Behavioral and cortical effects of learning a second language
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Joan A. Sereno
Abstract
Explanations of language learning often involve appeals to distinct learning mechanisms. On one hand, learners’ innate characteristics are emphasized, with learning tied to a limited time period, a critical period, when the brain is predisposed for success in language learning. This view is often contrasted with a position emphasizing the role of the environment in shaping language learning, highlighting the contribution of feedback mechanisms and the nature of the speech input. One approach has been to examine how second languages are learned in order to directly examine change due to learning. To this end, the present paper documents the behavioral and cortical changes resulting from learning a novel language contrast, specifically Mandarin tone. Hemispheric differences in the processing of language contrasts are observed, with significant left hemispheric participation in native listeners and no hemispheric preference for non-native listeners. Additional experiments examined the training of non-native listeners, revealing that tone perception accuracy can be improved with minimal exposure. Furthermore, it can be generalized to new stimuli and talkers, retained for at least six months, and transferred to production. Native listeners identify post-training productions more accurately than pretraining productions and acoustic analyses of the post-training F0 contours show better approximation to native speaker norms. These behavioral changes due to training can also be observed cortically, with the learning of Mandarin tone contrasts associated with significant increases in activity in the traditional language areas (left hemisphere superior temporal gyrus) as well as the recruitment of neighboring neural areas. Implications for theories of language learning will be addressed.
Abstract
Explanations of language learning often involve appeals to distinct learning mechanisms. On one hand, learners’ innate characteristics are emphasized, with learning tied to a limited time period, a critical period, when the brain is predisposed for success in language learning. This view is often contrasted with a position emphasizing the role of the environment in shaping language learning, highlighting the contribution of feedback mechanisms and the nature of the speech input. One approach has been to examine how second languages are learned in order to directly examine change due to learning. To this end, the present paper documents the behavioral and cortical changes resulting from learning a novel language contrast, specifically Mandarin tone. Hemispheric differences in the processing of language contrasts are observed, with significant left hemispheric participation in native listeners and no hemispheric preference for non-native listeners. Additional experiments examined the training of non-native listeners, revealing that tone perception accuracy can be improved with minimal exposure. Furthermore, it can be generalized to new stimuli and talkers, retained for at least six months, and transferred to production. Native listeners identify post-training productions more accurately than pretraining productions and acoustic analyses of the post-training F0 contours show better approximation to native speaker norms. These behavioral changes due to training can also be observed cortically, with the learning of Mandarin tone contrasts associated with significant increases in activity in the traditional language areas (left hemisphere superior temporal gyrus) as well as the recruitment of neighboring neural areas. Implications for theories of language learning will be addressed.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication ix
- Alphabetical List of Contributors xi
- Acknowledgments xv
- Biographical Note xvii
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PART I: The nature of L2 speech learning
- The study of second language speech learning 3
- Nonnative and second-language speech perception 13
- Cross-language phonetic similarity of vowels 35
- Investigating the role of attention in phonetic learning 57
- You are what you eat phonetically 79
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PART II: The concept of foreign accent
- Nativelike pronunciation among late learners of French as a second language 99
- Second language acquisition of a regional dialect of American English by native Japanese speakers 117
- Acoustic variability and perceptual learning 135
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PART III: Consonants and vowels
- Strategies for Realization of L2-Categories 153
- Temporal remnants from Mandarin in nonnative English speech 167
- Cross-language consonant identification 185
- The relationship between identification and discrimination in cross-language perception 201
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PART IV: Beyond consonants and vowels
- Music and language learning 221
- Behavioral and cortical effects of learning a second language 239
- The perception of tones and phones 259
- Prosody in second language acquisition 281
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PART V: Emerging issues
- Implications of James E. Flege’s research for the foreign language classroom 301
- Speech learning, lexical reorganization, and the development of word recognition by native and non-native English speakers 315
- Phonemic errors in different word positions and their effects on intelligibility of non-native speech 331
- The graphical basis of phones and phonemes 349
- References 367
- Author Index 399
- Subject Index 405
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication ix
- Alphabetical List of Contributors xi
- Acknowledgments xv
- Biographical Note xvii
-
PART I: The nature of L2 speech learning
- The study of second language speech learning 3
- Nonnative and second-language speech perception 13
- Cross-language phonetic similarity of vowels 35
- Investigating the role of attention in phonetic learning 57
- You are what you eat phonetically 79
-
PART II: The concept of foreign accent
- Nativelike pronunciation among late learners of French as a second language 99
- Second language acquisition of a regional dialect of American English by native Japanese speakers 117
- Acoustic variability and perceptual learning 135
-
PART III: Consonants and vowels
- Strategies for Realization of L2-Categories 153
- Temporal remnants from Mandarin in nonnative English speech 167
- Cross-language consonant identification 185
- The relationship between identification and discrimination in cross-language perception 201
-
PART IV: Beyond consonants and vowels
- Music and language learning 221
- Behavioral and cortical effects of learning a second language 239
- The perception of tones and phones 259
- Prosody in second language acquisition 281
-
PART V: Emerging issues
- Implications of James E. Flege’s research for the foreign language classroom 301
- Speech learning, lexical reorganization, and the development of word recognition by native and non-native English speakers 315
- Phonemic errors in different word positions and their effects on intelligibility of non-native speech 331
- The graphical basis of phones and phonemes 349
- References 367
- Author Index 399
- Subject Index 405
