The effects of individual differences in native perception on discrimination of a novel non-native contrast

Native (L1) phonetic categories can constrain the perception of non-native contrasts which deviate from the listener’s L1 (Best & Tyler, 2007; Flege, 1995). Yet, some individuals are remarkably successful at accurately perceiving non-native sounds (e.g., Bongaerts, van Summeren, Planken, & Schils, 1997). We hypothesize that compact L1 categories give an initial advantage in distinguishing non-native contrasts. Sixty-eight Spanish monolinguals were tested on the degree of compactness of their native category /i/, measured through a goodness-of-fit rating task. Participants listened to synthesized variants of the Spanish /i/ vowel (differing in F1, F2, or both) and rated them as either good or bad exemplars of their representation of this category. An individual /i/ compactness index was calculated for each participant and related to the individual perceived dissimilarity score for the novel Russian contrast /i – ɨ/. The Russian contrast /i – ɨ/ is a problematic contrast to perceive for Spanish speakers due to the absence of /ɨ/ in the Spanish vowel inventory, a sound acoustically very similar to /i/. In this study, the compactness of the L1 category /i/ weakly predicted perceptual sensitivity (dissimilarity scores) for the Russian contrast /i – ɨ/

Introduction to discrete functional analysis techniques for the numerical study of diffusion equations with irregular data

We give an introduction to discrete functional analysis techniques for stationary and transient diffusion equations. We show how these techniques are used to establish the convergence of various numerical schemes without assuming non-physical regularity on the data. For simplicity of exposure, we mostly consider linear elliptic equations, and we briefly explain how these techniques can be adapted and extended to non-linear time-dependent meaningful models (Navier--Stokes equations, flows in porous media, etc.). These convergence techniques rely on discrete Sobolev norms and the translation to the discrete setting of functional analysis results

Some aspects of RANS based jet noise prediction

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Prediction of cattle density and location at the frontier of Brazil and Paraguay using remote sensing

In this paper, we explore the potential of remote sensing to map pastures areas and by this way establish models for predicting cattle density and location. First, an object based classification (OB) was made in Landsat 5 images for three different municipalities to provide a land-cover map. Second, on the basis of Brazilian official livestock database, a statistical model to predict number of cattle in function of declared pasture area by the farmers was produced. Finally, this model was applied to the pasture areas detected by remote sensing to predict cattle density. Coefficient of determination of the model was 0.63. The results indicate that the methodology used for estimating cattle density has a potential to be applied in regions where no information about farm location and cattle density exists. (Résumé d'auteur

Imitating speech in an unfamiliar language and an unfamiliar non-native accent in the native language

This study concerns individual differences in speech imitation ability and the role that lexical representations play in imitation. We examined 1) whether imitation of sounds in an unfamiliar language (L0) is related to imitation of sounds in an unfamiliar non-native accent in the speaker’s native language (L1) and 2) whether it is easier or harder to imitate speech when you know the words to be imitated. Fifty-nine native Dutch speakers imitated words with target vowels in Basque (/a/ and /e/) and Greekaccented Dutch (/i/ and /u/). Spectral and durational analyses of the target vowels revealed no relationship between the success of L0 and L1 imitation and no difference in performance between tasks (i.e., L1 imitation was neither aided nor blocked by lexical knowledge about the correct pronunciation). The results suggest instead that the relationship of the vowels to native phonological categories plays a bigger role in imitatio

Color-singlet relativistic correction to inclusive J/ψJ/\psi production associated with light hadrons at BB factories

We study the first-order relativistic correction to the associated production of $J/\psi$ with light hadrons at $B$ factory experiments at $\sqrt{s}=10.58$ GeV, in the context of NRQCD factorization. We employ a strategy for NRQCD expansion that slightly deviates from the orthodox doctrine, in that the matching coefficients are not truly of ``short-distance" nature, but explicitly depend upon physical kinematic variables rather than partonic ones. Our matching method, with validity guaranteed by the Gremm-Kapustin relation, is particularly suited for the inclusive quarkonium production and decay processes with involved kinematics, exemplified by the process $e^+e^-\to J/\psi+gg$ considered in this work. Despite some intrinsic ambiguity affiliated with the order-$v^2$ NRQCD matrix element, if we choose its value as what has been extracted from a recent Cornell-potential-model-based analysis, including the relative order-$v^2$ effect is found to increase the lowest-order prediction for the integrated $J/\psi$ cross section by about 30\%, and exert a modest impact on $J/\psi$ energy, angular and polarization distributions except near the very upper end of the $J/\psi$ energy. The order-$v^2$ contribution to the energy spectrum becomes logarithmically divergent at the maximum of $J/\psi$ energy. A consistent analysis may require that these large end-point logarithms be resummed to all orders in $\alpha_s$.Comment: v2; 41 pages, 5 figures; references added, Section VI and Appendix B expande

