Erika S. Levy

Perception of French vowels by American English adults with and without French language experience

Abstract This study investigated the effects of language experience and consonantal context on American English (AE) listeners’ discrimination of contrasts involving Parisian French vowels /y, œ, u, i/. Vowels were produced in /rabVp/ and /rabVt/ nonsense disyllables in carrier phrases by 3 speakers and presented in a categorial AXB discrimination task. Two groups were tested: AE listeners who had studied French extensively beginning after age 13 (Exp) and non-French-speaking AE listeners (Inexp). The Exp group performed better than the Inexp group on /u-œ/, /i-y/ and /y-œ/ (mean errors: Exp=5%, Inexp=24%). However, for /u-y/, the groups did not differ (Exp=30% vs Inexp=24% errors). The Inexp group confused /i-y/ more often in bilabial context, but /u-y/ more often in alveolar context, whereas the Exp group confused /u-y/ in both contexts. Overall, the Inexp group performed better in bilabial than in alveolar context (16% vs 32% errors), whereas the Exp group revealed no context effect. Results suggest that learning a second language (L2) includes learning its coarticulatory rules. Implications for models of L2-speech perception are discussed.

Cross-language treatment generalisation: A case of trilingual aphasia

BACKGROUND: Recent investigations of language gains following treatment in bilingual individuals with chronic aphasia appear to confirm early reports that not only the treated language but also the non-treated language(s) benefit from treatment. The evidence, however, is still suggestive, and the variables that may mitigate generalisation across languages warrant further investigation. AIMS: We set out to examine cross-language generalisation of language treatment in a trilingual speaker with mild chronic aphasia. METHODS #ENTITYSTARTX00026; PROCEDURES: Language treatment was administered in English, the participants second language (L2). The first treatment block focused on morphosyntactic skills and the second on language production rate. Measurements were collected in the treated language (English, L2) as well as the two non-treated languages: Hebrew (the participants first language, L1) and French (the participants third language, L3). OUTCOMES #ENTITYSTARTX00026; RESULTS: The participant showed improvement in his production of selected morphosyntactic elements, such as pronoun gender agreement, in the treated language (L2) as well as in the non-treated French (L3) following the treatment block that focused on morphosyntactic skills. Speech rate also improved in English (L2) and French (L3) following that treatment block. No changes were observed in Hebrew, the participants L1. CONCLUSIONS: Selective cross-language generalisation of treatment benefit was found for morphosyntactic abilities from the participants second language to his third language.

Perceptual assimilation of French and German vowels by American English monolinguals: Acoustic similarity does not predict perceptual similarity

Previous research in our laboratory has demonstrated that the perceived similarity of vowels across languages is not always predictable from the closeness of their target formant values in F1/F2/F3 space. In this study, perceptual similarity was established using a task in which 11 American English (AE) monolinguals were presented multiple tokens of 9 French vowels and 14 North German vowels (in separate blocks) produced in citation‐form /hVb(a)/ (bi)syllables by native speakers. They selected 1 of 11 AE vowel responses to which each non‐native vowel token was most similar, and rated its goodness on a 9‐point Likert scale. Of special interest was the perceptual assimilation of front rounded French [y, oe] and German [y, Y, o/, oe] vowels. Acoustically, all six French and German vowels are more similar to front unrounded AE vowels. However, all six vowels were perceived to be more similar to back rounded AE vowels (range across vowels = 55% to 100%), although relatively poor exemplars. There were differenc...

Implementing two treatment approaches to childhood dysarthria

Abstract The paucity of evidence and detail in the literature regarding speech treatment for children with dysarthria due to cerebral palsy (CP) renders it difficult for researchers to replicate studies and make further inroads into this area in need of exploration. Furthermore, for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) wishing to follow treatments that the literature indicates have promise, little guidance is available on the details of the treatments that yielded the positive results. The present article details the implementation of two treatment approaches in speech treatment research for children with dysarthria: Speech Systems Intelligibility Treatment (SSIT) and the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment LOUD (LSVT LOUD). Specific strategies, primarily for treatment, but also for outcome measurement and acoustic analysis of dysarthric speech, are described. These techniques are provided for researchers and clinicians to consider implementing in order to advance speech treatment for this population. New data from research using these approaches are presented, including findings of acoustic vowel space changes following both speech treatments.

Integrated narrative analysis in multilingual aphasia: The relationship among narrative structure, grammaticality, and fluency

Background: Amid robust evidence for the efficacy of language treatment in aphasia, equivocal results have been reported for the generalisation of treatment effects to items and tasks not practised during therapy. Moreover, measuring generalisation using functional language production has proven challenging, especially in the context of multilingual aphasia. Aim: In this paper we analysed four domains—discourse structure, sentence structure, instances of linguistic dysfluencies, and lexical choice—in narratives produced following treatment to assess aphasia treatment generalisation within and across languages. Methods & Procedures: Two treatment phases were administered to a trilingual speaker with mild, chronic, non-fluent aphasia, targeting language production. Multiple baseline testing was administered prior to and following each treatment phase and included elicited narrative production in three languages: Hebrew, English, and French. Outcomes & Results: The results demonstrated treatment-related changes in the treated language as well as in the non-treated languages. Positive change was found in narrative structure and in sentence grammaticality. A trade-off pattern between grammaticality and fluency was evident, with higher proportions of grammatical sentences associated with increased instances of linguistic dysfluencies. Within-language and between-language generalisation was observed, especially following the first treatment phase which targeted morphosyntactic structures. Conclusions: We argue for the importance of an integrated analysis of connected language production in the assessment of aphasia treatment efficacy and in multilingual aphasia.

