How the Lowly Text Message May Save Languages That Could Otherwise Fade

Can a language stay relevant if it isn’t used to send text messages on a cellphone?

Language advocates worry that the answer is no, and they are pushing to make more written languages available on cellphones.

from Resource Shelf

Videophone-Delivered Voice Therapy: A Comparative Analysis of Outcomes to Traditional Delivery for Adults with Parkinson’s Disease

Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease (IPD) implies significant communications impairment in speech that can be ameliorated by a standard intensive instruction delivered face-to-face. The same regimen was delivered through videophones placed in the homes of individuals with IPD and found equivalent in therapeutic outcome to face-to-face results.

from Telemedicine and e-Health

Overview of Telehealth Activities in Speech-Language Pathology

Speech-language pathologists (SLP) and rehabilitation specialists are predicted to be in short supply. The application of telemedicine and telehealth offers solutions to this challenge. An extensive review of the literature was conducted to determine what has been done in SLP with telemedicine and how it can provide a strong foundation for broader applications.

from Telemedicine and e-Health

Regional and Foreign Accent Processing in English: Can Listeners Adapt?

Abstract Recent data suggest that the first presentation of a foreign accent triggers a delay in word identification, followed by a subsequent adaptation. This study examines under what conditions the delay resumes to baseline level. The delay will be experimentally induced by the presentation of sentences spoken to listeners in a foreign or a regional accent as part of a lexical decision task for words placed at the end of sentences. Using a blocked design of accents presentation, Experiment 1 shows that accent changes cause a temporary perturbation in reaction times, followed by a smaller but long-lasting delay. Experiment 2 shows that the initial perturbation is dependent on participants’ expectations about the task. Experiment 3 confirms that the subsequent long-lasting delay in word identification does not habituate after repeated exposure to the same accent. Results suggest that comprehensibility of accented speech, as measured by reaction times, does not benefit from accent exposure, contrary to intelligibility.

from the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research

Progression of dysprosody in Parkinson’s disease over time – A longitudinal study

Parkinsonian speech or hypokinetic dysarthria results from a multidimensional impairment of phonation, articulation, and prosody. Although the dysprosody in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is well described (alterations in speech rate and pause time, speech intensity and pitch variation), little is known about alterations of these single prosodic parameters over a longer time course. The objective of this study is to analyze changes of speech rate and pitch variation in patients with PD over time and to compare these findings with healthy controls. Patients with PD (N = 50; 27 male and 23 female) and n = 50 age-matched healthy controls (25 male, 25 female) were tested and retested after at least 7 months (mean: 25.02; median: 21; SD: 17.44; range: 7-79 months). In the PD group, motor impairment according to UPDRS motor score was similar at first and second visit. The participants had to accomplish a standardized four sentence reading task. The acoustical analysis was performed using a standard head-worn microphone for voice recordings and commercial audio software (WaveLab®). For the determination of intonation based upon fundamental frequency (F0) variation, we used a computer analysis program (Praat®). Articulatory velocity was determined by measurement of syllable rate and pause ratios. In the PD group, total speech rate (syllables per second related to total speech time/TSR) and net speech rate declined from first to second examination, especially in the male patients, but showed no significant differences to the control group. The course of pitch variation revealed some gender particularities. Whereas female patients’ pitch variability declined over time, male patients’ intonation variability remained relatively stable. F0 variation in male and female patients with PD were significantly reduced compared with the control group in the first examination and the follow up as well. Progression of prosodic impairment over time showed no correlation to disease duration or UPDRS motor score. Some aspects of dysprosody in PD show characteristic changes over time, but show no clear correlation with general motor impairment as assessed by UPDRS motor score. Therefore, we suspect that the underlying mechanism could be independent from dopaminergic deficits. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society

from Movement Disorders

Brain, Not Ears, To Blame for Hearing Difficulty at Parties

Scientists have long known that the brain not only receives signals from the ears but can also talk back to them. When there’s too much noise, this dimmer-switch brain circuitry tells the ears to reduce their flow of signals to the brain. This helps the sensitive auditory system handle loud sounds that otherwise would overwhelm it and become distorted.

