The What and When of Universal Perception: A Review of Early Speech Sound Acquisition

Chládková, Kateřina; Paillereau, Nikola

doi:10.1111/lang.12422

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 128 publications

(189 reference statements)

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“…An alternative hypothesis has been argued to be fully compatible with the empirical record (e.g. 27,28), according to which the observation of 'universal' phonetic discrimination abilities in newborns would correspond to an initial mode of perception of a purely auditory nature, in the absence of any mapping to phonetic space.…”

Section: Input Idealization In Computational Modeling Of Early Phonetmentioning

confidence: 84%

Early phonetic learning without phonetic categories: Insights from large-scale simulations on realistic input

Schatz

Feldman

Goldwater

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

156

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Before they even speak, infants become attuned to the sounds of the language(s) they hear, processing native phonetic contrasts more easily than nonnative ones. For example, between 6 to 8 mo and 10 to 12 mo, infants learning American English get better at distinguishing English and [l], as in “rock” vs. “lock,” relative to infants learning Japanese. Influential accounts of this early phonetic learning phenomenon initially proposed that infants group sounds into native vowel- and consonant-like phonetic categories—like and [l] in English—through a statistical clustering mechanism dubbed “distributional learning.” The feasibility of this mechanism for learning phonetic categories has been challenged, however. Here, we demonstrate that a distributional learning algorithm operating on naturalistic speech can predict early phonetic learning, as observed in Japanese and American English infants, suggesting that infants might learn through distributional learning after all. We further show, however, that, contrary to the original distributional learning proposal, our model learns units too brief and too fine-grained acoustically to correspond to phonetic categories. This challenges the influential idea that what infants learn are phonetic categories. More broadly, our work introduces a mechanism-driven approach to the study of early phonetic learning, together with a quantitative modeling framework that can handle realistic input. This allows accounts of early phonetic learning to be linked to concrete, systematic predictions regarding infants’ attunement.

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Section: Input Idealization In Computational Modeling Of Early Phonetmentioning

confidence: 84%

Early phonetic learning without phonetic categories: Insights from large-scale simulations on realistic input

Schatz

Feldman

Goldwater

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Auditory processing is fundamental to every stage of L1 acquisition. Within the first 6 to 8 months of life, for example, infants use temporal and spectral information in speech to distinguish between the probabilities of individual phonemes existing in L1 phonetic inventories (Kuhl, 2000; for a review, see Chládková & Paillereau, 2020). At the same time, they use both temporal and spectral processing to identify word boundaries (Cutler & Butterfield, 1992), to track syntactic structure (Marslen‐Wilson, Tyler, Warren, Grenier, & Lee, 1992), and to detect morphosyntactic cues (the identification of suffixes; Joanisse & Seidenberg, 1998).…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Domain‐General Auditory Processing Partially Explains Second Language Speech Learning in Classroom Settings: A Review and Generalization Study

et al. 2021

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To date, a growing number of studies have shown that domain‐general auditory processing, which prior work has linked to L1 acquisition, could explain various dimensions of naturalistic L2 speech proficiency. The current study examined the generalizability of this topic to L2 speech learning in classroom settings. The spontaneous speech samples of 39 Vietnamese English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language learners were analyzed for fluent and accurate use of pronunciation and lexicogrammar and linked to a range of variables in their auditory processing profiles. The results identified moderate‐to‐strong correlations between the participants’ accurate use of lexicogrammar and audio‐motor sequence integration scores (i.e., the ability to reproduce melodic/rhythmic information). However, the relationship between phonological proficiency and auditory acuity (i.e., the ability to encode acoustic details of sounds) was nonsignificant. Although the findings support the audition‐acquisition link to classroom L2 speech learning to some degree, they only suggest that this link is robust for the acquisition of lexicogrammar information.

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“…Pronunciation has long been considered one of the most difficult aspects of second language (L2) acquisition, especially for adult learners (see Flege, Yeni‐Komshian, & Liu, 1999; Granena & Long, 2013). This difficulty may be due to the fact that children acquire language‐specific patterns of phonemic perception relatively early in the acquisition of their native language (Strange & Shafer, 2008; and see Chládková & Paillereau, 2020 for a review). Once their native phonological system is established, learners do not find it easy to acquire a new phonological system without undue influence from their native language (Casillas, 2020), particularly when the first language (L1) and the L2 possess very different systems (Leather & James, 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Efficacy of Gesture on Second Language Pronunciation: An Exploratory Study of Handclapping as a Classroom Instructional Tool

2020

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In this study, we examined the efficacy of gestures for the acquisition of L2 segmental phonology. Despite teachers’ frequent use of gestures in the classroom to teach pronunciation, the field lacks empirical support for this practice. We attempted to fill this gap by investigating the effects of handclapping on the development of L2 Japanese segmentals (long vowels, geminates, and moraic nasals). We assigned L1 English university students in beginning Japanese courses to one of two groups where they practiced pronouncing the targets with or without handclapping in the classroom. They also completed picture elicitation (production) and dictation (perception) tasks as pretests, immediate posttests, and delayed posttests. The results show that, on the delayed perception posttest, only those who saw and performed handclapping maintained the instructional effect, indicating that the memory‐enhancing effect of gestures, at least in the form of handclapping, might reach the level of segmental phonology in L2 acquisition.

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The What and When of Universal Perception: A Review of Early Speech Sound Acquisition

Cited by 20 publications

References 128 publications

Early phonetic learning without phonetic categories: Insights from large-scale simulations on realistic input

Early phonetic learning without phonetic categories: Insights from large-scale simulations on realistic input

Domain‐General Auditory Processing Partially Explains Second Language Speech Learning in Classroom Settings: A Review and Generalization Study

The Efficacy of Gesture on Second Language Pronunciation: An Exploratory Study of Handclapping as a Classroom Instructional Tool

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