the perception of lexical stress: a cross-linguistic...

Research questionsMethodologySome resultsConclusions

The perception of lexical stress: across-linguistic approach

Joaquim LlisterriUniversitat Autonoma de Barcelona

http://liceu.uab.cat/~joaquim

18 Intercambio de Pesquisas em Linguıstica AplicadaPontifıcia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo

June 23, 2011

Joaquim Llisterri Cross-linguistic perception of lexical stress

http://liceu.uab.cat/~joaquim


Sandra SchwabUniversite de Geneve

Iolanda Alfano, Renata SavyUniversita degli Studi di Salerno

Joaquim LlisterriUniversitat Autonoma de Barcelona



1 Research questions

2 Methodology

3 Some results

4 Conclusions



Research questions

Is lexical stress perceived in the same way in the firstlanguage (L1) and in a foreign language (FL)?

Which factors play a role in the perception of lexical stressin a FL?

Do L1 speakers of a fixed-stress language (French) and L1speakers of a free-stress language (Italian) perceive lexicalstress in a FL with fixed-stress (Spanish) in the samemanner?

Are L1 speakers of a fixed-stress language (French) able tolearn to perceive lexical stress contrasts in a FL withfree-stress (Spanish)?



ExperimentsVariablesStimuliTasksAnalysisParticipants


2 MethodologyExperimentsVariablesStimuliData collection tasksData analysisParticipants

3 Some results

4 Conclusions




Experiments

Perception of lexical stress in Spanish by native speakers ofItalian

Perception of lexical stress in Italian by native speakers ofSpanish

Perception of lexical stress in Spanish by native speakers ofFrench

Learning of Spanish lexical stress contrasts by nativespeakers of French




Variables

Variables related to the stimuli

Lexical status: existing word - pseudowordStress pattern: proparoxytone - paroxytone - oxytoneType of stimulus: base stimuli - manipulated stimuliType of manipulation: f0 - duration - amplitude (alone or incombination)

Variables related to the participants

L1: Spanish - French - ItalianKnowledge of FL: no knowledge - some knowledge -advanced




Spanish stimuli

Triplets of trisyllabic words (CV.CV.CV) and triplets oftrisyllabic analog pseudowords

Proparoxytones (PP)numero ["numeRo] ‘a number’ - luguido ["luGiDo]‘pseudoword’

Paroxytones (P)numero [nu"meRo] ‘I number’ - luguido [lu"GiDo]‘pseudoword’

Oxytones (O)numero [nume"Ro] ‘he/she numbered’ - luguido [luGi"Do]‘pseudoword’




Italian stimuli

Pairs of trisyllabic words (CV.CV.CV) and pairs oftrisyllabic analog pseudowords

Proparoxytones (PP)semino ["se:mino] ‘I sow’ - navilo ["na:vilo] ‘pseudoword’

Paroxytones (P)semino [se"mi:no] ‘little seed’ - navilo [na"vi:lo]‘pseudoword’

Oxytones (O)semino [semi"nO] ‘he/she sowed’ - navilo [navi"lO]‘pseudoword’




Base stimuli

Corpus of words read by a male native speaker

10 repetitions of each word

Averaged values of f0, duration and amplitude for eachvowel

Replacement of the actual values found in a token of eachword by the averaged values

Resynthesis using PSOLA as implemented in Praat.

Perceptual validation with 30 native Spanish speakers and27 native Italian speakers




Manipulated stimuli

PP>P: f0, duration and amplitude values of all vowels ofthe proparoxytone words in base stimuli are replaced bythe corresponding values of the paroxytone words

P>O: f0, duration and amplitude values of all vowels of theparoxytone words in base stimuli are replaced by thecorresponding values of the oxytone words

Resynthesis using PSOLA as implemented in Praat.




Manipulated stimuli

valido with original f0 values valido with f0 values of valido




Manipulated stimuli

valido with original f0 valuesvalido with f0 values of valido




Manipulated stimuli

numero with f0 values from numeronumero with f0 values from numero

numero with duration values from numeronumero with duration values from numero

numero with f0 and duration values from numeronumero with f0 and duration values from numero

numero with f0, duration and amplitude values fromnumeronumero with f0 duration and amplitude values fromnumero




Data collection tasks

Acoustic processing of accentual information

Identification of the position of lexical stressIdentification of the position of lexical stress combined withreaction time

Encoding of accentual information in the lexicon

Learning of lexical stress contrasts




Identification of the position of lexical stress

Participants must clic on the word corresponding to thestimulus they hear




Identification of the position of lexical stress

Participants must clic on the number of the syllablecorresponding to the one they perceive as lexically stressed




Identification of the position of lexical stress andreaction time

Participants must clic as fast as possible on the wordcorresponding to the stimulus they hear

Stimuli are presented with the DMDX software thatcaptures participants’ responses and their reaction times

Forster, J. C. (2010). DMDX updates page. Department of Psychology,University of Arizona.http://www.u.arizona.edu/%7Ejforster/dmdx.htm


http://www.u.arizona.edu/%7Ejforster/dmdx.htm




Participants have to learn the association between ageometric figure and a Spanish pseudoword





Training

Base stimuli4 blocks with feedback and 1 block without feedback

Test

Manipulated stimuliWithout feedbackTime constraint




Identification of the position of the lexical stressData obtained

‘Correct’ responses: the participant has identified theintended position of the stress

On the second syllable in PP >P manipulationsOn the last syllable in P >O manipulations

Percentage of correct responses




Reaction timeData obtained

Measured from the beginning of the stimuli

Stimuli duration is subtracted from reaction times

Reaction times inferior to 200 ms are removed

Reaction times analysed only on correct responses




Learning of lexical stress contrastsData obtained

Exclusion of participants who do not understand the task,exhibit memorization problems or show a large number ofmissing results