Within‐ and across‐language acoustic variability of vowels spoken in different phonetic and prosodic contexts: American English, North German, and Parisian French

This project investigates the acoustic variability of vowels produced in multisyllabic nonsense words /cvC1VC2(v)/ in carrier sentences by speakers of American English (AE), Parisian French (PF), and North German (NG). Variables under examination are (1) immediate phonetic context (C1=b,d; C2=b,d,p,t), (2) sentence prominence (narrow focus versus postfocus), and speaking rate (normal vs rapid). Preliminary results show that for AE vowels, phonetic context produces large differences (2–3 bark) in midpoint F2 values for mid‐to‐high back vowels, reflecting allophonic fronting of these vowels in alveolar context. Much smaller increases in F2 (∼1 bark) were found for both PF and NG mid/high back vowels in alveolar contexts. Most AE speakers showed little or no effect of sentence focus or speaking rate on the degree of fronting of back vowels in alveolar context. PF speakers produced more fronted mid/high back vowels in postfocused context than did NG and AE speakers. NG and PF speakers showed relatively greater F1 undershoot in low vowels in postfocus context than for AE speakers. These within‐ and across‐language differences in the effect of prosodic and phonetic context on vowel acoustics reflect both language‐universal constraints and language‐specific rules for contextual warping of vowel spaces.

Effects of consonantal context on perception of French rounded vowels by American English adults with and without French language experience

This study extended Gottfried’s [J. Phonetics 12, 91–114 (1984)] investigation of the effects of learning French on AE listeners categorial discrimination of the contrasts involving Parisian French vowels /y/, /o//, /u/, and /i/. Vowels were presented in /rabVp/ and /radVt/ bisyllables embedded in carrier phrases by three different speakers in an AXB discrimination task. Two groups were tested: proficient L2‐French‐speaking AE listeners (Exp) and non‐French‐speaking AE listeners (Inexp). Overall, the Exp group performed better than the Inexp group on /u‐o//, /y‐i/, and /y‐o// distinctions (mean errors: Exp=5%, Inexp=24%). However, for /u‐y/, the groups did not differ (Exp=30% vs Inexp=24% errors). The findings may be explained by perceptual assimilation patterns, which are determined, in part, by consonantal context. The Inexp group confused /y/ with /i/ in bilabial context, but /y/ with /u/ in alveolar context, whereas the Exp group confused /y/ with /u/, in both contexts. For all contrasts, the Inexp group performed better in bilabial than in alveolar context (16% vs 32% errors), whereas no context effect was revealed for the Exp group. The results suggest that learning a foreign language includes learning its coarticulatory rules.

Perceptual Confusions of American-English Vowels and Consonants by Native Arabic Bilinguals.

This study investigated the perception of American-English (AE) vowels and consonants by young adults who were either (a) early Arabic-English bilinguals whose native language was Arabic or (b) native speakers of the English dialects spoken in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where both groups were studying. In a closed-set format, participants were asked to identify 12 AE vowels presented in /hVd/ context and 20 AE consonants (C) in three vocalic contexts: /ɑCɑ/, /iCi/, and /uCu/. Both native Arabic and native English groups demonstrated high accuracy in identification of vowels (70 and 80% correct, respectively) and consonants (94 and 95% correct, respectively). For both groups, the least-accurately identified vowels were /ɑ/, /ɔ/, /æ/, while most consonant errors were found for /ð/, which was most frequently confused with /v/. However, for both groups, identification of /ð/ was vocalic-context dependent, with most errors occurring in /iCi/ context and fewest errors occurring in /uCu/ context. Lack of significant group differences suggests that speech sound identification patterns, including phonetic context effects for /ð/, were influenced more by the local English dialects than by listeners’ Arabic language background. The findings also demonstrate consistent perceptual error patterns among listeners despite considerable variation in their native and second language dialectal backgrounds.

Policies and Practices Regarding Students With Accents in Speech-Language Pathology Training Programs:

Speech-language pathology (SLP) training programs are the initial gateway for nonnative speakers of English to join the SLP profession. An anonymous web-based survey in New York State examined policies and practices implemented when SLP students have foreign accents in English or in other languages. Responses were elicited from 530 students and 28 clinic and program directors. Few policies delineated criteria for determining how native like or intelligible students’ speech needed to be for them to work effectively or for determining when accent modification was required. Students with foreign accents in English were asked more often to undergo accent modification than were students with foreign accents in Spanish or other languages. Strategies for practices regarding SLP students with accents are proposed.

Stronger Accent Following a Stroke: The Case of a Trilingual with Aphasia.

This study documents patterns of change in speech production in a multilingual with aphasia following a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). EC, a right-handed Hebrew–English–French trilingual man, had a left fronto-temporo-parietal CVA, after which he reported that his (native) Hebrew accent became stronger in his (second language) English. Recordings of his pre- and post-CVA speech permitted an investigation of changes in his accent. In sentence- and segment-listening tasks, native American English listeners (n = 13 and 15, respectively) judged ECs pre- and post-CVA speech. ECs speech was perceived as more foreign-accented, slow, strained and hesitant, but not less intelligible, post-CVA. Acoustic analysis revealed less coarticulation and longer vowel- and word-durations post-CVA. This case extends knowledge about perceptual and acoustic changes in speech production in multilinguals following CVAs. It is suggested that ECs stronger accent post-CVA may have resulted from damage to the neuronal networks that led to impairment in his other language domains.