Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T15:03:08.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EFFECTS OF ACOUSTIC VARIABILITY ON SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY LEARNING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2005

Joe Barcroft  and
Mitchell S. Sommers
Joe Barcroft
Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis
Mitchell S. Sommers
Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examined the effects of acoustic variability on second language vocabulary learning. English native speakers learned new words in Spanish. Exposure frequency to the words was constant. Dependent measures were accuracy and latency of picture-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English recall. Experiment 1 compared presentation formats of neutral (conversational) voice only, three voice types, and six voice types. No significant differences emerged. Experiment 2 compared presentation formats of one speaker, three speakers, and six speakers. Vocabulary learning was superior in the higher-variability conditions. Experiment 3 partially replicated Experiment 1 while rotating voice types across subjects in moderate and no-variability conditions. Vocabulary learning was superior in the higher variability conditions. These results are consistent with an exemplar-based theory of initial lexical learning and representation.Portions of these data were presented at the 143rd meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Cancun, Mexico and at the Fourth International Conference on the Mental Lexicon in Windsor, Canada. The authors would like to thank Paola Rijos for help in data collection and scoring and the anonymous SSLA reviewers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , September 2005 , pp. 387 - 414
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Assmann, P., Nearey, T. M., & Hogan, J. (1982). Vowel identification: Orthographic, perceptual, and acoustic aspects. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 71, 975–989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barcroft, J. (2001). Acoustic variation and lexical acquisition. Language Learning, 51, 563–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Church, B. A., & Schacter, D. L. (1994). Perceptual specificity of auditory priming: Implicit memory for voice intonation and fundamental frequency. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 521–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creelman, C. D. (1957). Case of the unknown talker. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 29, 655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldinger, S. D. (1990). Effects of talker variability on self-paced serial recall. Research on Speech Perception (Progress Report No. 16, pp. 313–326). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Goldinger, S. D. (1998). Echoes of echoes? An episodic theory of lexical access. Psychological Review, 105, 251–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldinger, S. D., Pisoni, D. B., & Logan, J. S. (1991). On the locus of talker variability effects in recall of spoken word lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17, 152–162.Google Scholar
Graf, P., & Ryan, L. (1990). Transfer-appropriate processing for implicit and explicit memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, 978–992.Google Scholar
Johnson, K., & Mullennix, J. W. (Eds.). (1997). Talker variability in speech processing. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Lively, S. E., Logan, J. S., & Pisoni, D. B. (1993). Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: II. The role of phonetic environment and talker variability in learning new perceptual categories. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 94, 1242–1255.Google Scholar
Logan, J. S., Lively, S. E., & Pisoni, D. B. (1991). Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: A first report. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 89, 874–886.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, C. S., Mullennix, J. W., Pisoni, D. B., & Summers, W. V. (1989). Effects of talker variability on recall of spoken word lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 676–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melka, F. (1997). Receptive vs. productive aspects of vocabulary. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 84–102). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mullennix, J. W., & Pisoni, D. B. (1990). Stimulus variability and processing dependencies in speech perception. Perception & Psychophysics, 47, 379–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mullennix, J. W., Pisoni, D. B., & Martin, C. S. (1989). Some effects of talker variability on spoken word recognition. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 85, 365–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nygaard, L., & Pisoni, D. B. (1998). Talker-specific learning in speech perception. Perception & Psychophysics, 60, 355–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nygaard, L., Sommers, M. S., & Pisoni, D. B. (1992). Effects of speaking rate and talker variability on the representation of spoken words in memory. In J. Ohala (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Spoken Language Processing (pp. 591–594). Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press.
Nygaard, L. C., Sommers, M. S., & Pisoni, D. B. (1994). Speech perception as a talker-contingent process. Psychological Science, 5, 42–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmeri, T. J., Goldinger, S. D., & Pisoni, D. B. (1993). Episodic encoding of voice attributes and recognition memory for spoken words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 309–328.Google Scholar
Pisoni, D. B. (1997). Some thoughts on “normalization” in speech perception. In K. Johnson & J. W. Mullennix (Eds.), Talker variability in speech processing (pp. 9–32). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Ryalls, B. O., & Pisoni, D. B. (1997). The effect of talker variability on word recognition in preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 33, 441–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schacter, D. L., & Church, B. A. (1992). Auditory priming: Implicit and explicit memory for words and voices. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18, 915–930.Google Scholar
Sommers, M. S. (1997). Stimulus variability in spoken word recognition: II. The effects of age and hearing impairment. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 101, 2278–2288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommers, M. S., Nygaard, L. C., & Pisoni, D. B. (1994). Stimulus variability and spoken word recognition: I. Effects of variability in speaking rate and overall amplitude. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 96, 1314–1324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strange, W., & Dittman, S. (1984). Effects of discrimination training on the perception of /r-l/ by Japanese adults learning English. Perception & Psychophysics, 36, 131–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar