Genes: Interactions with Language on Three Levels—Inter-Individual Variation, Historical Correlations and Genetic Biasing

Dediu, Dan

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_7

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…For example, the ability to process rhythm information can be impaired while that to process pitch information remains intact ( Alcock et al, 2000a , b ) and vice versa ( Hyde and Peretz, 2004 ). Furthermore, there may be genetic differences that determine individual differences in processing pitch information ( Dediu and Ladd, 2007 ; Dediu, 2013 ) but perhaps not timing information. These factors may interfere with the process of category formation in different ways.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual aptitude in Mandarin lexical tone perception predicts effectiveness of high-variability training

2014

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Although the high-variability training method can enhance learning of non-native speech categories, this can depend on individuals’ aptitude. The current study asked how general the effects of perceptual aptitude are by testing whether they occur with training materials spoken by native speakers and whether they depend on the nature of the to-be-learned material. Forty-five native Dutch listeners took part in a 5-day training procedure in which they identified bisyllabic Mandarin pseudowords (e.g., asa) pronounced with different lexical tone combinations. The training materials were presented to different groups of listeners at three levels of variability: low (many repetitions of a limited set of words recorded by a single speaker), medium (fewer repetitions of a more variable set of words recorded by three speakers), and high (similar to medium but with five speakers). Overall, variability did not influence learning performance, but this was due to an interaction with individuals’ perceptual aptitude: increasing variability hindered improvements in performance for low-aptitude perceivers while it helped improvements in performance for high-aptitude perceivers. These results show that the previously observed interaction between individuals’ aptitude and effects of degree of variability extends to natural tokens of Mandarin speech. This interaction was not found, however, in a closely matched study in which native Dutch listeners were trained on the Japanese geminate/singleton consonant contrast. This may indicate that the effectiveness of high-variability training depends not only on individuals’ aptitude in speech perception but also on the nature of the categories being acquired.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual aptitude in Mandarin lexical tone perception predicts effectiveness of high-variability training

2014

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“…Here, there was no prior theory. Instead, a pattern in large-scale data suggested a hypothesis which was developed into a theory (see [71]). However, this theory went on to suggest an experimental hypothesis which was tested on smallscale experimental data [21].…”

Section: Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Languages adapt to their contextual niche

2014

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It is well established that context plays a fundamental role in how we learn and use language. Here we explore how context links short-term language use with the long-term emergence of different types of language system. Using an iterated learning model of cultural transmission, the current study experimentally investigates the role of the communicative situation in which an utterance is produced (situational context) and how it influences the emergence of three types of linguistic systems: underspecified languages (where only some dimensions of meaning are encoded linguistically), holistic systems (lacking systematic structure), and systematic languages (consisting of compound signals encoding both category-level and individuating dimensions of meaning). To do this, we set up a discrimination task in a communication game and manipulated whether the feature dimension shape was relevant or not in discriminating between two referents. The experimental languages gradually evolved to encode information relevant to the task of achieving communicative success, given the situational context in which they are learned and used, resulting in the emergence of different linguistic systems. These results suggest language systems adapt to their contextual niche over iterated learning.

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“…The study of inter-individual linguistic differences has achieved prominence in recent decades, with the bulk of the research effort on this topic consisting of electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies (Golestani, 2014; Tanner et al, 2018; Zhu et al, 2013), investigations of psychological processes (Festman et al, 2010; Just & Carpenter, 1992; MacDonald & Christiansen, 2002; Misyak et al, 2010), genetic studies (Dediu, 2013; Hayiou-Thomas et al, 2012), and L1 and L2 acquisition studies (Bates et al, 1995; Birdsong, 2018). Recent investigations involving controlled, language-based experimental tasks have convincingly demonstrated inter-individual differences in implicit grammatical knowledge and in the L1 of normal adults (Dabrowska, 2012; Street & Dabrowska, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter-individual differences in Hindi–English code-switching: A quantitative approach

Ellison

2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and objectives: Variationist studies on code-switching (CS) have focused on community-level differences driven by variables such as age, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Studies on inter-individual variation that make use of naturalistic speech need to be prioritised, especially in countries with large, diverse populations, such as India. This article presents a quantitative analysis of the Hindi–English CS (HECS) patterns among speakers of comparable socio-economic status and clusters them based on similarities in their CS strategies. Methodology: Television interviews of Hindi movie (Bollywood) personalities were transcribed and coded for Hindi and English lexemes. Bespoke software in Python was used to calculate five numerical indices to describe each speaker’s CS pattern. Data and analysis: The interviews from 28 speakers ranged between 20 and 40 minutes each. Cluster analysis was carried out in SPSS to produce a typology of CS strategies. Findings/conclusions: A total of six CS strategies were identified, with five being employed by both older and younger speakers and only one being used only by a single age group. Most CS strategies are therefore not age-specific. A number of hypothetical scenarios are presented, to demonstrate how individual CS strategies might change with time. Originality: This is the first study to systematically and quantitatively investigate inter-individual differences in HECS, using naturalistic speech in semi-controlled conditions. It is also the first to propose a typology of HECS strategies. Implications: There was significant variation in CS strategy even within the relatively homogeneous group of speakers investigated in this study. The overall variation in the whole of Hindi-speaking India must therefore be far greater. This suggests that certain predictions regarding the predictability of CS patterns from the contact situation (e.g., that postcolonial contexts result in insertional CS) may need to be refined.

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Genes: Interactions with Language on Three Levels—Inter-Individual Variation, Historical Correlations and Genetic Biasing

Cited by 4 publications

References 111 publications

Individual aptitude in Mandarin lexical tone perception predicts effectiveness of high-variability training

Individual aptitude in Mandarin lexical tone perception predicts effectiveness of high-variability training

Languages adapt to their contextual niche

Inter-individual differences in Hindi–English code-switching: A quantitative approach

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