Academic literature on the topic 'Non-native speech development'

The Mixtec language is one of the main native languages in Mexico. In general, due to urbanization, discrimination, and limited attempts to promote the culture, the native languages are disappearing. Most of the information available about the Mixtec language is in written form as in dictionaries which, although including examples about how to pronounce the Mixtec words, are not as reliable as listening to the correct pronunciation from a native speaker. Formal acoustic resources, as speech corpora, are almost non-existent for the Mixtec, and no speech technologies are known to have been developed for it. This paper presents the development of the following resources for the Mixtec language: (1) a speech database of traditional narratives of the Mixtec culture spoken by a native speaker (labelled at the phonetic and orthographic levels by means of spectral analysis) and (2) a native speaker-adaptive automatic speech recognition (ASR) system (trained with the speech database) integrated with a Mixtec-to-Spanish/Spanish-to-Mixtec text translator. The speech database, although small and limited to a single variant, was reliable enough to build the multiuser speech application which presented a mean recognition/translation performance up to 94.36% in experiments with non-native speakers (the target users).

ABSTRACTUsing an infant speech identification (ISI) procedure, English language environment infants, two- and six-year-old children, and adults were tested for their identification of sounds on a native (voiced/voiceless bilabial stop) and a non-native (prevoiced/voiced bilabial stop) speech continuum. Categorical perception of the two contrasts diverged as a function of age, increasing for the native contrast and decreasing for the non-native between two and six years. In Experiment 2, subjects of the same four ages were tested for their identification of a continuum of harmonic tones varying in pitch. Comparison of the results of Experiment i with the essentially continuous perception of this pitch continuum supports the view that the perception of the native contrast becomes more categorical with age, while perception of the non-native contrast becomes less categorical, especially at six years. Experiment 3, in which adults were tested on the three continua with a multi-trial open set procedure, demonstrated that results with the ISI procedure in Experiments 1 and 2 are comparable to results with more traditional methods. The results of the three experiments are discussed in terms of the role of specific linguistic experience in the development of categorical speech perception.

Infants' speech perception skills show a dual change towards the end of the first year of life. Not only does non-native speech perception decline, as often shown, but native language speech perception skills show improvement, reflecting a facilitative effect of experience with native language. The mechanism underlying change at this point in development, and the relationship between the change in native and non-native speech perception, is of theoretical interest. As shown in new data presented here, at the cusp of this developmental change, infants' native and non-native phonetic perception skills predict later language ability, but in opposite directions. Better native language skill at 7.5 months of age predicts faster language advancement, whereas better non-native language skill predicts slower advancement. We suggest that native language phonetic performance is indicative of neural commitment to the native language, while non-native phonetic performance reveals un committed neural circuitry. This paper has three goals: (i) to review existing models of phonetic perception development, (ii) to present new event-related potential data showing that native and non-native phonetic perception at 7.5 months of age predicts language growth over the next 2 years, and (iii) to describe a revised version of our previous model, the native language magnet model, expanded (NLM-e). NLM-e incorporates five new principles. Specific testable predictions for future research programmes are described.

AbstractMany children learn language, in part, from the speech of non-native speakers who vary in their language proficiency. To investigate the influence of speaker proficiency on the quality of child-directed speech, 29 mothers who were native English speakers and 31 mothers who were native speakers of Spanish and who reported speaking English to their children on a regular basis were recorded interacting with their two-year-old children in English. Of the non-native speakers, 21 described their English proficiency as ‘good’, and eight described their English proficiency as ‘limited’. ANCOVAs, controlling for differences in maternal education and child language level, revealed significant effects of group on lexical and grammatical properties of child-directed speech that the literature has identified as positive predictors of child language development. These results suggest that the child-directed speech of native speakers and non-native speakers with good proficiency provide a richer database for language acquisition than the child-directed speech of speakers with limited proficiency.

