Auditory-Motor Rhythms and Speech Processing in French and German Listeners

Abstract

Moving to a speech rhythm can enhance verbal processing in the listener by increasing temporal expectancies (Falk and Dalla Bella, 2016). Here we tested whether this hypothesis holds for prosodically diverse languages such as German (a lexical stress-language) and French (a non-stress language). Moreover, we examined the relation between motor performance and the benefits for verbal processing as a function of language. Sixty-four participants, 32 German and 32 French native speakers detected subtle word changes in accented positions in metrically structured sentences to which they previously tapped with their index finger. Before each sentence, they were cued by a metronome to tap either congruently (i.e., to accented syllables) or incongruently (i.e., to non-accented parts) to the following speech stimulus. Both French and German speakers detected words better when cued to tap congruently compared to incongruent tapping. Detection performance was predicted by participants' motor performance in the non-verbal cueing phase. Moreover, tapping rate while participants tapped to speech predicted detection differently for the two language groups, in particular in the incongruent tapping condition. We discuss our findings in light of the rhythmic differences of both languages and with respect to recent theories of expectancy-driven and multisensory speech processing.

Rhythm in speech and animal vocalizations: a cross‐species perspective

“…Accurate prediction of the next verbal event (a stressed syllable) affords a certain degree of motor synchronization to the prominent stress pattern in speech, as observed in recent finger tapping studies . Interestingly, concurrent synchronized movement can enhance verbal expectations, as found in prosodically diverse languages, such as German (a lexical stress language) and French (a non‐stress language) . For example, finger tapping aligned to accented syllables of spoken utterances benefits the encoding and detection of subtle word changes .…”

“…85,99,100 Interestingly, concurrent synchronized movement can enhance verbal expectations, as found in prosodically diverse languages, such as German (a lexical stress language) and French (a non-stress language). 99,101 For example, finger tapping aligned to accented syllables of spoken utterances benefits the encoding and detection of subtle word changes. 99,101 Thus, coupling movement to the temporal dynamics of metrical speech can enhance verbal processing and memorization.…”

“…99,101 For example, finger tapping aligned to accented syllables of spoken utterances benefits the encoding and detection of subtle word changes. 99,101 Thus, coupling movement to the temporal dynamics of metrical speech can enhance verbal processing and memorization. This effect is reminiscent of more ecological situations in which hand clapping or stamping to metrical speech (e.g., children's lore) 102 is part of games that may enhance children's social and verbal skills.…”

Evolution of speech rhythm: a cross-species perspective

“…Accurate prediction of the next verbal event (a stressed syllable) affords a certain degree of motor synchronization to the prominent stress pattern in speech, as observed in recent finger tapping studies 111,124,125 . Interestingly, verbal expectancies can be enhanced by concurrent synchronized movement, as found in prosodically diverse languages such as German (a lexical stress-language) and French (a non-stress language) 124,126 . For example, finger tapping aligned to accented syllables of spoken utterances benefits the encoding and detection of subtle word changes 124,126 .…”

“…Interestingly, verbal expectancies can be enhanced by concurrent synchronized movement, as found in prosodically diverse languages such as German (a lexical stress-language) and French (a non-stress language) 124,126 . For example, finger tapping aligned to accented syllables of spoken utterances benefits the encoding and detection of subtle word changes 124,126 . Thus, coupling movement to the temporal dynamics of metrical speech can enhance verbal processing and memorization.…”