Child speech articulation development: Integrative and cross-language perspectives

目标： 我的研究项目是研究儿童语音发音行为的发展机制。在我之前对儿童言语产生的声学研究的基础上，这项研究计划的短期目标是1)表征儿童舌头运动控制随时间和跨语言的特征，以了解控制儿童语音清晰度发展的潜在机制，无论他们说的是什么语言；2)确定舌头运动控制、手动运动、言语感知和语言环境之间的关系。我们的长期目标是构建一个连贯的、全面的语音习得理论，该理论在进化上是知情的，并且在生物学上是有效的。 科学方法： 为了实现这些目标，将使用超声成像技术和声学测量来检查说英语、日语或普通话的单语儿童的语音产出。超声波技术可以在发音过程中直接评估舌头的位置和姿势。当孩子们进行语音产生实验时，他们的舌面曲率将被跟踪，这些实验采样了他们母语的音素库存。同时，儿童的语音也将被录音，用于声学分析，这提供了另一个舌头运动模式的指标。超声和声学数据都将随着时间的推移在个人内部、跨个人和跨语言进行比较，以寻找共同的发育模式。除了关节测量外，还将评估儿童的手部运动和灵活性，以证实口腔运动控制和手动运动控制之间的联系。然后，将利用眼球跟踪技术，通过语音感知实验来测量儿童感知语音声音的能力。最后但并非最不重要的是，儿童及其父母将使用LENA(语言环境分析)设备进行记录，该设备可在较长一段时间内自动分析儿童的家庭语言环境。 重要意义： 语言是人类的定义特征，但我们对儿童如何产生这种能力的理解是有限的。提出的研究计划解决了破解这一难题的一个关键缺失部分，即儿童舌头运动控制的个体发育及其与特定语言环境的相互作用。这项研究将阐明一般的语言进化论，特别是音系理论，并具有重大的科学和技术意义。

Objectives: My research program investigates developmental mechanisms of child speech articulation behaviour. Building on my previous research on the acoustics of child speech production, the short term goals of this research program are to 1) characterize children's tongue motor control over time and across languages for the underlying mechanisms that govern speech articulation development in children regardless of the language they speak and to 2) identify the relationship between tongue motor control, manual movement, speech perception, and language environment. The long-term goal is to construct a coherent and comprehensive theory of speech acquisition that is evolutionarily informed and biologically valid. Scientific approach: To achieve these goals, speech production by monolingual children speaking English, Japanese, or Mandarin Chinese will be examined using ultrasound imaging technique and acoustic measurements. The ultrasound technique offers direct assessment on tongue position and posture during articulation processes. Children's tongue surface curvature will be traced while they are engaged in speech production experiments that sample the phoneme inventory of their native language. Children's speech will also be simultaneously audiorecorded for acoustic analysis, which provides another index of tongue movement pattern. Both the ultrasound and acoustic data will be compared over time within an individual, across individuals, and across languages for common developmental patterns. In addition to articulatory measurements, children's hand movement and dexterity will be evaluated to substantiate the link between oral and manual motor control. Children's ability to perceive speech sound distinctions will then be measured using speech perception experiments utilizing the eye-tracking techniques. Last but not least, children and their parents will be recorded using the LENA (Language Environment Analysis) device which affords automatic analysis of the child's home language environment over an extended period of time. Significance: Speech is the defining feature of humans, but our understanding of how this capacity emerges in children is limited. The proposed research program addresses a critical missing piece in deciphering this puzzle, namely, the ontogeny of children's tongue motor control and its interaction with language-specific environment. This research will illuminate evolutionary theory of language in general and of phonological theories in particular, as well as bear significant scientific and technological implications.