Over time, second language (L2) speech production changes as the learner gains more experience with the language. Factors such as interaction with native speakers of the learner’s L2 are known to play an important role. It is less clear to what extent, if at all, aspects of social identity influence the development of the L2 (Hansen Edwards 2008:372– 373). This longitudinal study examines the development of the actor Jackie Chan’s L2 (English) phonology. His speech production in two time periods 9 years apart is contrasted: in 1998, before he gained success in the English-speaking world; and in 2007, after he had released multiple Hollywood blockbusters.To check that factors such as age of acquisition were not the only reason for a lack of alignment over time towards English native-speaker norms, another context was taken from 2007, namely, an interview with a French native speaker. In foreigner-directed speech, there exists a pressure to produce more standard variants (Zuengler 1991:234). If Chan uses fewer non-standard variants with a non-native English speaker than with a native English speaker, it would imply that there is some degree of intent in his usage of non-standard forms and that his development, or lack thereof, is not only due to uncontrollable factors of second language acquisition.Two variables are examined: his production of stops in word-final codas containing a single stop and in wordfinal consonant clusters containing a stop as the final consonant. Native speakers of English generally pronounce these stops, whereas native speakers of Chinese often simplify them by deleting or glottalising them (Setter et al. 2010:15, Hansen 2001:340).In 2007, Chan is found to use a greater rate of the standard non-simplified variant than previously; however, he also simplifies his pronunciation by deleting the stop in the codas more often than in 1998. He uses standard forms that align with English native speakers to a greater extent when talking to non-native speakers. After 9 years of working in Hollywood, he would have gained more experience with English due to his social network consisting of more English native speakers, resulting in the expected increased alignment with native-speaker norms. However, his English has developed so that the non-standard variant of deletion is also used to a greater extent; the usage of this variant emphasises Chan’s identity as a Chinese native speaker. This emphasis is possible because of his success in between the two time periods: not only does he no longer have to align as much as possible with English native speakers so as to appeal to the English-speaking market, his success as a specifically Chinese martial artist means that highlighting his identity as a Chinese native speaker has more linguistic capital. Thus, it seems that factors of an L2 learner’s social identity do indeed influence the acquisition and development of their L2.

Expanding the scope of the native language is a problem that requires constant attention. Knowledge of the language culture, continuous enrichment of the individual's vocabulary, the ability to use the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Kazakh people-should be required from every person who studies the Kazakh language. The beginning of the path to language culture is the ability to speak culturally and oratory. The article talks about the role of oratory in life, the importance of conscious selection of language tools in the formation of speech culture among young people. It also considers ways to increase the expressiveness of speech, raises questions about the methods and ways of developing the culture of speech, the structure of speech ethics. Speaking about the reasons for non-compliance with speech culture, the authors indicate their elimination. They come to the conclusion that in order to improve the culture of speech skills, it is necessary to use the media of the language correctly.

High-frequency recurrent word combinations known as lexical bundles are an essential component in the second language development. However, existing research on second language lexical bundle use has focused on writing proficiency, while oral proficiency has not received adequate attention. This study adopts a corpus-driven approach to the investigation of the speech of second language learners, comparing lexical bundle use across proficiency levels in several areas of interest including frequency, functional distribution and bundle fixedness. Results show that low-proficiency students tend to use significantly more context-dependent bundles than high-proficiency students, but do not differ in overall lexical bundle use. The patterning of lexical bundle use in non-native speech exhibits features that are typical in the register of classroom teaching. Additionally, the frequency and functional distributions of non-native speech share many similarities with those of non-native writing. Implications of the author's findings are discussed in relation to previous studies.

Abstract In the past, research in interlanguage pragmatics has primarily explained the differences between native speakers’ (NS) and non-native speakers’ (NNS) pragmatic performance based on cross-cultural and linguistic differences. Very few researchers have considered learners’ pragmatic performance based on second language comprehension. In this study, we will examine learners’ pragmatic performance using request strategies. The results of this study reveal that there is a proficiency effect for interpreting request speech acts at different levels of directness. We propose that learners’ processing strategies and capacities are important factors to consider when examining learners’ pragmatic performance.

