Speech sound learning across languages and talkers by adults and infants

要了解语言是如何学习和使用的，我们必须了解语言表示：它们包含的信息，它们是如何形成的，以及我们如何适当地从它们中提取信息。我的研究项目集中在如何成为合格的语言使用者；在这个更广泛的目标下，当前的建议探索了语音表征的形成和内容。*我们一直在研究语音顺序的知识。在英语中，“ng”(“sing”结尾的发音)从来不会以单词开头。这种现有的规律性会影响我们处理语音的方式：当遵循已有的规则性时，处理声音序列要比违反规则性时更容易处理声音序列(例如，“fing”会成为一个合理的英语单词)(例如，“ngif”会成为一个糟糕的单词)。为了研究表征的形式和内容，我们让成年人和婴儿接触到新的序列规则，例如，将“f”S限制在音节的开头。然后我们测试听者对以“f”开头或结尾的音节是否有不同的处理方式。如果他们这样做了，这表明他们了解了新的规则。增加学习难度的是，语言在如何对声音进行排序方面不同，更糟糕的是，相同语言(例如，英语)的说话者可能根据例如他们的母语(例如，英语和法语)而在其特定发音上有所不同。*在这里，我们建议探索在学习一门新语言时如何克服母语体验。成人和儿童可以学习多种语言，但我们的第一语言(L1)会影响后来的L2学习。我们调查了一些学习新的音位模式(与第一语言不一致)的方法，询问某些类型的暴露是否更有助于获得新的模式。我们还询问在学习时是否表现出细节(例如，说话者的口音)。当观看英国情景喜剧时，概括我们对加拿大英语发音模式的知识可能是有益的(例如，在单词的开头不使用“ng”)，但有时划分我们的知识可能更有用，例如，当讲L1法语的人说“HEAT”时，她可能是指温度或食物(“Eat”)，所以跟踪相对于说话者的背景的发音模式(例如，涉及H)可能会提高理解能力。最后，跨年龄比较(成人、婴儿)有助于澄清经验的作用。*我们的研究探索了语音获得和处理中的新问题；增加了关于人类学习和记忆、语音感知和语言习得的基础知识。

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.