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

[09:65227]国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够到国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利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Jennifer Alexander博士与加拿大西蒙弗雷泽大学的Yue Wang博士进行为期24个月的研究。这项研究的首要目标是增加我们对语音认知加工的理解。词汇语调系统使用音高来表示词义；它们存在于70%的语言中，但与音段（辅音/元音）系统相比，它们的研究不足。PI和host将一个研究得很好的第二语言音结构感知模型（知觉同化模型，cf. Best and Tyler, 2007）从传统上关注片段扩展到词汇音调。在此过程中，他们旨在确定母语语调经验对新语调感知的影响。他们的第一个目标是评估音调语言的经验是否以及如何影响声学感知空间中非母语音调的组织。在实验1和2中，听者使用自由分类范式（Clopper, 2008）对母语和非母语词汇音调进行分类。多维尺度和聚类分析用于映射和比较本地和非本地音调感知空间。其次，他们利用非母语声调感知空间来研究感知接近度如何影响非母语声调类别的识别；实验3测试听众？识别在感知接近度上不同的非母语音调的能力。人们期望听者能够更快、更准确地识别出在他们的母语音库中属于对比类别的音调。最后，他们研究了感知接近度如何影响对非母语音调的辨别。实验4和实验5使用行为和脑电图方法验证了我们的预测，即听众能更快、更准确地分辨出不同的声音。对不同的人更敏感？被判断为高度不相似的音调，相对于被判断为高度相似的音调。只有对语言的各个方面进行彻底的研究，才能完全理解语言系统的组织结构以及这些系统之间的相互作用。这项研究是第一个将跨语言语音处理理论扩展到音调的研究。值得注意的是，本研究涉及了来自不同语系的听者，以全面了解非母语语音感知。此外，这是第一个比较水平和轮廓音调处理的研究之一，也是第一个使用脑电图来研究音调L1对听觉系统检测音调之间声学差异的速度的影响。对音调系统的全面理解将有助于我们扩展、检验和修改世界理论的能力。一般的语言声音系统。他们的数据将通过科学会议报告和出版物广泛传播；这些刺激将通过一个基于网络的语音档案进行传播。因此，本研究将为未来音调系统的研究提供信息和激励。反过来，从这些学术追求中获得的知识应该有利于各种实践追求。它应该为各种声调语言的教学、学习和交流方法提供信息，这可能会加强与那些以声调为主要语言的人的联系。例如，随着全球市场的发展壮大，争夺国际业务的公司可能会增加对能够轻松使用语音扬声器进行交流的国内员工的需求。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).