The monograph reflects the problems of Russian psycholinguistics from the moment of its inception in Russia to the present day and presents its main directions that are currently developing. In addition, theoretical developments and practical results obtained in the framework of different directions and research centers are described in a concise form. The task of the book is to reflect, as far as it is possible in one edition, firstly, the history of the formation of Russian psycholinguistics; secondly, its methodology and developed methods; thirdly, the results obtained in different research centers and directions in different regions of Russia; fourthly, to outline the main directions of the further development of Russian psycholinguistics. There is no doubt that in the theoretical, methodological and applied aspects, the main problems and the results of their development by Russian psycholinguistics have no analogues in world linguistics and psycholinguistics, or are represented by completely original concepts and methods. We have tried to show this uniqueness of the problematics and the methodological equipment of Russian psycholinguistics in this book. The main role in the formation of Russian psycholinguistics was played by the Moscow psycholinguistic school of A.A. Leontyev. It still defines the main directions of Russian psycholinguistics. Russian psycholinguistics (the theory of speech activity - TSA) is based on the achievements of Russian psychology: a cultural-historical approach to the analysis of mental phenomena L.S. Vygotsky and the system-activity approach of A.N. Leontyev. Moscow is the most "psycholinguistic region" of Russia - INL RAS, Moscow State University, Moscow State Linguistic University, RUDN, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Sechenov University, Moscow State University and other Moscow universities. Saint Petersburg psycholinguists have significant achievements, especially in the study of neurolinguistic problems, ontolinguistics. The most important feature of Russian psycholinguistics is the widespread development of psycholinguistics in the regions, the emergence of recognized psycholinguistic research centers - St. Petersburg, Tver, Saratov, Perm, Ufa, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Kursk, Chelyabinsk; psycholinguistics is represented in Cherepovets, Ivanovo, Volgograd, Vyatka, Kaluga, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Abakan, Maikop, Barnaul, Ulan-Ude, Yakutsk, Syktyvkar, Armavir and other cities; in Belarus - Minsk, in Ukraine - Lvov, Chernivtsi, Kharkov, in the DPR - Donetsk, in Kazakhstan - Alma-Ata, Chimkent. Our researchers work in Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, China, France, Switzerland. There are Russian psycholinguists in Canada, USA, Israel, Austria and a number of other countries. All scientists from these regions and countries have contributed to the development of Russian psycholinguistics, to the development of psycholinguistic theory and methods of psycholinguistic research. Their participation has not been forgotten. We tried to present the main Russian psycholinguists in the Appendix - in the sections "Scientometrics", "Monographs and Manuals" and "Dissertations", even if there is no information about them in the Electronic Library and RSCI. The principles of including scientists in the scientometric list are presented in the Appendix. Our analysis of the content of the resulting monograph on psycholinguistic research in Russia allows us to draw preliminary conclusions about some of the distinctive features of Russian psycholinguistics: 1. cultural-historical approach to the analysis of mental phenomena of L.S.Vygotsky and the system-activity approach of A.N. Leontiev as methodological basis of Russian psycholinguistics; 2. theoretical nature of psycholinguistic research as a characteristic feature of Russian psycholinguistics. Our psycholinguistics has always built a general theory of the generation and perception of speech, mental vocabulary, linked specific research with the problems of ontogenesis, the relationship between language and thinking; 3. psycholinguistic studies of speech communication as an important subject of psycholinguistics; 4. attention to the psycholinguistic analysis of the text and the development of methods for such analysis; 5. active research into the ontogenesis of linguistic ability; 6. investigation of linguistic consciousness as one of the important subjects of psycholinguistics; 7. understanding the need to create associative dictionaries of different types as the most important practical task of psycholinguistics; 8. widespread use of psycholinguistic methods for applied purposes, active development of applied psycholinguistics. The review of the main directions of development of Russian psycholinguistics, carried out in this monograph, clearly shows that the direction associated with the study of linguistic consciousness is currently being most intensively developed in modern Russian psycholinguistics. As the practice of many years of psycholinguistic research in our country shows, the subject of study of psycholinguists is precisely linguistic consciousness - this is a part of human consciousness that is responsible for generating, understanding speech and keeping language in consciousness. Associative experiments are the core of most psycholinguistic techniques and are important both theoretically and practically. The following main areas of practical application of the results of associative experiments can be outlined. 