fromSci-Tech Today.com

Rice Psychologist Identifies Area Of Brain Key To Choosing Words

New research by a Rice University psychologist clearly identifies the parts of the brain involved in the process of choosing appropriate words during speech.

from Medical News Today.com

On the interpretation of the number attraction effect: Response time evidence

Speakers frequently make subject–verb number agreement errors in the presence of a local noun with a different number from the head of the subject phrase. A series of four experiments used a two-choice response time (RT) paradigm to investigate how the latency of correct agreement decisions is modulated by the presence of a number attractor, and to investigate the relative latency of errors and correct agreement decisions. The presence of a number attractor reliably increased correct RT, and the size of this RT effect was consistently larger in conditions that also had larger effects on accuracy. Number attraction errors, however, were similar in RT to correct responses in the same experimental condition. These results are interpreted as supporting a model according to which an intervening number attractor makes the agreement computation process more difficult in general [Eberhard, K. M., Cutting, J. C., & Bock, K. (2005). Making sense of syntax: Number agreement in sentence production. Psychological Review 112, 531–559], with errors arising probabilistically. However, attraction from a non-intervening noun resulted in only mildly inflated correct RT, but dramatically inflated error RT, suggesting that non-intervening attraction errors may reflect confusion about the structure of the subject phrase.

from the Journal of Memory and Language

Supple, Hi-Flex Cable from Cicoil Makes First Disposable Hearing Aid Possible

The Songbird flexfit hearing aid is being called “the world’s first disposable hearing aid”, and is designed as an “over-the-counter” solution for people with moderate hearing loss, needing part-time hearing assistance.

from PRWeb.com

Grammatical Categories and Relations: Universality vs. Language-Specificity and Construction-Specificity

A long-standing assumption in linguistic analysis is that different languages and constructions can be described in terms of the same grammatical categories and relations. Individual grammatical categories and relations are in fact often assumed to be universal. Grammatical categories and relations display however different properties across different languages and constructions, which challenges the idea that the same categories and relations should actually be posited in each case. These facts have been dealt with in two major ways in the functional-typological literature. In a widespread approach, the same categories and relations are posited for different languages and constructions provided that these all have categories and relations that display some selected properties. In a more recent approach, this idea is abandoned, and grammatical categories and relations are argued to be language-specific and construction-specific. This article provides a critical review of these approaches, and a comparison is made with some generatively oriented approaches. In particular, it is argued that a distinction should be made between two views of grammatical categories and relations. In one view, grammatical categories and relations are classificatory labels indicating that a variety of linguistic elements display some selected property. In another view, grammatical categories and relations are proper components of a speaker’s mental grammar. While cross-linguistically valid (or possibly universal) and cross-constructionally valid categories and relations can be posited when classifying linguistic elements based on observed grammatical patterns, there is no obvious evidence that such categories and relations exist at the level of mental representation. This is, however, because of the absence of conclusive evidence about the organization of a speaker’s mental grammar, rather than because of the linguistic evidence as such.

from Language and Linguistics Compass

Speaking and Hearing Clearly: Talker and Listener Factors in Speaking Style Changes

This article provides an overview of the research concerning the nature of the distinct, listener-oriented speaking style called ‘clear speech’ and its effect on intelligibility for various listener populations. We review major findings that identify talker, listener and signal characteristics that contribute to the characteristically high intelligibility of clear speech. Understanding the interplay of these factors sheds light on the interaction between higher level cognitive and lower-level sensory and perceptual factors that affect language processing. Clear speech research is, thus, relevant for both its theoretical insights and practical applications. Throughout the review, we highlight open questions and promising future directions.

from Language and Cognitive Processes

Relevance and the Discourse Functions of Mandarin Utterance-Final Modality Particles

Some Mandarin utterance-final particles (UFP hereafter), such as a/ya ( ), ba ( ), ne ( ) and me ( ), are generally treated as ‘modality’ particles in order to be distinguished from such other UFPs as le ( ), ma ( ), and de ( ) that have more substantial semantic content and/or syntactic functions. It is true that the former group express modality. For example, the four above, respectively, indicate ‘personal concern’, ’speaker’s uncertainty’, ‘intensive inquiry’ and ‘obviousness’ (cf. 1982; Chappell 1991; Chu 1998; etc.) Yet, they also serve important discourse functions in the sense that they enhance relevance of the host utterance to its context (cf. Chu and Li 2004; Chu 2002, 2006). On the basis of past research findings, this article presents the discourse functions of a/ya ( ), ba ( ), and ne ( ) from the perspectives of relevance theory and discourse markers. (1) a/ya ( ). In addition to its modality of ’speaker’s personal concern’ over the current situation or dialogue, the UFP also possesses the function of highlighting the signal that ‘this utterance is specifically for the hearer or the speaker himself/herself.’ (2) ba ( ). In addition to its modality of ’speaker’s uncertainty’, the UFP may also indicate that ‘the utterance is being made in view of what has occurred and/or been said previously.’ (3) ne ( ). The UFP possesses two separate but correlated core properties: ‘Look back for a contrast’ and ‘Demand to continue’. From these two properties, all the numerous otherwise unrelated meanings/uses/interpretations that have hitherto been proposed for it can be directly or indirectly derived.

from Language and Cognitive Processes

Semantic Underspecification in Language Processing

It is commonly assumed that when we encounter a word in a text, we automatically and immediately activate specific, detailed semantic information associated with that word and instantly integrate this information in the unfolding interpretation of the text. On-line evidence of how we process polysemous words, that is, words with multiple semantically related interpretations or senses, suggests that instead of accessing a specific sense, language users initially activate a word’s meaning that is semantically underspecified. Context can then help to make this meaning more specific, if there is a need for it. I will present an overview of the available evidence for this view, including new work that indicates that the type of task can influence how quickly we home-in on a specific sense, address evidence that, at first sight, seems to contradict the underspecification view, and outline a number of issues that require further attention.

from Language and Cognitive Processes

Prosody in First Language Acquisition – Acquiring Intonation as a Tool to Organize Information in Conversation

Recent research on children’s acquisition of prosody, or the rhythm and melody in language, demonstrates that young children use prosody in their comprehension and production of utterances to a greater extent than was previously documented. Spoken language, structured by prosodic form, is the primary input on which the mental representations and processes that comprise language use are built. Understanding how children acquire prosody and develop the mapping between prosody and other aspects of language is crucial to any effort to model the role of prosody in the processing system. We focus on two aspects of prosody that have been shown to play a primary role in its use as an organizational device in human languages, prosodic phrasal grouping, and intonational prominence.

from Language and Cognitive Processes

Hyperbilirubinemia and Language Delay in Premature Infants

OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to evaluate whether language delay at 3 years in premature infants is associated with previous exposure to hyperbilirubinemia during the first 2 weeks after birth.

PATIENTS AND METHODS. We performed a retrospective case-control study of infants admitted to the NICU between January and October 2003. Inclusion criteria included a birth weight of 1500 g and follow-up to age 3 years. Exclusion criteria included genetic disorders and hearing loss or recurrent ear infections. Peak total serum bilirubin levels during the first 2 weeks and duration of hyperbilirubinemia (days with total serum bilirubin level at >8 mg/dL) were determined. Infants with language delay and who were receiving speech therapy by 3 years were identified through developmental clinic charts and a tracking program and compared with infants who had normal language development.

RESULTS. A total of 125 infants with birth weight of 1500 g were admitted to the NICU between January and October 2003. Fifteen infants died, and 110 were discharged from the hospital. A total of 102 (93%) of 110 infants had follow-up to the age of 3 years. Four infants were excluded (1 genetic disorder, 3 delayed hearing loss or recurrent ear infections). Twenty-four infants had a language delay and received speech therapy, whereas 74 infants had normal language development. There was no significant difference in peak total serum bilirubin level and duration of hyperbilirubinemia between the 2 groups. On logistic regression, only bronchopulmonary dysplasia was associated with language delay.

CONCLUSIONS. Hyperbilirubinemia, defined as peak total serum bilirubin level or duration of elevated bilirubin in days, is not associated with language delay in premature infants. However, this issue deserves investigation, because other measures of bilirubin, such as unbound bilirubin, may be associated with language delay.

from Pediatrics