The Effect of Bilingual Proficiency in Indian English on Bilabial Plosive

Background: Bilingual speech production studies have highlighted that level of proficiency influences the acoustic-phonetic representation of phonemes in both languages (MacKay, Flege, Piske, & Schirru 2001; Zárate-Sández, 2015). The results for bilingual speech production reveal that proficient/early bilinguals produce distinct acoustic properties for the same phoneme in each language, whereas less proficient/late bilinguals produce acoustic properties for a phoneme that is closer to the native language (Flege et al., 2003; Fowler et al., 2008). Acoustic-phonetic studies for Hindi (L1) and Indian English (L2) for bilingual speakers have been understudied, and the level of proficiency has not been considered in Hindi and Indian English bilingual speakers. The present study aimed to measure the acoustic differences produced by bilingual speakers of varying proficiencies for Indian English on bilabial plosive and determine how the bilabial plosives are different from American English bilabial plosives. Methods: The sample size for this study was twenty-four. However, only twenty participants (eleven females) between the ages of eighteen and fifty, with normal speech and hearing, were recruited. The lack of recruitment of four more participants was due to the inability to find bilingual speakers who spoke Hindi as their first language and Indian English as their second language and COVID-19 restrictions imposed on recruitment (n=4). The participants were divided into three groups based on language and proficiency: a monolingual American English group, a proficient bilingual Hindi-Indian English group, and a less-proficient bilingual Hindi-Indian English group. The bilinguals were divided into a proficient and less proficient group based on the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (Marian, Blumenfeld, & Kaushanskaya, 2007). Following the screening, participants took part in a Nonword Repetition Task. Data were analyzed using Praat and Voice Sauce software. A linear mixed-effects model using R statistics was used for the statistical analysis. Results: Data from 20 participants (seven proficient bilingual speakers, five less-proficient bilingual speakers, and eight monolingual speakers) were included in the data analysis. Approximately four thousand repetitions were evaluated across the remaining participants. There were no significant main effects across the four dependent variables, but there was an interaction effect between group and phoneme on two dependent variables. The closure duration for proficient bilingual speakers compared to less-proficient bilingual speakers were significantly different between the voiceless unaspirated bilabial plosive (VLE) and voiceless aspirated bilabial plosive (VLH), as well as voiced unaspirated bilabial plosive (VE) and voiced aspirated bilabial plosive (VH). For spectral tilt, there was a significant difference between the VLE and VLH for proficient bilingual speakers compared to less proficient bilingual speakers. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that proficient bilingual speakers have a faster rate of speech in both their first language and second language. Therefore, it is difficult to provide information on whether this group has separate acoustic-phonetic characteristics for each phoneme for each language. In contrast, the less-proficient bilingual speakers seem to have a unidirectional relationship (i.e., first language influences the second language). Furthermore, the results of the acoustic characteristics for the control group i.e., monolingual American English speakers suggest that they may have acoustic-phonetic characteristics that represent a single acoustic-phonetic representation of bilabial plosive with their voicing contrast

The effect of phonetic production training with visual feedback on the perception and production of foreign speech sounds

Second-language learners often experience major difficulties in producing non-native speech sounds. This paper introduces a training method that uses a real-time analysis of the acoustic properties of vowels produced by non-native speakers to provide them with immediate, trial-by-trial visual feedback about their articulation alongside that of the same vowels produced by native speakers. The Mahalanobis acoustic distance between non-native productions and target native acoustic spaces was used to assess L2 production accuracy. The experiment shows that 1 h of training per vowel improves the production of four non-native Danish vowels: the learners' productions were closer to the corresponding Danish target vowels after training. The production performance of a control group remained unchanged. Comparisons of pre- and post-training vowel discrimination performance in the experimental group showed improvements in perception. Correlational analyses of training-related changes in production and perception revealed no relationship. These results suggest, first, that this training method is effective in improving non-native vowel production. Second, training purely on production improves perception. Finally, it appears that improvements in production and perception do not systematically progress at equal rates within individuals