1. Education. Associative experiments are the basis for constructing Mind Maps, one of the most promising tools for systematizing knowledge, assessing the quality, volume and nature of declarative knowledge (and using special techniques and skills). Methods based on smart maps are already widely used in teaching foreign languages, fast and deep immersion in various subject areas. 2. Information search, search optimization. The results of associative experiments can significantly improve the quality of information retrieval, its efficiency, as well as adaptability for a specific person (social group). When promoting sites (promoting them in search results), an associative experiment allows you to increase and improve the quality of the audience reached. 3. Translation studies, translation automation. An associative experiment can significantly improve the quality of translation, take into account intercultural and other social characteristics of native speakers. 4. Computational linguistics and automatic word processing. The results of associative experiments make it possible to reveal the features of a person's linguistic consciousness and contribute to the development of automatic text processing systems in a wide range of applications of natural language interfaces of computer programs and robotic solutions. 5. Advertising. The use of data on associations for specific words, slogans and texts allows you to predict and improve advertising texts. 6. Social relationships. The analysis of texts using the data of associative experiments makes it possible to assess the tonality of messages (negative / positive moods, aggression and other characteristics) based on user comments on the Internet and social networks, in the press in various projections (by individuals, events, organizations, etc.) from various social angles, to diagnose the formation of extremist ideas. 7. Content control and protection of personal data. Associative experiments improve the quality of content detection and filtering by identifying associative fields in areas subject to age restrictions, personal information, tobacco and alcohol advertising, incitement to ethnic hatred, etc. 8. Gender and individual differences. The data of associative experiments can be used to compare the reactions (and, in general, other features of thinking) between men and women, different social and age groups, representatives of different regions. The directions for the further development of Russian psycholinguistics from the standpoint of the current state of psycholinguistic science in the country are seen by us, first of all:  in the development of research in various areas of linguistic consciousness, which will contribute to the development of an important concept of speech as a verbal model of non-linguistic consciousness, in which knowledge revealed by social practice and assigned by each member of society during its inculturation is consolidated for society and on its behalf;  in the expansion of the problematics, which is formed under the influence of the growing intercultural communication in the world community, which inevitably involves the speech behavior of natural and artificial bilinguals in the new object area of psycholinguistics;  in using the capabilities of national linguistic corpora in the interests of researchers studying the functioning of non-linguistic and linguistic consciousness in speech processes;  in expanding research on the semantic perception of multimodal texts, the scope of which has greatly expanded in connection with the spread of the Internet as a means of communication in the life of modern society;  in the inclusion of the problems of professional communication and professional activity in the object area of psycholinguistics in connection with the introduction of information technologies into public practice, entailing the emergence of new professions and new features of the professional ethos;  in the further development of the theory of the mental lexicon (identifying the role of different types of knowledge in its formation and functioning, the role of the word as a unit of the mental lexicon in the formation of the image of the world, as well as the role of the natural / internal metalanguage and its specificity in speech activity);  in the broad development of associative lexicography, which will meet the most diverse needs of society and cognitive sciences. The development of associative lexicography may lead to the emergence of such disciplines as associative typology, associative variantology, associative axiology;  in expanding the spheres of applied use of psycholinguistics in social sciences, sociology, semasiology, lexicography, in the study of the brain, linguodidactics, medicine, etc. This book is a kind of summarizing result of the development of Russian psycholinguistics today. Each section provides a bibliography of studies on the relevant issue. The Appendix contains the scientometrics of leading Russian psycholinguists, basic monographs, psycholinguistic textbooks and dissertations defended in psycholinguistics. The content of the publications presented here is convincing evidence of the relevance of psycholinguistic topics and the effectiveness of the development of psycholinguistic problems in Russia.

