Production and perception of French vowels by congenitally blind adults and sighted adults

Abstract

The goal of this study is to investigate the production and perception of French vowels by blind and sighted speakers. 12 blind adults and 12 sighted adults served as subjects. The auditory-perceptual abilities of each subject were evaluated by discrimination tests (AXB). At the production level, ten repetitions of the ten French oral vowels were recorded. Formant values and fundamental frequency values were extracted from the acoustic signal. Measures of contrasts between vowel categories were computed and compared for each feature (height, place of articulation, roundedness) and group (blind, sighted). The results reveal a significant effect of group (blind vs sighted) on production, with sighted speakers producing vowels that are spaced further apart in the vowel space than those of blind speakers. A group effect emerged for a subset of the perceptual contrasts examined, with blind speakers having higher peak discrimination scores than sighted speakers. Results suggest an important role of visual input in determining speech goals

The development of gaze to a speaking face

“…Both understanding and producing speech is likely influenced by experience with seeing other talkers. For example, blind individuals display differences in speech perception and production in comparison to sighted individuals (Menard et al, 2009). Further, visible speech can influence what is heard both in the context of a noisy background (e.g., Sumby and Pollack, 1954) and even in clear listening conditions.…”

Acoustic and articulatory analysis of French vowels produced by congenitally blind adults and sighted adults

“…Am. 126, 1406-1414(2009, it was demonstrated that, despite enhanced auditory discrimination abilities for synthesized vowels, blind adult French speakers produced vowels that were closer together in the acoustic space than those produced by sighted adult French speakers, suggesting finer control of speech production in the sighted speakers. The goal of the present study is to further investigate the articulatory effects of visual deprivation on vowels produced by 11 blind and 11 sighted adult French speakers.…”

Comparative Morphology of the Hominin and African Ape Hyoid Bone, a Possible Marker of the Evolution of Speech

“…Concerning speech production, the same research (Menard, 2009) reveals differences in the formant structure of vowels, i.e. in spatial organization, when data from blind and sighted people are compared.…”

“…Concerning speech perception, Moos et al (2008), for instance, observed that non-sighted listeners are able to perceive ultra-fast speech, whereas unimpaired people cannot understand such sentences. Moreover, Menard et al (2009) showed that congenital blind people have more accurate auditory discrimination abilities than sighted adult speakers.…”

“…Speech production and perception has been a topic of much interest for phoneticians in the last ten years (Cavé et al, 2010;Hirsch et al, 2010;Sato et al, 2010;Menard et al, 2009, Moos et al, 2008. Concerning speech perception, Moos et al (2008), for instance, observed that non-sighted listeners are able to perceive ultra-fast speech, whereas unimpaired people cannot understand such sentences.…”