Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T23:42:06.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The development of phonetic representation in bilingual and monolingual infants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2007

TRACEY C. BURNS ,
KATHERINE A. YOSHIDA ,
KAREN HILL  and
JANET F. WERKER
TRACEY C. BURNS
Affiliation:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
KATHERINE A. YOSHIDA
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
KAREN HILL
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
JANET F. WERKER
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The development of native language phonetic representations in bilingual infants was compared to that of monolingual infants. Infants (ages 6–8, 10–12, and 14–20 months) from English–French or English-only environments were tested on their ability to discriminate a French and an English voice onset time distinction. Although 6- to 8-month-olds responded similarly irrespective of language environment, by 10–12 months both groups of infants displayed language-specific perceptual abilities: the monolinguals demonstrated realignment to the native English boundary whereas the bilinguals began discriminating both native boundaries. This suggests that infants exposed to two languages from birth are equipped to phonetically process each as a native language and the development of phonetic representation is neither delayed nor compromised by additional languages.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , July 2007 , pp. 455 - 474
Copyright
© 2007 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramson A. S., & Lisker L. 1985. Relative power of cues: F0 shift versus voice timing. In V. Fromkin (Ed.), Phonetic linguistics (pp. 25– 33). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Anderson J. L., Morgan J. L., & White K. S. 2003. A statistical basis for speech sound discrimination. Language and Speech, 46, 155– 182.Google Scholar
Aslin R. N., & Pisoni D. B. 1980. Some developmental processes in speech perception. In G. H. Yeni-Komshian, J. Kavanagh, & C. A. Ferguson (Eds.), Child phonology: Perception (Vol. 2, pp. 67– 96). New York: Academic Press.
Aslin R. N., Pisoni D. B., Hennessy B. L., & Perey A. J. 1981. Discrimination of voice onset time by human infants: New findings and implications for the effect of early experience. Child Development, 52, 1135– 1145.Google Scholar
Au T. K.-F., Knightly L. M., Jun S.-A., & Oh J. S. 2002. Overhearing a language during childhood. Psychological Science, 13, 238– 243.Google Scholar
Best C. T. 1995. A direct realist view of cross-language speech perception. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience (pp. 171– 206). Baltimore, MD: York Press.
Best C. T., McRoberts G. W., LaFleur R., & Silver-Isenstadt J. 1995. Divergent developmental patterns for infants' perception of two nonnative consonant contrasts. Infant Behavior and Development, 18, 339– 350.Google Scholar
Best C. T., McRoberts G. W., & Sithole N. N. 1988. The phonological basis of perceptual loss for non-native contrasts: Maintenance of discrimination among Zulu clicks by English-speaking adults and infants. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14, 345– 360.Google Scholar
Bosch L, Costa A., & Sebastián-Gallés N. 2000. First and second language vowel perception in early bilinguals. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 12, 189– 221.Google Scholar
Bosch L., & Sebastián-Gallés N. 1997a. Native-language recognition abilities in 4-month-old infants from monolingual and bilingual environments. Cognition, 65, 33– 69.Google Scholar
Bosch L., & Sebastián-Gallés N. 1997b. Infant bilingual language questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, Universitat de Barcelona.
Bosch L., & Sebastián-Gallés N. 2001. Evidence of early language discrimination abilities in infants from bilingual environments. Infancy, 2, 29– 49.Google Scholar
Bosch L., & Sebastián-Gallés N. 2003. Simultaneous bilingualism and the perception of a language specific vowel contrast in the first year of life. Language and Speech, 46, 217– 244.Google Scholar
Burns T. C., Werker J. F., & McVie K. 2003. Development of phonetic categories in infants raised in bilingual and monolingual environments. In B. Beachley, A. Brown, & F. Conlin (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (Vol. 1, pp. 173– 184). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Caramazza A., Yeni-Komshian G., Zurif E., & Carbone E. 1973. The acquisition of a new phonological contrast: The case of stop consonants in French-English bilinguals. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 54, 421– 428.Google Scholar
Cohen L. B., Atkinson D. J., & Chaput H. H. 2000. Habit 2000: A new program for testing infant perception and cognition (Version 2.2.5c) [Computer software]. Austin, TX: University of Texas.
Cutler A., Mehler J., Norris D., & Segui J. 1989. Limits on bilingualism. Nature, 340, 229– 230.Google Scholar
Eimas P. D., Siqueland E. R, Jusczyk P., & Vigorito J. 1971. Speech perception in infants. Science, 171, 303– 306.Google Scholar
Elman J. L., Diehl R. L., & Buchwald S. E. 1977. Perceptual switching in bilinguals. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 62, 971– 974.Google Scholar
Fennell C. T., Byers-Heinlein K. N., & Werker J. F. 2007. Using speech sounds to guide word learning: The case of bilingual infants. Unpublished manuscript.
Flege J. E. 1987. The production of “new” and “similar” phones in a foreign language: Evidence for the effect of equivalence classification. Journal of Phonetics, 15, 47– 65.Google Scholar
Flege J. E. 1995. Second language speech learning: Theory, findings and problems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience (pp. 233– 272). Baltimore, MD: York Press.
Flege J. E. 2003. Accessing constraints on second-language segmental production and perception. In A. Meyer & N. Schiller (Eds.), Phonetics and phonology in language comprehension and production, differences and similarities (pp. 319– 355). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Flege J. E., Munro M. J., & MacKay I. R. A. 1995. Effects of age of second-language learning on the production of English consonants. Speech Communication, 16, 1– 26.Google Scholar
Genesee F., & Nicoladis E. 2007. Bilingual first language acquisition. In E. Hoff & M. Shatz (Eds.), Handbook of language development. Oxford: Blackwell.
Grosjean F. 1997. Processing mixed language: Issues, findings and models. In A. de Groot & J. Kroll (Eds.), Tutorials in bilingualism: Psycholinguistic perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Grosjean F. 1998. Studying bilinguals: Methodological and conceptual issues. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1, 131– 149.Google Scholar
Haggard M. P., Ambler S., & Callow M. 1970. Pitch as a voicing cue. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 47, 613– 617.Google Scholar
Horowitz F. D. 1975. Infant attention and discrimination: Methodological and substantive issues. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 39 (Serial No. 158).Google Scholar
Ju M., & Luce P. 2004. Falling on sensitive ears: Constraints on bilingual lexical activation. Psychological Science, 15, 314– 318.Google Scholar
Kuhl P. K., Stevens E., Hayashi A., Degushi T., Kiritani S., & Iverson P. 2006. Infants show a facilitation effect for native language phonetic perception between 6 and 12 months. Developmental Science, 9, F13– F21.Google Scholar
Kuhl P. K., Williams K. A., Lacerda F., Stevens K. N. & Lindblom B. 1992. Linguistic experience alters phonetic perception in infants by 6 months of age. Science, 255, 606– 608.Google Scholar
Lasky R. E., Syrdal-Lasky A., & Klein R. E. 1975. VOT discrimination by four to six and a half month old infants from Spanish environments. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 20, 215– 225.Google Scholar
Liberman A. M., Delattre P. C., & Cooper F. S. 1958. Some cues for the distinction between voiced and voiceless stops in initial position. Language and Speech, 1, 153– 167.Google Scholar
Lisker L. 1978. In qualified defense of VOT. Language and Speech, 21, 375– 383.Google Scholar
Lisker L., & Abramson A. S. 1964. Stop categorization and voice onset time. Paper presented at the 5th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.
Lisker L., & Abramson A. S. 1970. The voicing dimension: Some experiments in comparative phonetics. Paper presented at the 6th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague, 1967.
Mattock K., Polka L., & Rvachew S. 2006. Delay? No way! Bilingual infants are more efficient word learners. Poster presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Kyoto, Japan, June 2006.
MacLeod A. A. N., & Stoel-Gammon C. 2005. Are bilinguals different? What VOT tells us about simultaneous bilinguals. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders, 3, 118– 127.Google Scholar
Maye J., Werker J. F., & Gerken L. 2002. Infant sensitivity to distributional information can affect phonetic discrimination. Cognition, 82, B101– B111.Google Scholar
McMurray B., & Aslin R. N. 2005. Infants are sensitive to within-category variation in speech perception. Cognition, 95, B15– B26.Google Scholar
Mehler J., Jusczyk P., Lambertz G., Halsted N., Bertoncini J., & Amiel-Tison C. 1988. A precursor of language acquisition in young infants. Cognition, 29, 143– 178.Google Scholar
Miller J. L., & Volaitis L. E. 1989. Effect of speaking rate on the perceptual structure of a phonetic category. Perception and Psychophysics, 46, 505– 512.Google Scholar
Narayan C. 2006. Acoustic–perceptual salience and developmental speech perception, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan.
Narayan C., & Werker J. F. 2007. Non-native nasal contrast discrimination in infancy. Unpublished manuscript.
Oh J. S., Jun S.-A., Knightly L. M., & Au T. K. 2003. Holding on to childhood language memory. Cognition, 86, B53– B64.Google Scholar
Pallier C., Bosch L. & Sebastián-Gallés N. 1997. A limit on behavioral plasticity in speech perception. Cognition, 64, B9– B17.Google Scholar
Polka L., Colantonio C., & Sundara M. 2001. A cross-language comparison of /d/–/Δ/ perception: Evidence for a new developmental pattern. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 109, 2190– 2201.Google Scholar
Polka L., & Werker J. F. 1994. Developmental changes in perception of non-native vowel contrasts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 20, 421– 435.Google Scholar
Rivera-Gaxiola M., Silva-Pereyra J., & Kuhl P. K. 2005. Brain potentials to native and non-native speech contrasts in 7- and 11-month-old American infants. Developmental Science, 8, 162– 172.Google Scholar
Sabourin L., Bosch L., Sebastián-Gallés N., & Werker J. F. 2006. Perceiving vowels in a tight vowel space: Evidence from monolingual infants. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Sebastián-Gallés N. 2006. Native-language sensitivities: Evolution in the first year of life. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 239.Google Scholar
Sebastián-Gallés N., & Bosch L. 2005. Phonology and bilingualism. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 68– 87). New York: Oxford University Press.
Sebastián-Gallés N., & Soto-Faraco S. 1999. Online processing of native and non-native phonemic contrasts in early bilinguals. Cognition, 72, 111– 123.Google Scholar
Streeter L. A. 1976. Language perception of two-month old infants shows effects of both innate mechanisms and experience. Nature, 250, 39– 41.Google Scholar
Sundara M., & Polka L. (in press). Discrimination of coronal stops by bilingual adults: The timing and nature of language interaction. Cognition.
Sundara M., Polka L., & Baum S. 2006. Production of coronal stops by simultaneous bilingual adults. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 9, 97– 114.Google Scholar
Sundara M., Polka L., & Genesee F. 2006. Language experience facilitates discrimination of /d–Δ/ in monolingual and bilingual acquisition of English. Cognition, 100, 369– 388.Google Scholar
Tees R. C., & Werker J. F. 1984. Perceptual flexibility: Maintenance or recovery of the ability to discriminate non-native speech sounds. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 38, 579– 590.Google Scholar
Ventureyra V., Pallier C., & Yoo H. 2004. The loss of first language phonetic perception in adopted Koreans. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 17, 79– 91.Google Scholar
Werker J. F. 1995. Exploring developmental changes in cross-language speech perception. In D. Osherson (Ser. Ed.), L. Gleitman & M. Liberman (Vol. Eds.), An invitation to cognitive science: Part I. Language (pp. 87– 106). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Werker J. F., & Curtin S. 2005. PRIMIR: A developmental model of speech processing. Language Learning and Development, 1, 197– 234.Google Scholar
Werker J. F., & Lalonde C. E. 1988. Cross-language speech perception: Initial capabilities and developmental change. Developmental Psychology, 24, 672– 683.Google Scholar
Werker J. F., Shi R., Desjardins R., Pegg J. E., Polka L., & Patterson M. 1998. Three methods for testing infant speech perception. In A. M. Slater (Ed.), Perceptual development: Visual, auditory, and speech perception in infancy (pp. 389– 420). London: UCL Press.
Werker J. F., & Tees R. C. 1984. Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 49– 63.Google Scholar
Werker J. F., & Tees R. C. 1992. The organization and reorganization of human speech perception. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 15, 377– 402.Google Scholar