Percentage of correct responses by training block and inthe test phase




Statistical treatment

Percentage of correct identification and analysis of variance(ANOVA)

Mixed-effect models

Account for the fixed-effects factorsAccount for the random-effect factors: stimuli and/orparticipants

Baayen, R. H., Davidson, D. J., & Bates, D. M. (2008). Mixed-Effectsmodeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items. Journalof Memory and Language, 59 (4), 390-412. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ualberta.ca/~baayen/publications/

baayenDavidsonBates.pdf


http://www.ualberta.ca/~baayen/publications/baayenDavidsonBates.pdf

http://www.ualberta.ca/~baayen/publications/baayenDavidsonBates.pdf



Statistical treatment

Statistical software RR Development Core Team. (2011). R: A language andenvironment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation forStatistical Computing. http://www.R-project.org

Package lme4 for mixed-effect modelsBates, D. M., & Sarkar, D. (2007). lme4: Linear mixed-effectsmodels using S4 classes. R package version 2.6.http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org


http://www.R-project.org

http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org



Control groups

Identification tasks

30 native speakers of Spanish, students at UniversitatAutonoma de Barcelona27 native spealers of Italian, students at the Universita degliStudi di Salerno

Learning task

22 native speakers of Spanish with no knowledge or contactwith French




Experimental groups

Spanish L1/Italian FL

10 native speakers of Spanish with 6-9 months of formalstudy of Italian10 native speakers of Spanish with some informal knowledgeof Italian10 native speakers of Spanish without knowledge of Italian

Italian L1/Spanish FL

10 native speakers of Italian with 6-7 months of formalstudy of Italian10 native speakers of Spanish with some informal knowledgeof Italian10 native speakers of Spanish without knowledge of Italian




Experimental groups

French L1/Spanish FL (identification and time cost)

10 native speakers of French without knowledge of Spanish10 native speakers of French with advanced knowledge ofSpanishWithout knowledge of Italian in both cases

French L1/Spanish FL (learning)

22 native speakers of French with no knowledge or contactwith Spanish or Italian



First languageAcoustic parameters in L1Time costEffect of learning


2 Methodology

3 Some resultsFirst languageAcoustic parameters in L1Time costEffect of learning

4 Conclusions




First language

Identification of base stimuli in Spanish as a function of the L1 andthe stress pattern (PP, P and O)




First language

Similar global percentages of correct identification ofSpanish stimuli in Italian (94,6 %) and in native Spanishspeakers (97,4 %)

Italian speakers only show difficulties with the oxytonestress pattern (84,5 % correct identification)

French speakers are less sensitive to stress contrasts inSpanish (71,5 % correct identification)

French speakers show different degrees of difficulty for eachstress pattern: PP=86,9 %, P=71,5 %, O=56,3 %




Acoustic parameters in L1

Identification of stimuli manipulated in duration as a function oflanguage and stress pattern (PP>P and P>O)





Italian speakers are sensitive to the manipulation ofduration in their L1

PP>P=64,4 % correct identificationPP>O=50,1 % correct identification

Spanish speakers are less sensitive to the manipulation ofduration in their L1

PP>P=22,8 % correct identificationP>O=7,2 % correct identification





Duration (in %) of stressed and unstressed vowels in Spanish stimuli





Duration (in %) of stressed and unstressed vowels in Italian stimuli





Duration (in %) of stressed vowels in prepausal and non prepausalposition in Spanish and Italian





Italian speakers only show difficulties with the oxytonestress pattern (84,5 % correct identification)

P>O does not imply an increase in vowel duration in ItalianP>O implies an increase in vowel duration in SpanishPrepausal and non prepausal stressed vowels have similardurations in ItalianPrepausal and non prepausal stressed vowels have differentdurations in Spanish

There seems to be a conflict between the acousticproperties of the Spanish stimuli and the expectationsbased on the acoustic manifestation of lexical stress inItalian




Time cost and knowledge of the FL

Speakers of Frenchwith advancedknowledge ofSpanish presentshorter reactiontimes to baseSpanish stimulithan participantswith no knowledgeof Spanish

Reaction times (ms) for base stimuli as a function of group




Time cost and lexical status

Spanish stimuli,native speakers ofFrench asparticipants

Reaction times areshorter for wordsthan forpseudowords

Reaction times (ms) for base stimuli as a function of lexical status




Time cost and stress pattern

PP pattern showsshorter reactiontimes incomparison with Ppattern and Opattern

Reaction times aremarginally shorterfor P pattern thanfor O pattern

Reaction times (ms) for base stimuli as a function of stress pattern




Effect of learning

Percent correct responses in the training session with Spanish basestimuli as a function of L1 (French and Spanish) and block




Effect of learning

No significant difference between natives (Spanish) andnon-natives (French) in the two first blocks

Natives performed significantly better in the last threeblocks

Performance in the fifth block (with no feedback) differssignificantly from the fourth one for natives, but not fornon-natives: lack of feedback? ceiling effect?




2 Methodology

3 Some results

4 Conclusions



Interaction between factors in the perception oflexical stress in a FL

Participants’ L1

Degree of knowledge of the FL

Stress pattern

Acoustic manifestation of stress in L1 and in FL

Manipulation of acoustic parameters

Non-native speakers use different strategies than nativespeakers in the perception of lexical stress in a FL, but thesestrategies are different than those used in their L1



Presentation, stimuli and references

http://liceu.uab.cat/~joaquim/applied_linguistics/InPLA_11/InPLA_11.html






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