Linguistics Colloquium: Factors Influencing Non-Native Speech Perception and Learning.

Dr. Melissa Baese-Berk University of Oregon

Thursday, March 19, 2015 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EDT
Merten Hall, #3300

Learning a second language is a complex task, requiring acquisition of syntactic structure, lexical items, and phonological structure, among other things. In particular, learning to perceive novel phonological categories is notoriously difficult for non-native speakers, because sensitivity to non-native contrasts by adult listeners is typically quite poor. Previous research has hypothesized that a relationship between the structure of the first and second languages predicts naive perception and eventual acquisition of contrasts in a second language (e.g., Flege, 1988, Iverson, et al. 2003, Best et al. 2009). My research examines a number of other factors that may influence perception and learning of non-native contrasts. I will present a series of studies addressing the relationship between perception and production during learning, the role of variability during training, and the role of active and passive exposures during training. I will discuss the implications of the results of these studies for our understanding of second language acquisition and of cognitive processing more broadly.

Hosted by Linguistics Program.

Sponsored by Linguistics Program.