Rhythm in language acquisition

Langus, Alan; Mehler, Jacques; Nespor, Marina

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.012

Cited by 44 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Experience of musical rhythm, while less often taught explicitly, is equally ubiquitous. This is also the case for speech rhythm, considered a universal cornerstone in the acquisition of all languages (Langus, Mehler, & Nespor, ).…”

Section: Prosody Syllable Stress and The Segmentation Of Speechmentioning

confidence: 87%

Rhythmic Rhymes for Boosting Phonological Awareness in Socially Disadvantaged Children

Kuppen

Bourke

2017

Mind Brain and Education

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This study evaluated the ability for two rhythmic rhyming programs to raise phonological awareness in the early literacy classroom. Year 1 (5–6‐year‐olds) from low socioeconomic status schools in Bedfordshire, learned a program of sung or spoken rhythmic rhymes, or acted as controls. The project ran with two independent cohorts (Cohort 1 N = 98, Cohort 2 N = 136). Program‐related gains from pre‐ to post‐tests of phonological awareness (Rhyme Detection, Rhyme Production, and Phoneme Deletion), were statistically significant with the exception of Rhyme Detection in the Spoken group (Cohort 1) and Rhyme Production in the Sung group (Cohort 2). The Spoken program achieved medium and large effect sizes for Cohort 1 on measures of rhyming awareness (although the effect size was small for Cohort 2). Comparatively, the Sung program was associated with smaller effects (small, negligible, or with a small positive effect for Controls) across tasks and cohorts.

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Section: Prosody Syllable Stress and The Segmentation Of Speechmentioning

confidence: 87%

Rhythmic Rhymes for Boosting Phonological Awareness in Socially Disadvantaged Children

Kuppen

Bourke

2017

Mind Brain and Education

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“…Non-native rhythmic patterns in utterances produced by second language (L2) speakers contribute to perceived accentedness and impair intelligibility of L2 speech (Polyanskaya et al, 2017;Tajima et al, 1997). Rhythm plays a very important role in acquisition of linguistic features of particular languages (Langus et al, 2018) and dialects (Clopper & Smiljanic, 2015;Polka & Sundara, 2011).…”

Section: Language-based Hypothesis Of Rhythmic Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rhythm perception in general and discrimination of rhythmic patterns in particular are essential skills for speech and language processing and for language acquisition in infancy (Langus, Mehler & Nespor, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Native Language and the Fundamental Design of the Auditory System in Detecting Rhythm Changes

Ordin

Polyanskaya

Gómez

et al. 2019

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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Purpose We investigated whether rhythm discrimination is mainly driven by the native language of the listener or by the fundamental design of the human auditory system and universal cognitive mechanisms shared by all people irrespective of rhythmic patterns in their native language. Method In multiple experiments, we asked participants to listen to 2 continuous acoustic sequences and to determine whether their rhythms were the same or different (AX discrimination). Participants were native speakers of 4 languages with different rhythmic properties (Spanish, French, English, and German) to understand whether the predominant rhythmic patterns of a native language affect sensitivity, bias, and reaction time in detecting rhythmic changes in linguistic (Experiment 2) and in nonlinguistic (Experiments 1 and 2) acoustic sequences. We examined sensitivity and bias measures, as well as reaction times. We also computed Bayes factors in order to assess the effect of native language. Results All listeners performed better (i.e., responded faster and manifested higher sensitivity and accuracy) when detecting the presence or absence of a rhythm change when the 1st stimulus in an AX test pair exhibited regular rhythm (i.e., a syllable-timed rhythmic pattern) than when the 1st stimulus exhibited irregular rhythm (i.e., stress-timed rhythmic pattern). This result pattern was observed both on linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli and was not modulated by the native language of the participant. Conclusion We conclude that rhythm change detection is a fundamental function of a processing system that relies on general auditory mechanisms and is not modulated by linguistic experience.

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“…Finally, rhythm is crucial to speech processing, for example, for segmenting a continuous stream of syllables into its discrete constituents (phrases and words), for adapting to non‐native accented speech and evaluating the degree of proficiency of foreign language learners, and for the purposes of language acquisition . This important function of speech rhythm is further highlighted by Goswami …”

Section: Functional Loadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speech rhythm as naturally occurring and culturally transmitted behavioral patterns

Ordin

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Rhythm is fundamental to every motor activity. Neural and physiological mechanisms that underlie rhythmic cognition, in general, and rhythmic pattern generation, in particular, are evolutionarily ancient. As speech production is a kind of motor activity, investigating speech rhythm can provide insight into how general motor patterns have been adapted for more specific use in articulation and speech production. Studies on speech rhythm may further provide insight into the development of speech capacity in humans. As speech capacity is putatively a prerequisite for developing a language faculty, studies on speech rhythm may cast some light on the mystery of language evolution in the human genus. Hereby, we propose an approach to exploring speech rhythm as a window on speech emergence in ontogenesis and phylogenesis, as well as on diachronic linguistic changes.

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Rhythm in language acquisition

Cited by 44 publications

References 43 publications

Rhythmic Rhymes for Boosting Phonological Awareness in Socially Disadvantaged Children

Rhythmic Rhymes for Boosting Phonological Awareness in Socially Disadvantaged Children

The Role of Native Language and the Fundamental Design of the Auditory System in Detecting Rhythm Changes

Speech rhythm as naturally occurring and culturally transmitted behavioral patterns

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