Effects of linguistic experience on speech perception

描述(由申请者提供)：该项目的长期目标是理解口语处理--特别是在语言环境中的言语感知。语音信号在人类体验中是独一无二的，因为它们是高度熟悉的，在日常生活中具有很大的现实意义。因此，人们开发专门针对语音调整的优化处理策略也就不足为奇了。在这个项目中，我们研究了这种调谐过程如何对语言结构敏感。跨语言口语研究很重要，因为如果没有它，我们就有可能得出结论，认为一种语言(甚至方言)中的现象在某种程度上对说其他语言的人来说是规范的。对“正常”口语处理的狭隘理解很可能会对多元化社会中的临床言语和听力实践产生负面影响。将进行三个方面的研究。第一个涉及到称为协同发音补偿的知觉现象。这项研究旨在通过对说英语和法语的人(他们对像[y]这样的高前元音有不同的母语经验)进行行为言语感知实验，来确定语言知识对这一过程的影响程度。第二组实验以英语、荷兰语和德语为受试者，探讨音段、音节和词频在言语知觉中的作用。这里的目的也是为了探索语言知识对言语知觉的影响--特别是接触频率改变知觉的可能性。最后一组实验考察了特定语言的语音变异模式对知觉的影响。该研究项目的主要目的是更多地了解一个人的语言经验是如何塑造感知能力的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objective of the project is to understand spoken language processing - particularly speech perception - in linguistic context. Speech signals are unique in human experience because they are highly familiar, and have great practical significance in daily life. Therefore, it is not too surprising to find that people develop optimized processing strategies tuned specifically for speech. In this project, we study how this tuning process may be sensitive to linguistic structure. Cross-linguistic spoken language research is important because without it we are in danger of concluding that the phenomena found in one language (or even dialect) are somehow normative for speakers of other languages. Such a narrow understanding of 'normal' spoken language processing is likely to have a negative impact on clinical speech and hearing practice in a pluralistic society. Three lines of research will be pursued. The first involves the perceptual phenomenon called compensation for coarticulation. The research is designed to determine the extent to which linguistic knowledge impacts this process, using behavioral speech perception experiments with speakers of English and French (who have different native-language experience with high front vowels like [y]). The second set of experiments, with English, Dutch, and German speakers explores the role of segment, syllable, and word frequencies in speech perception. The aim here is also to explore the impact of linguistic knowledge on speech perception - particularly the possibility that frequency of exposure alters perception. The final set of experiments examines the impact of language-specific patterns of phonetic variability on perception. The overarching aim of the research project is to learn more about how one's linguistic experience shapes perceptual abilities.