. However, learners experienced the most difficulty learning vowel minimal pairs. This work demonstrates that learners are able to simultaneously engage in multiple cognitive processes that support language learning

Relative contributions of vowels and consonants in recognizing isolated Mandarin words

This study investigated the relative contributions of vowels and consonants in recognizing isolated Mandarin words. Nineteen normal-hearing native speakers of Mandarin were recruited and were asked to recognize isolated Mandarin words with different proportions of consonant or vowel segment preserved. The accuracy in recognizing the isolated Mandarin words, phonemes, and tones were scored. It is found that there is a greater contribution of vowels than consonants to isolated word recognition in Mandarin, which is different from previous outcomes in English. Possible reasons for this language difference in isolated word recognition were discussed. Contribution of consonant-vowel transitional boundary to isolated word recognition in Mandarin was also examined. It is found that the word recognition performance improves with increased amount of consonant-vowel boundary information presented.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

The development of phonological memory and fast mapping in preschool children

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-28)."A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, June 30, 2009."published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants: A systematic review

postprin

The Contribution Of Consonants Versus Vowels To Word Recognition In Fluent Speech

Three perceptual experiments were conducted to test the relative importance of vowels vs. consonants to recognition of fluent speech. Sentences were selected from the TIMIT corpus to obtain approximately equal numbers of vowels and consonants within each sentence and equal durations across the set of sentences. In experiments 1 and 2, subjects listened to (a) unaltered TIMIT sentences; (b) sentences in which all of the vowels were replaced by noise; or (c) sentences in which all of the consonants were replaced by noise. The subjects listened to each sentence five times, and attempted to transcribe what they heard. The results of these experiments show that recognition of words depends more upon vowels than consonants---about twice as many words are recognized when vowels are retained in the speech. The effect was observed when occurrences of [l], [r], [w], [y] [m], [n], were included in the sentences (experiment 1) or replaced by noise (experiment 2). Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis..