Interactions between speech perception and production during second language learning

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

The ability to communicate in more than one language confers an advantage in business, science, diplomacy, and many other aspects of modern life. To successfully master a new language, an individual must be able to both understand and produce the language. Educators commonly assume that perception and production skills develop in tandem and encourage students to try saying words in the new language on their first day in the classroom. However, recent research suggests that the relationship between speech perception and production is more complex and dynamic, especially when learning to speak and hear sounds that don't occur in languages the learner already knows. Under some circumstances, learners can perceive these novel sounds but may not be able to produce them, or they can produce the sounds without hearing their identity reliably. Compelling new evidence suggests that trying to say novel speech sounds out loud during learning can lead the learner to perceive those sounds less well than learners who do not say the sounds out loud. To determine how languages are best learned it is necessary to understand the disruptive effect of production on perception. The findings of the proposed research have the potential to inform practice in language teaching. Outreach activities will disseminate results to a broad audience, including a science education project in partnership with The Science Factory, a children's science museum. This proposal lays out a series of behavioral studies that systematically investigate both linguistic and non-linguistic factors (such as timing, cognitive load, and quality of productions) that influence perceptual learning and quality of productions of unfamiliar speech sounds. The aim is to understand their unique and joint contributions to perceptual learning. This theoretical account, along with the empirical results, is expected to enhance understanding of the nature of language representations and how they interact with cognitive, linguistic, and situational features. The findings will also contribute to knowledge of the relationship between perception and action more broadly.