International Research Fellowship Program: Acoustic Perceptual Properties of Suprasegmental Contrast Systems

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。 该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并使用独特或互补的设施，专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持博士詹妮弗亚历山大与博士王悦在加拿大西蒙弗雷泽大学工作了24个月的研究奖学金。这项研究的首要目标是增加我们对语音认知处理的理解。词汇音调系统使用音高来表示词义;它们存在于70%的语言中，但与分段（辅音/元音）系统相比，它们的研究不足。PI和host扩展了一个经过充分研究的第二语言声音结构感知模型（感知同化模型，参见。Best和泰勒，2007年），传统上侧重于段，词汇音调。在这样做的过程中，他们的目的是确定母语声调经验对新声调感知的影响。他们的第一个目标是评估是否以及如何与音调语言的经验影响组织的非母语音调在听觉感知空间。在实验1和2中，听者使用自由分类范式（Clopper，2008）来分类母语和非母语词汇音调。多维缩放和聚类分析被用来映射和比较原生和非原生音调感知空间。其次，他们利用非母语声调感知空间来研究感知接近性如何影响非母语声调类别的识别;实验3测试听者？识别感知接近度不同的非母语音调的能力。听众被期望更快，更准确地识别属于对比类别的音调存在于他们的本地库存。最后，他们调查了感知接近度如何影响非母语音调的辨别。使用行为和脑电图的方法，实验4和5测试我们的预测，听众更快，更准确地区分？对不同的人更敏感相对于判断为高度相似的音调，判断为高度不相似的音调。只有通过对语言的各个方面进行彻底的研究，才有可能完全理解语言系统的组织以及这些系统如何相互作用。这项研究是最早将跨语言语音处理理论扩展到音调的研究之一。值得注意的是，这项研究涉及听众从各种L1，对非母语声调感知的一个彻底的看法。此外，它是比较水平与轮廓音调处理的首批研究之一，也是第一个使用EEG研究音调L1对听觉系统检测音调之间声学差异的速度的影响。对音调系统的完整理解将有助于我们扩展、测试和修改世界理论的能力？一般来说，语言的声音系统。 他们的数据将通过科学会议介绍和出版物广泛传播;刺激将通过基于网络的语音档案传播。因此，本研究将为未来声调系统的研究提供信息和动力。反过来，从这些学术追求中获得的知识应该有益于各种实际追求。它应该为各种音调语言的教学，学习和交流提供信息，这可能会导致与那些主要语言是音调的人建立更紧密的联系。例如，随着全球市场的日益强大，竞争国际业务的公司可能会增加对国内员工的需求，这些员工可以很容易地与音频扬声器进行交流。最后，这项研究将涉及相对代表性不足的受试者群体（来自尼日利亚的伊博语和约鲁巴语使用者）。

0965227AlexanderThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Jennifer Alexander to work with Dr. Yue Wang at Simon Fraser University in Canada.The overarching goal of this study is to increase our understanding of cognitive processing of speech sounds. Lexical-tone systems use pitch to signal word meaning; they exist in 70% of languages but are under-studied compared to segment (consonant/vowel) systems. The PI and host extend a well-studied model of second-language sound-structure perception (the Perceptual Assimilation Model, cf. Best and Tyler, 2007), which has traditionally focused on segments, to lexical tones. In doing so, they aim to determine the effect of native-language tone experience on perception of novel tone. Their first aim to evaluate whether and how experience with a tone language affects the organization of non-native tones in acoustic-perceptual space. In experiments 1 and 2, listeners use a free classification paradigm (Clopper, 2008) to classify native- and non-native lexical tones. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses are used to map and compare native- and non-native tone perceptual spaces. Second, they utilize the non-native tone perceptual spaces to examine how perceptual proximity affects identification of non-native tone categories; experiment 3 tests listeners? abilities to identify non-native tones that differ in perceptual proximity. Listeners are expected to more quickly and accurately identify tones belonging to contrastive categories present in their native inventories. Finally, they investigate how perceptual proximity affects discrimination of non-native tones. Using behavioral and EEG methods, experiments 4 and 5 test our prediction that listeners more quickly and accurately discriminate ? and are more sensitive to differences between ? tones judged to be highly dissimilar, relative to tones judged to be highly similar.Complete understanding of the organization of linguistic systems, and of how these systems interact, is possible only through thorough investigation of all aspects of language. This study is among the first to extend cross-language speech processing theories to tones. Notably, this study involves listeners from a variety of L1s, toward a thorough view of non-native tone perception. In addition, it is one of the first studies to compare level vs. contour tone processing, and is the first to use EEG to investigate the effect of tonal L1 on the rapidity with which the auditory system detects acoustic differences between tones. A complete understanding of tone systems would aid our ability to expand, test, and modify theories of the world?s linguistic sound systems in general. Their data will be widely disseminated via scientific conference presentations and publications; the stimuli will be disseminated via a web-based speech archive. Thus, this study will inform and motivate future studies on tone systems. In turn, the knowledge gained from these academic pursuits should benefit various practical pursuits. It should inform approaches for teaching, learning, and communicating in a variety of tone languages, which might then lead to stronger ties with those whose primary language(s) are tonal. For instance, as the global marketplace grows stronger, corporations competing for international business may increase their demand for domestic employees who can easily communicate with tone speakers. Finally, this study will involve comparatively underrepresented subject populations (speakers of Igbo and Yoruba, from Nigeria).