In this paper, we explore the differences between direct and symbolic sequential modeling of prosody. We use sequential models to characterize speech in two tasks, classifying speaking-style and distinguishing native from non-native speech. We explore the use of a spike-and-slab model to directly model pitch contour data. We find in both of these tasks that sequences of symbolic prosodic events...

A fundamental assumption regarding spoken language is that the relationship between sound and meaning is essentially arbitrary. The present investigation questioned this arbitrariness assumption by examining the influence of potential non-arbitrary mappings between sound and meaning on word learning in adults. Native English-speaking monolinguals learned meanings for Japanese words in a vocabul...

The study investigated the phonological awareness abilities of Cantonese-speaking pre-schoolers with cochlear implants. Participants were 15 Cantonese-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs) aged 3.08-6.10, chronological-age-matched with 15 children with normal hearing. Each participant performed 10 tasks evaluating different levels of phonological awareness abilities and phonological kn...

Despite its direct relevance to second/foreign language learning, quality of life has been a neglected area within Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. The present study sought to investigate the relationship between quality of life factors and speaking skill as one of the most challenging parts of L2 learning. To this end, an adapted version of life quality questionnaire originally devi...

In this study we evaluate the ability of a state-of-the-art speechto-speech machine translation system, Skype Translator, to preserve the communicative effectiveness of its input speech. Specifically, we elicited Spanish spoken responses from 24 native speakers of Spanish in the following two scenarios: academic speaking (in the context of 6 questions from a standardized assessment of academic ...

Over the course of a decade, digital storytelling (DST) has earned growing amount attention as strong instructional resource that grabbed interest scholars. Digital emerged promising pedagogical approach could help moderate usefulness media in classroom. Myriad studies have demonstrated positive effects on students’ language skills; however, these rarely include ESL students and their realistic...