L1 phonological development- 1st year

when does language learning begin

by the final trimester of pregnancy auditory systems is mature and foetuses can hear

• mainly low frequency sounds

• mother’s voice better than external voices - airborne and internally transmitted via tissue and bone

full speech signal is not available, what aspects are available ?

• Rhythm

• loudness

• intonation, melodic contour

• some phonetic characteristics (some such speech is intelligible to adults!)

what is a neonate

babies 2-4 days old

what do neonates prefer/ hear

• prefer their mother’s voice over other female voices ( DeCasper & Fifer, 1980)

• Prefer their mother’s “intra-uterine” voice to the airborne version in some studies (Busnel et al., 1992)

• Do not prefer father’s voice over other male voices)

• results of learning in utero (in womb) or since birth?

• Note: neonates prefer to listen to what is familiar to them

measuring infants’ preferences: Habituation

Typically infants orient towards (turn to) and attend to a new stimulus

If the stimulus is presented repeatedly, the infant’s interest in (or attention to) it declines: Habituation

Why do habituation happen?

• Percepts are represented in our memory. The brain continuously compares the representation and the perceived stimulus. If they match, attention can move elsewhere. If they don’t, attention will be maintained or even aroused

Measuring young infants’ abilities: high amplitude sucking

• used up to age 4 months

• measures sucking pressure on dummy

• increased sucking rate = interest in stimulus

To measure if infants detect a difference:

1. habituation: interest declines

2. change/ no change in stimuli

3. if there is change and it is detected - increased sucking rate

Infant preference for ambient language

Findings: the children recognise their ambient language.

• only the R F group increased sucking relative to the control group: for them the switch was from unfamiliar to familiar

• prefer to listen to familiar language

Results replicated with low-pass-filtered stimulation: concluded that discrimination is based prosodic information

early knowledge

Neonates (2-5 days after birth) can

• recognise their own mother’s voice and distinguish it from other female voices

• recognise the sound of their own language and distinguish it from the sound of other languages

• recognise their mother’s face and distinguish it from other women’s faces (Pascalis et al., 1995)

infants as universal listeners

infants can discriminate most of the contrasting sounds pairs on which they have been tested:

• VOT: /pa/-/ba/, /ta/-/da/

• Place of articulation: /pa/-/ta/-/ka/, /ad/-/ag/

• Manner of articulation: /ba/-/ma/, /da/-/na/

• Vowels: /a/-/i/-/u/, /pa/-/pi/, /ta/-/ti/

• Fricatives: unclear, some studies show discrimination, others not.

Phonological categories are language specific

Native adult listeners can identify (’which sound is that’) phonological categories in their own language and discriminate between them (’are these different?’”

adults struggle to discriminate within categories of their native language

English adult listeners have difficulties with:

• Finnish or Arabic geminated Vs. singleton C

• Hindi/ Urdu aspirated affricatives /ʧʰ/ vs. /ʧ/

• Japanese listeners have dificulty with /r/ vs /l/

• Thai speakers easily distinguish /th/, /t/ and /d/ - three separate phonemes. But for English speakers two of these belong in one category and are hard to distinguish.