This chapter explores the contextual and linguistic potential of the content-based approach in language teaching. The first part of the analysis focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of this approach. The analysis of the cognitive-discursive activity of a non-native learner of a foreign language reveals the complex multi-level organization of cognitive-discursive activity. The author anticipates that context plays a decisive role in the processes of perception and understanding of a foreign language message embedded in a context. The second part of this chapter synthesizes research on learning outcomes in content-based EFL teaching of undergraduate science students. It deals with classroom-based research and participants' use of English taking account discourse factors, students' language resources, and didactic potential of the content-based teaching model. The findings demonstrated that the designed theme-based teaching framework proved to be more effective for science undergraduate students' speech skills development and acquisition of topic-related vocabulary.

The Preface of Volume 2, written by the primary author (John D. Bonvillian), offers an overview of many of the various themes and topics covered in Volume 1. This overview is accomplished through the historical lens of Dr. Bonvillian’s life, educational training, and decades-long career, with a view of the corresponding changes in the attitudes of linguists and the public toward signing and Deaf people as various advances in sign language research were made. Highlighted are the similarities and differences between spoken languages and signed languages, the history of sign use in the education of deaf students, and the introduction of signing into communication intervention programs with non-speaking or minimally verbal children with autism, an intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, or aphasia. Bonvillian points out the variable outcomes of teaching signs to such individuals before addressing possible reasons for this disparity: delaying the introduction of signs (often because of parental fears that signing would inhibit the development of speech skills), the lack of a supportive signing environment, and the characteristics of the signs themselves. He stresses the characteristics of signs that tend to be more easily learned, remembered, and produced by non-speaking individuals: highly iconic signs, signs with a single movement, signs with basic or easily formed handshapes, signs that make contact with the person’s body or non-dominant hand or arm, and signs that are highly relevant to that individual’s life. Also mentioned are the emotional and intellectual benefits of learning to sign, the ways signing can support speech, and how signing may be used to teach words from a person’s native language or to acquire a foreign or additional spoken language.

The reasons for writing the paper are grounded on the basis that the integration of Ukraine into the intercultural space, the expansion of economic ties necessitate the modernization of the training of masters of tourism in the field of time to improve the theoretical and methodological foundations for effective intercultural interaction. In this regard, higher education institutions face a responsible task – to provide al spheres with highly professional competitive workers in order to build an economically strong democratic state. This requires from future professionals not only high qualification, but also the ability to work at the appropriate professional cross-cultural level. As a result, the aim of the study is to identify the main innovations in approaches to learning English in Ukraine, based on the European experience. Methodology. The methodological basis of the study is demonstrated by the operational and methodological tools of foreign language education of future professionals. Based on this, the components of this toolkit, called as eight methodolodies were such as: the first methodology is «Flipped classroom», the second methodology is «Project learning», the third methodology is «Cooperative learning: together stronger», the fourth methodology is «Gamification», the fifth methodology is «Problem-based learning», the sixth methodology is «Design thinking», the seventh methodology is «Learning, based on thinking «, the eighth methodology» Learning based on competencies». Outcomes of the survey witnessed that the main innovations in approaches to teaching English in Ukraine, based on the: European experience; compliance with the content of the European recommendations on language education, unification of levels of education in Ukraine and the world, compliance with modern European standards of language education in accordance with the descriptors that determine the levels of English language proficiency (from A1 to C2); competence approach in teaching foreign languages, development of competencies in all four types of speech; minimization of the use of the native language in the process of communication, interactivity of learning, dynamism and variety of tasks in the classroom; maximum involvement of each student in the process of language acquisition; language learning with the help of educational and methodological complexes developed by groups of methodological specialists from Great Britain and the USA on the basis of the latest research; focus on international English language exams (FCE, CAE, IELTS, TOEFL,); clearly defined criteria for assessing the level of language proficiency. Practical implications. The ongoing research is grounded on the activity-oriented approach, which: determines the learning of material as close as possible to real life situations and user needs; tasks for the development of critical thinking; changing the role of the teacher and the introduction of partnership pedagogy; active use of multimedia tools, audio and video materials, the Internet to create a speech environment for students, the use of modern devices for searching and processing information; organization of project work of students, application of non-standard and creative tasks; involvement of students in cultural and educational activities conducted in foreign languages in extracurricular time; participation of future specialists in exchange programs; promoting lifelong learning and self-development. Value/originality. One of the key indicators of education reform is the study of foreign languages as a priority of Ukraine’s domestic policy on EU integration. One of the tasks in the program is «ensuring the increase and optimization of Ukraine’s presence at international events and platforms, presence in the international academic, cultural and social environment». The implementation of this task requires a qualitatively new level of teaching foreign languages at universities, in particular English as the language of international communication.

