This study examined the effects of linguistic experience on audio-visual (AV) perception of non-native (L2) speech. Canadian English natives and Mandarin Chinese natives differing in degree of English exposure [long and short length of residence (LOR) in Canada] were presented with English fricatives of three visually distinct places of articulation: interdentals nonexistent in Mandarin and labiodentals and alveolars common in both languages. Stimuli were presented in quiet and in a cafe-noise background in four ways: audio only (A), visual only (V), congruent AV (AVc), and incongruent AV (AVi). Identification results showed that overall performance was better in the AVc than in the A or V condition and better in quiet than in cafe noise. While the Mandarin long LOR group approximated the native English patterns, the short LOR group showed poorer interdental identification, more reliance on visual information, and greater AV-fusion with the AVi materials, indicating the failure of L2 visual speech category formation with the short LOR non-natives and the positive effects of linguistic experience with the long LOR non-natives. These results point to an integrated network in AV speech processing as a function of linguistic background and provide evidence to extend auditory-based L2 speech learning theories to the visual domain.

No abstract

The Hainan gibbon continues to survive in Bawanglin Nature Reserve in four social groups totalling 21 individuals. Twelve births have occurred since 1982, and 11 of these individuals survive in 1989. Only three of these 12 births have been females, however. The total female population consists of 6 adult females, two of which are at least 19 years old, and three juvenile females born since 1985. Two of the four social groups have only one adult female each and no juvenile females. All four groups are well protected, but their survival is precarious.

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) at the Nanwan peninsula of Hainan Island, China, have been observed in the field for 25 years, and have been studied intensively for eight years, beginning in 1981. There were about 115 monkeys in 5 natural groups when the Nanwan Reserve was founded in 1965 . From 1965 to 1984, the number of groups increased from 5 to 19, and the total population increased from 115 to 930 individuals, an annual population increase of 12.7%. From 1984 to 1987, the population continued a slower rate of increase (8.9%) to approximately 1200 monkeys in 20 groups. The home ranges of each monkey group at Nanwan varied from 0.16 to 0.72 km2, with a mean and standard deviation of 0.37 ? 0.18. The size of the home range of the rhesus was affected by the quality of vegetation and rhesus population density. The average birth rate per year was 77.8 k 13.9%, varying from 53.8% to 100% since 1978. From 1978, the birth rates of two food provisioned groups were higher in alternate years (E = 91.7%) and lower in intervening years (% = 68.8%; P = <0.01). A minority (26.5%) of females have given birth at 4 years of age, most at 5 years. The sex ratio of newborns in any one year varied from 0.3 to 3.5 males to females, with a mean and standard error of 1.09 2 0.37 males to females.

This study examines the effects of auditory (A), visual (V), and audio-visual (AV) training on nonnative speech perception. Mandarin Chinese natives were trained to perceive English voiceless fricatives (in monosyllabic words and nonwords) of three visually distinct places of articulation: interdentals nonexistent in Mandarin, labiodentals and alveolars common in both languages. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group or one of three 2-week (six sessions, 40 minutes/session) training groups with a different input modality: A, V, or AV. In pre- and post-tests, the fricatives are presented in four ways for an identification task: A-only, V-only, AV congruent (AVc), and AV incongruent (AVi). Additionally, three generalization posttests are administered testing voiced fricatives, new real words, and a new speaker. Results show that post-training, the trainees reveal: (1) improvements corresponding to training type (e.g., the V-training group improves most for the V-only stimuli), (2) greater improvements for the familiar (but less visually distinct) alveolars than for the new interdentals, (3) decreased AV-fusion for the AVi stimuli, and (4) consistent patterns in the generalization tests. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of speech input modality, experience, and L1 on L2 AV speech learning. [Research supported by SSHRC]