Gradient phonological inconsistency affects vocabulary learning.

Abstract

Learners frequently experience phonologically inconsistent input, such as exposure to multiple accents. Yet, little is known about the consequences of phonological inconsistency for language learning. The current study examines vocabulary acquisition with different degrees of phonological inconsistency, ranging from no inconsistency (e.g., both talkers call a picture /vig/) to mild but detectable inconsistency (e.g., one talker calls a picture a /vig/, and the other calls it a /vIg/), up to extreme inconsistency (e.g., the same picture is both a /vig/ and a /dIdʒ/). Previous studies suggest that learners readily extract consistent phonological patterns, given variable input. However, in Experiment 1, adults acquired phonologically inconsistent vocabularies more slowly than phonologically consistent ones. Experiment 2 examined whether word-form inconsistency alone, without phonological competition, was a source of learning difficulty. Even without phonological competition, listeners learned faster in 1 accent than in 2 accents, but they also learned faster in 2 accents (/vig/ = /vIg/) than with completely different labels (/vig/ = /dIdʒ/). Overall, results suggest that learners exposed to multiple accents may experience difficulty learning when 2 forms mismatch by more than 1 phonological feature, plus increased phonological competition due to a greater number of word forms. Implications for learning from variable input are discussed.

Mandarin-English Bilinguals Process Lexical Tones in Newly Learned Words in Accordance with the Language Context

“…The advantages we saw for tone (and vowel) use among Mandarin-dominant bilinguals in the first experiment could indicate either overall greater attention to tone (or even that bilinguals are simply better learners [51]; though see [52] for a different perspective), or it could indicate greater encoding of words with tone information specifically in a Mandarin-like context . The second experiment differentiated these explanations by teaching tone-bearing English-like words, that is, an American-English-accented talker producing strongly phonologically English-biased words that nonetheless had Mandarin tonal patterns.…”

Spot It and Learn It! Word Learning in Virtual Peer‐Group Interactions Using a Novel Paradigm for School‐Aged Children

“…Future studies could apply our design and increase the number of target words in order to assess performance in each accent. In addition, the inclusion of words produced by all speakers would allow researchers to address the encoding of a new word when it is perceived in different accents (as in Muench & Creel, 2013, with adult learners).…”

“…The use of existing words provides valuable insights into the nature of ecologically valid learning contexts, because it is easier to use natural regional and foreign accents that exhibit existing variation reflected in typical intonation contours, syllable structure, and segmental properties. Compared to artificial minimal word pairs, which are sometimes used to explore word learning from different "accents" (Muench & Creel, 2013), natural accents in existing words can serve as a better predictor of behavior in real-world contexts (Hayakawa, Ning, & Marian, 2020).…”

Impacts ofacoustic‐phoneticvariability on perceptual development for spoken language: A review

“…Creel and colleagues have found that 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children (Creel, 2014b; Frye & Creel, under review) have more difficulty learning novel words when they are pronounced with segment variability (e.g., an object is called both “beesh” and “peesh”) versus segment consistency (an object is always called “beesh”). This effect is gradient, with greater difficulty (lower pointing accuracy) when two labels for an object are phonologically dissimilar (an object is called “dedge” and “vush”; see Muench & Creel, 2013, for similar findings with adults).…”