This study investigates the production of and exposure to lexical features when non-native speakers (NNS) converse with each other (NNS-NNS) engaging in interlanguage talk, as compared to when they engage in naturalistic speech with a native speaker (NS). The authors focus on lexical features that are associated with breadth of lexical knowledge including lexical diversity and lexical frequency. Spoken corpora from three types of dyads (NS-NNS, NNS-NS, NNS-NNS) are analyzed using the computational tool, Coh-Metrix. The results indicate that NNSs produce language with significantly greater lexical diversity and higher word frequency (i.e., more common words) when speaking to another NNS than when speaking to a NS. Hence, there is greater breadth of lexical knowledge apparent within interlanguage dyads (i.e., NNS-NNS) than within NNS-NS dyads in the variety of words produced, but not the frequency of the words. There were no significant differences in NNS exposure to breadth of lexical knowledge features as a function of whether the speaker was a NS or NNS. Hence, NNSs were exposed to similar levels of lexically comprehensible input regardless of interlocutor. These findings have important implications for the developmental role of interlanguage talk in reference to lexical production and exposure.

"For centuries, print dictionaries were the primary assisting tool for those who needed to find the meaning of an unknown word or translate something from or to a target language. These days, various technological solutions are available, many of them online and free of charge. Online machine translators (OMTs) are used as dictionaries to look up individual words or translate texts of various lengths. OMTs have changed the situation in foreign language education, too. The paper aims to discover how OMTs are perceived and used by non-native speaking university students of English in teacher-training and philology programmes and identify possible differences. First, the paper summarizes the main directions in the ever-growing research on perceiving OMTs in foreign language education. Second, it presents partial results of the online survey conducted among future teachers of English and students of English philology (English language and culture). The results proved that both groups of respondents use a wide range of OMTs, with Google Translate being the most popular. In general, respondents showed positive attitudes towards OMTs and were satisfied with their outcomes; however, teacher trainees were more critical when the quality of translations was considered and they were more aware of the need for post-editing. Future teachers of English also showed more reserve for using OMTs as means of FL learning (learning new vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, reading, writing, translating). Only a tiny part of respondents (all future teachers) saw OMTs as a threat to effective foreign language learning. The results proved a more “conservative” perception of OMTs by future teachers of English (which may explain why some practising teachers ban using OMTs in their classrooms, fearing that their students could become dependent on them). Students of English philology (English language and culture) manifested less critical attitudes towards OMT in all observed categories. They focused more on speed and comfort than the quality of translation. This result points to the need to instruct students on using OMTs properly (including post-editing) to get the best possible translating and learning outcomes. The paper presents partial results of the research project KEGA 019TTU-04/2021 Integrating new digital tools into philological research and education sponsored by the Slovak Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport."