Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique, 2018
Some researchers have suggested that young children choose to say mainly words containing sounds ... more Some researchers have suggested that young children choose to say mainly words containing sounds they can produce and avoid words with sounds they find difficult to produce. This proposed pattern of ‘selection’ supports a hypothesis of dominance of phonological factors in words children choose to say. Based on longitudinal spontaneous data samples during their first 50 word period, word-based tokens produced by two English and two French monolingual children were analyzed. Token frequencies in spontaneously produced word targets (SW-T) were compared to children's actual productions (SW-A) of those target words to understand relationships between targets children choose to say and their patterns in actual productions, (i.e., to evaluate the presence of ‘selection’). Place of articulation (i.e., labial, coronal and dorsal) in initial word position within CV, CVC, and CVCV word forms was compared. Analysis of spontaneous output in daily interactions in children learning two languag...
... The Development of Consonant Vowel Syllables in Children Following Cochlear Implantation 205 ... more ... The Development of Consonant Vowel Syllables in Children Following Cochlear Implantation 205 Jan Allison Moore 11. Frames and Babbling in Hearing and Deaf Infants 225 Florien J. van Beinum IV: Acquisition of Speech 12. ...
This paper reports acoustic-phonetic data on three speaking styles: Informal conversational speec... more This paper reports acoustic-phonetic data on three speaking styles: Informal conversational speech, "clear" speech and Baby Talk. These sets of observations illustrate the fact that a speaker's pronunciation of a given linguistic form can undergo rather drastic physical transformations, particularly in the wide range of contexts presented by spontaneously produced speech. Despite their extensive variations, vowel formant measurements showed a high degree of predictability. The findings bring to the fore a classical issue of speech research : signal variability and phonetic invariance. While the present results do not conclusively preclude the possibility that the investigated speech samples are organized around a core of signal invariants, the extent as well as the systematicity of the variability observed lend support to a different perspective. The paper proposes that the variegated acoustic pattern of speech be seen as products of adaptation. According to this interpretation, phonetic gestures and signals are modulated and tuned adaptively in accordance with on-line communicative and socio-linguistic demands (e.g., controlling the "social distance" between speakers, preserving intelligibility, performing "phatic" and "emotive" functions, etc). Furthermore, it is argued that the linguistic task of the phonetic signal is not to encode invariants but to complement information already available to the speech processing system of the listener. Accordingly, intra-speaker phonetic variations need not be seen as invariants embedded in linguistically irrelevant variability. They rather represent genuine behavioral adaptations that may jeopardize or demolish signal invariance but that transform speech patterns in essentially
Children who are performing at a prelinguistic level of vocal communication present unique issues... more Children who are performing at a prelinguistic level of vocal communication present unique issues related to successful intervention relative to the general population of children with speech disorders. These children do not consistently use meaning-based vocalizations to communicate with those around them. General goals for this group of children include stimulating more mature vocalization types and connecting these vocalizations to meanings that can be used to communicate consistently with persons in their environment. We propose a means, motive, and opportunity conceptual framework for assessing and intervening with these children. This framework is centered on stimulation of meaningful vocalizations for functional communication. It is based on a broad body of literature describing the nature of early language development. In contrast, nonspeech oral motor exercise (NSOME) protocols require decontextualized practice of repetitive nonspeech movements that are not related to functional communication with respect to means, motive, or opportunity for communicating. Successful intervention with NSOME activities requires adoption of the concept that the child, operating at a prelinguistic communication level, will generalize from repetitive nonspeech movements that are not intended to communicate with anyone to speech-based movements that will be intelligible enough to allow responsiveness to the child's wants and needs from people in the environment. No evidence from the research literature on the course of speech and language acquisition suggests that this conceptualization is valid.
We used gatekeeping theory to frame our examination of whether and when educators with superinten... more We used gatekeeping theory to frame our examination of whether and when educators with superintendent certification become superintendents, and how their likelihood of making that transition is influenced by race, sex, and other characteristics. Further, we sought to identify variation in career pathways to the superintendency. Data and Method: We analyzed 26,071 observations of 4,813 unique individuals, representing the entire population of Texas public school educators who obtained their first superintendent certificate between the 2000-01 and 2014-15 school years. We constructed alluvial diagrams to visualize these educators' career pathways. In addition to compiling a life table and visual displays of hazard, we utilized a discrete-time hazard model to control for individual and contextual characteristics associated with transitions into the superintendency. Findings: Educators are most likely to enter the superintendency in the academic year immediately following that in which they obtained the requisite certification. Further, pathways to the superintendency differ greatly based on educator sex and race, as well as the level and locale employment setting. Finally, we determined that age, experience, education, level of employment, and sex all have statistically significant impacts on the likelihood of becoming a superintendent. Implications for Research and Practice: We discuss the role that researchers must play in coordinating with practitioners to ensure more equitable opportunity for aspiring superintendents. We also emphasize the important role that preparation programs play in preparing candidates for the job market. Finally, we ponder further expansions of similar pre-superintendency research, as well as more robust applications of alluvial diagrams.
Although motherese may facilitate language acquisition, recent findings indicate that not all asp... more Although motherese may facilitate language acquisition, recent findings indicate that not all aspects of motherese are necessary for word recognition and speech segmentation, the building blocks of language learning. Rather, exposure to input that has prosodic, phonological, and statistical consistencies is sufficient to jump-start the learning process. In light of this, the infant-directedness of the input might be considered superfluous, at least insofar as language acquisition is concerned.
The goal of this experiment is to determine the influence of non uniform vocal tract growth on th... more The goal of this experiment is to determine the influence of non uniform vocal tract growth on the ability to reach acoustic-perceptual targets for English vowels. An articulatory-to-acoustic model integrating non uniform vocal tract growth was used to synthesize 342 5-formant vowels, covering maximal vowel spaces for speakers at 5 growth stages: newborn, 4 years, 10 years, 16 years, and 21 years old (adult stage). 37 American English speakers participated in a perceptual categorization experiment. Results indicated that the three cardinal vowels /i u ae/ can be perceived by speakers based on a newborn-like vocal tract. Articulatory-to-acoustic relationships for a given vowel may differ across growth stages.
Universal phonetic patterns can be observed in babbling and early speech when infants produce rhy... more Universal phonetic patterns can be observed in babbling and early speech when infants produce rhythmic vocalizations that show structural similarities as well as differences from mature speakers. The Frame/Content perspective [1] illuminates underlying principles motivating intrasyllabic, consonant and vowel patterns observed in these early speech-like vocal sequences. According to this perspective, lack of articulator movements independent of the mandible in vocal sequences result in intrasyllabic co-occurrences of labial consonants with central vowels, coronal consonants with front vowels, and dorsal consonants with back vowels. As complexity emerges in consonant clusters, vocal sequences retain regularities of patterning predicted by the Frame/Content perspective. In addition, these patterns appear to be resilient in the face of auditory perceptual deficit. Although syllable use is low in infants with hearing impairment, when syllables are produced they follow the patterns found ...
The availability of cochlear implants in younger children has provided the opportunity to evaluat... more The availability of cochlear implants in younger children has provided the opportunity to evaluate the relative impact of the production system, or the sounds young children can say, and the auditory system, or the sounds children can hear, on early vocal communication. Limited access to the acoustic properties of speech results in differences in vocal dei^elopment related to emergence of lexical accuracy. Understanding this aspect of speech acquisition can form an important aspect of assessment and intervention protocols for the emerging population of young cochlear implant recipients. One child who received a cochlear implant at 24 months was follcnved longitudinally to explore the impact of the production system and audition on changes in phonetic inventory, lexical target characteristics and early word accuracy. Over time, she diversified lier phonetic inventory and improved accuracy, particularly for vowels. Segments and syllables produced most frequently were most accurate. Production Accuracy in aYoung Cochlear Implant Recipient Young children undergoing early cochlear implantation have been noted to exhibit differences in early vocal acquisition (e.g.
It has been proposed that patterns found in earliest infant vocal sequences can provide a window ... more It has been proposed that patterns found in earliest infant vocal sequences can provide a window on initial steps into vocal communication by ancestral speakers. These early infant patterns have been characterized as affording a view of the vocal system at the most basic level of operation in producing serial sequences (MacNeilage & Davis, 2000). Studies of the pre-linguistic babbling and early word periods have outlined this phonetic substrate for consonants and vowels as well as for inter-and intrasyllabic regularities (e.g. Davis & MacNeilage, 1995; Davis et al. 2002). Results indicate the strong presence of labial and nasal stop consonants and glides and vowel qualities in the lower left quadrant of the vowel space. Intrasyllabic regularities include labials with central vowels, coronals with front vowels and dorsals with back vowels in English and across languages, consistent with little independent movement within syllables. Intersyllabic patterns include coexistence of reduplication and variegation across syllables. In variegated syllables, a predominance of height over front-back variation for vowels and manner over place variation for consonants is found. These inter-and intrasyllabic serial patterns are predicted based on the Frame-Content Hypothesis (MacNeilage & Davis, 1990) where the jaw is seen as the principle articulator responsible for rhythmic alternations between consonants and vowels with little independent movement of other active articulators within sequences. Fewer studies have examined how this widely described set of phonetic patterns is manifest in emergence of accuracy at the onset of word use. Patterns of accuracy and errors are manifest in infants' first excursion into matching of their vocal production system capacities with meaning in the early word period. Analysis of these early accuracy and error patterns can also afford a preliminary look at how ancestral speakers may have began the diversification process from initial vocal communicative capacities into a message transmission system eventually constrained by the need to achieve optimal trade-offs between speed of transmission and perceptual distinctiveness. Not all aspects of ontogeny and phylogeny are consistent in this ontogeny-phylogeny comparison. Child learners have external models and acquire their language in a rich communicative environment. In contrast, early speakers may not have been afforded such models. However, pressure on the production system to attach to and begin to elaborate more diverse meanings is in common in the two groups. This consistency suggests that there can be a value to understanding the emergence of forms to support lexical diversification in child speakers for considerations of emergence of forms to support message diversification in early speakers.
ABSTRACTTo understand the interactions between production patterns common to children regardless ... more ABSTRACTTo understand the interactions between production patterns common to children regardless of language environment and the early appearance of production effects based on perceptual learning from the ambient language requires the study of languages with diverse phonological properties. Few studies have evaluated early phonological acquisition patterns of children in non-Indo-European language environments. In the current study, across- and within-syllable consonant–vowel co-occurrence patterns in babbling were analyzed for a 6-month period for seven Ecuadorean Quichua learning children who were between 9 and 17 months of age at study onset. Their babbling utterances were compared to the babbling of six English-learning children between 9 and 22 months of age. Child patterns for both languages were compared with Quichua and English ambient language patterns. Babbling output was highly similar for the child groups: Quichua and English children's babbling demonstrated similar...
I would also like to extend many thanks to my colleagues Taylor Peterson and Brittney Wolf for th... more I would also like to extend many thanks to my colleagues Taylor Peterson and Brittney Wolf for their assistance in creating video modeling examples for this project, and to all of my classmates who have become dear friends. I could not imagine the last two years without your collaboration, friendship, and laughter. I am extremely grateful for my loving family, whose support was vital throughout my graduate studies. To my parents and my brother, thank you for your constant encouragement during difficult moments. To my honorary sister, Mohua, thank you for always listening and for helping me to keep everything in perspective. And to my best friend and partner, Adam: none of this would have been possible without you. Thank you for your loving support, for your incredible patience, and for always believing in me.
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique, 2018
Some researchers have suggested that young children choose to say mainly words containing sounds ... more Some researchers have suggested that young children choose to say mainly words containing sounds they can produce and avoid words with sounds they find difficult to produce. This proposed pattern of ‘selection’ supports a hypothesis of dominance of phonological factors in words children choose to say. Based on longitudinal spontaneous data samples during their first 50 word period, word-based tokens produced by two English and two French monolingual children were analyzed. Token frequencies in spontaneously produced word targets (SW-T) were compared to children's actual productions (SW-A) of those target words to understand relationships between targets children choose to say and their patterns in actual productions, (i.e., to evaluate the presence of ‘selection’). Place of articulation (i.e., labial, coronal and dorsal) in initial word position within CV, CVC, and CVCV word forms was compared. Analysis of spontaneous output in daily interactions in children learning two languag...
... The Development of Consonant Vowel Syllables in Children Following Cochlear Implantation 205 ... more ... The Development of Consonant Vowel Syllables in Children Following Cochlear Implantation 205 Jan Allison Moore 11. Frames and Babbling in Hearing and Deaf Infants 225 Florien J. van Beinum IV: Acquisition of Speech 12. ...
This paper reports acoustic-phonetic data on three speaking styles: Informal conversational speec... more This paper reports acoustic-phonetic data on three speaking styles: Informal conversational speech, "clear" speech and Baby Talk. These sets of observations illustrate the fact that a speaker's pronunciation of a given linguistic form can undergo rather drastic physical transformations, particularly in the wide range of contexts presented by spontaneously produced speech. Despite their extensive variations, vowel formant measurements showed a high degree of predictability. The findings bring to the fore a classical issue of speech research : signal variability and phonetic invariance. While the present results do not conclusively preclude the possibility that the investigated speech samples are organized around a core of signal invariants, the extent as well as the systematicity of the variability observed lend support to a different perspective. The paper proposes that the variegated acoustic pattern of speech be seen as products of adaptation. According to this interpretation, phonetic gestures and signals are modulated and tuned adaptively in accordance with on-line communicative and socio-linguistic demands (e.g., controlling the "social distance" between speakers, preserving intelligibility, performing "phatic" and "emotive" functions, etc). Furthermore, it is argued that the linguistic task of the phonetic signal is not to encode invariants but to complement information already available to the speech processing system of the listener. Accordingly, intra-speaker phonetic variations need not be seen as invariants embedded in linguistically irrelevant variability. They rather represent genuine behavioral adaptations that may jeopardize or demolish signal invariance but that transform speech patterns in essentially
Children who are performing at a prelinguistic level of vocal communication present unique issues... more Children who are performing at a prelinguistic level of vocal communication present unique issues related to successful intervention relative to the general population of children with speech disorders. These children do not consistently use meaning-based vocalizations to communicate with those around them. General goals for this group of children include stimulating more mature vocalization types and connecting these vocalizations to meanings that can be used to communicate consistently with persons in their environment. We propose a means, motive, and opportunity conceptual framework for assessing and intervening with these children. This framework is centered on stimulation of meaningful vocalizations for functional communication. It is based on a broad body of literature describing the nature of early language development. In contrast, nonspeech oral motor exercise (NSOME) protocols require decontextualized practice of repetitive nonspeech movements that are not related to functional communication with respect to means, motive, or opportunity for communicating. Successful intervention with NSOME activities requires adoption of the concept that the child, operating at a prelinguistic communication level, will generalize from repetitive nonspeech movements that are not intended to communicate with anyone to speech-based movements that will be intelligible enough to allow responsiveness to the child's wants and needs from people in the environment. No evidence from the research literature on the course of speech and language acquisition suggests that this conceptualization is valid.
We used gatekeeping theory to frame our examination of whether and when educators with superinten... more We used gatekeeping theory to frame our examination of whether and when educators with superintendent certification become superintendents, and how their likelihood of making that transition is influenced by race, sex, and other characteristics. Further, we sought to identify variation in career pathways to the superintendency. Data and Method: We analyzed 26,071 observations of 4,813 unique individuals, representing the entire population of Texas public school educators who obtained their first superintendent certificate between the 2000-01 and 2014-15 school years. We constructed alluvial diagrams to visualize these educators' career pathways. In addition to compiling a life table and visual displays of hazard, we utilized a discrete-time hazard model to control for individual and contextual characteristics associated with transitions into the superintendency. Findings: Educators are most likely to enter the superintendency in the academic year immediately following that in which they obtained the requisite certification. Further, pathways to the superintendency differ greatly based on educator sex and race, as well as the level and locale employment setting. Finally, we determined that age, experience, education, level of employment, and sex all have statistically significant impacts on the likelihood of becoming a superintendent. Implications for Research and Practice: We discuss the role that researchers must play in coordinating with practitioners to ensure more equitable opportunity for aspiring superintendents. We also emphasize the important role that preparation programs play in preparing candidates for the job market. Finally, we ponder further expansions of similar pre-superintendency research, as well as more robust applications of alluvial diagrams.
Although motherese may facilitate language acquisition, recent findings indicate that not all asp... more Although motherese may facilitate language acquisition, recent findings indicate that not all aspects of motherese are necessary for word recognition and speech segmentation, the building blocks of language learning. Rather, exposure to input that has prosodic, phonological, and statistical consistencies is sufficient to jump-start the learning process. In light of this, the infant-directedness of the input might be considered superfluous, at least insofar as language acquisition is concerned.
The goal of this experiment is to determine the influence of non uniform vocal tract growth on th... more The goal of this experiment is to determine the influence of non uniform vocal tract growth on the ability to reach acoustic-perceptual targets for English vowels. An articulatory-to-acoustic model integrating non uniform vocal tract growth was used to synthesize 342 5-formant vowels, covering maximal vowel spaces for speakers at 5 growth stages: newborn, 4 years, 10 years, 16 years, and 21 years old (adult stage). 37 American English speakers participated in a perceptual categorization experiment. Results indicated that the three cardinal vowels /i u ae/ can be perceived by speakers based on a newborn-like vocal tract. Articulatory-to-acoustic relationships for a given vowel may differ across growth stages.
Universal phonetic patterns can be observed in babbling and early speech when infants produce rhy... more Universal phonetic patterns can be observed in babbling and early speech when infants produce rhythmic vocalizations that show structural similarities as well as differences from mature speakers. The Frame/Content perspective [1] illuminates underlying principles motivating intrasyllabic, consonant and vowel patterns observed in these early speech-like vocal sequences. According to this perspective, lack of articulator movements independent of the mandible in vocal sequences result in intrasyllabic co-occurrences of labial consonants with central vowels, coronal consonants with front vowels, and dorsal consonants with back vowels. As complexity emerges in consonant clusters, vocal sequences retain regularities of patterning predicted by the Frame/Content perspective. In addition, these patterns appear to be resilient in the face of auditory perceptual deficit. Although syllable use is low in infants with hearing impairment, when syllables are produced they follow the patterns found ...
The availability of cochlear implants in younger children has provided the opportunity to evaluat... more The availability of cochlear implants in younger children has provided the opportunity to evaluate the relative impact of the production system, or the sounds young children can say, and the auditory system, or the sounds children can hear, on early vocal communication. Limited access to the acoustic properties of speech results in differences in vocal dei^elopment related to emergence of lexical accuracy. Understanding this aspect of speech acquisition can form an important aspect of assessment and intervention protocols for the emerging population of young cochlear implant recipients. One child who received a cochlear implant at 24 months was follcnved longitudinally to explore the impact of the production system and audition on changes in phonetic inventory, lexical target characteristics and early word accuracy. Over time, she diversified lier phonetic inventory and improved accuracy, particularly for vowels. Segments and syllables produced most frequently were most accurate. Production Accuracy in aYoung Cochlear Implant Recipient Young children undergoing early cochlear implantation have been noted to exhibit differences in early vocal acquisition (e.g.
It has been proposed that patterns found in earliest infant vocal sequences can provide a window ... more It has been proposed that patterns found in earliest infant vocal sequences can provide a window on initial steps into vocal communication by ancestral speakers. These early infant patterns have been characterized as affording a view of the vocal system at the most basic level of operation in producing serial sequences (MacNeilage & Davis, 2000). Studies of the pre-linguistic babbling and early word periods have outlined this phonetic substrate for consonants and vowels as well as for inter-and intrasyllabic regularities (e.g. Davis & MacNeilage, 1995; Davis et al. 2002). Results indicate the strong presence of labial and nasal stop consonants and glides and vowel qualities in the lower left quadrant of the vowel space. Intrasyllabic regularities include labials with central vowels, coronals with front vowels and dorsals with back vowels in English and across languages, consistent with little independent movement within syllables. Intersyllabic patterns include coexistence of reduplication and variegation across syllables. In variegated syllables, a predominance of height over front-back variation for vowels and manner over place variation for consonants is found. These inter-and intrasyllabic serial patterns are predicted based on the Frame-Content Hypothesis (MacNeilage & Davis, 1990) where the jaw is seen as the principle articulator responsible for rhythmic alternations between consonants and vowels with little independent movement of other active articulators within sequences. Fewer studies have examined how this widely described set of phonetic patterns is manifest in emergence of accuracy at the onset of word use. Patterns of accuracy and errors are manifest in infants' first excursion into matching of their vocal production system capacities with meaning in the early word period. Analysis of these early accuracy and error patterns can also afford a preliminary look at how ancestral speakers may have began the diversification process from initial vocal communicative capacities into a message transmission system eventually constrained by the need to achieve optimal trade-offs between speed of transmission and perceptual distinctiveness. Not all aspects of ontogeny and phylogeny are consistent in this ontogeny-phylogeny comparison. Child learners have external models and acquire their language in a rich communicative environment. In contrast, early speakers may not have been afforded such models. However, pressure on the production system to attach to and begin to elaborate more diverse meanings is in common in the two groups. This consistency suggests that there can be a value to understanding the emergence of forms to support lexical diversification in child speakers for considerations of emergence of forms to support message diversification in early speakers.
ABSTRACTTo understand the interactions between production patterns common to children regardless ... more ABSTRACTTo understand the interactions between production patterns common to children regardless of language environment and the early appearance of production effects based on perceptual learning from the ambient language requires the study of languages with diverse phonological properties. Few studies have evaluated early phonological acquisition patterns of children in non-Indo-European language environments. In the current study, across- and within-syllable consonant–vowel co-occurrence patterns in babbling were analyzed for a 6-month period for seven Ecuadorean Quichua learning children who were between 9 and 17 months of age at study onset. Their babbling utterances were compared to the babbling of six English-learning children between 9 and 22 months of age. Child patterns for both languages were compared with Quichua and English ambient language patterns. Babbling output was highly similar for the child groups: Quichua and English children's babbling demonstrated similar...
I would also like to extend many thanks to my colleagues Taylor Peterson and Brittney Wolf for th... more I would also like to extend many thanks to my colleagues Taylor Peterson and Brittney Wolf for their assistance in creating video modeling examples for this project, and to all of my classmates who have become dear friends. I could not imagine the last two years without your collaboration, friendship, and laughter. I am extremely grateful for my loving family, whose support was vital throughout my graduate studies. To my parents and my brother, thank you for your constant encouragement during difficult moments. To my honorary sister, Mohua, thank you for always listening and for helping me to keep everything in perspective. And to my best friend and partner, Adam: none of this would have been possible without you. Thank you for your loving support, for your incredible patience, and for always believing in me.
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Papers by Barbara Davis