Speech sound learning across languages and talkers by adults and infants

为了理解语言是如何学习和使用的，我们必须了解语言表征：它们包含的信息，它们是如何形成的，以及我们如何从中适当地提取信息。我的研究项目集中在我们如何成为称职的语言使用者；在这一更广泛的目标下，本研究探讨了语音表征的形成和内容。******我们一直在研究语音排序的知识。在英语中，“ng”（“sing”末尾的音）从来不是单词的开头音。这种现有的规律性影响我们处理语音的方式：当遵循现有的规律时（例如，“fing”会形成一个合理的英语单词），比违反规则时（例如，“ngif”会形成一个糟糕的单词）更容易处理声音序列。为了研究表征的形成和内容，我们将成人和婴儿暴露在新的序列规则中，例如，将“f”限制在音节的开头。然后我们测试听者对以“f”开头和结尾的音节是否有不同的看法。如果他们这样做，这表明他们了解了新的规律。语言在发音顺序上的差异增加了学习的难度，更糟糕的是，同一种语言（例如英语）的使用者可能会根据他们的母语（例如英语和法语）在特定的发音上有所不同。******在这里，我们建议探索如何在学习一门新语言时克服母语经验。成人和儿童可以学习多种语言，但我们的第一语言（第一语言）会影响后来的语言（第二语言）学习。我们研究了一些新的语音模式（与L1不一致）可以学习的方法；询问某些类型的接触是否对获得新模式更有帮助。我们还会询问在学习过程中是否会表现细节（例如说话者的口音）。在看英国情景喜剧时，概括我们对加拿大英语发音模式的认识（例如，单词开头没有“ng”）可能是有益的，但有时划分我们的知识可能更有用，例如，当一个说母语法语的人说“heat”时，她可能指的是温度或食物（“eat”），所以跟踪与说话者背景相关的声音模式（例如，包括H）可能会提高理解能力。最后，跨年龄比较（成人和婴儿）有助于阐明经验的作用。******我们的研究探索了语音获取和处理中的新问题；增加了人类学习和记忆，言语感知和语言习得的基本知识。

To understand how language is learned and used we must know about language representations: the information they contain, how they are formed, and how we appropriately extract information from them. My research program focuses on how we become competent language users; and within this broader aim, the current proposal explores the formation and content of speech sound representations. ******We have been examining knowledge of speech sound ordering. In English, "ng" (sound at the end of "sing") never starts words. This type of existing regularity affects how we process speech: sound sequences are more easily processed when the existing regularities are followed (e.g., "fing" would make a reasonable English word), than when the regularities are violated (e.g., "ngif" would make a poor word). To study the formation and content of representations we expose adults and infants to novel sequence regularities, e.g., restricting "f"s to the starts of syllables. We then test whether listeners treat syllables that start or end with "f" differently. If they do, it suggests that they learned about the new regularities. Adding to difficulty for learning, languages differ in how sounds can be ordered, and worse, speakers of the same language (e.g., English) may differ in their specific pronunciation of sounds depending on, for example, their native language (e.g., English vs French). ******Here, we propose to explore how native-language experience can be overcome when learning a novel language. Adults and children can learn multiple languages, yet our first language (L1) affects later language (L2) learning. We investigate some ways in which novel phonotactic patterns (inconsistent with L1) can be learned; asking whether some types of exposure are more helpful for acquiring novel patterns. We also ask whether details (e.g., talker accent) are represented when learning. When watching a British sitcom, generalizing our knowledge of Canadian English sound patterns (e.g., no "ng" at the starts of words) may be beneficial, but sometimes compartmentalizing our knowledge may be more useful, e.g., when an L1-French speaker says "heat", she might mean temperature or food ("eat"), so tracking sound patterns (e.g., involving H) relative to the speaker's background, might improve comprehension. Finally, cross-age comparison (adults, infants) helps clarify the role of experience. ******Our research explores novel questions in the acquisition and processing of speech sounds; adding to basic knowledge of human learning and memory, speech perception, and language acquisition.