Previous investigations have sought to determine how listeners might locate word boundaries in the speech signal for the purpose of lexical access. Cutler (1990) proposes the Metrical Segmentation Strategy (MSS), such that only full vowels in stressed syllables and their preceding syllabic onsets are segmented from the speech stream. I report the results of several experiments which indicate that the listener segments the minimal word, a phonologically motivated prosodic constituent, during processing of the speech signal. These experiments were designed to contrast the MSS with two prosodic alternative hypotheses. The Syllable Hypothesis posits that listeners segment a linguistic syllable in its entirety as it is produced by the speaker. The Minimal Word Hypothesis proposes that a minimal word is segmented according to implicit knowledge the listener has concerning statistically probable characteristics of the lexicon. These competing hypotheses were tested by using a word spotting method similar to that in Cutler and Norris (1988). The subjects' task was to detect real monosyllabic words embedded initially in bisyllabic nonce strings. Both open (CV) and closed (CVC) words were embedded in strings containing a single intervocalic consonant. The prosodic constituency of this consonant was varied by manipulating factors affecting prosodic structure: stress, the sonority of the consonant, and the quality of the vowel in the first syllable. The assumption behind the method is that word detection will be facilitated when embedded word and segmentation boundaries are coincident. Results show that these factors are influential during segmentation. The degree of difficulty in word detection is a function of how well the speech signal corresponds to the minimal word. Findings are consistently counter to both the MSS and Syllable hypotheses. The Minimal Word Hypothesis takes advantage of statistical properties of the lexicon, ensuring a strategy which is successful more often than not. The minimal word specifies the smallest possible content word in a language in terms of prosodic structure while simultaneously affiliating the greatest amount of featural information within the structural limits. It therefore guarantees an efficient strategy with as few parses as possible.

This dissertation focuses on the unique aspects of Maltese morphology brought about by its genetic and geographic history. The experiments conducted and described here build on past research in Indo-European languages and new research in other Semitic languages to determine how different word formation systems function. Applying experimental techniques to the study of Maltese is crucial for two reasons. First, though Maltese is a Semitic language, recent extensive contact with English has greatly impacted its vocabulary and the structure of its verbs. Though the effects of persistent language contact is pervasive, clear and systematic differences may be observed between native Semitic verbs and those borrowed from English. Secondly, unlike other Semitic languages, the Maltese writing system uses the Roman alphabet. This allows for tests that require the reading of written stimuli to be performed in the same writing system as previous studies in Indo-European languages, eliminating a number of confounding factors.A masked priming experiment asked Maltese speakers to judge whether or not test items were words of their language. The test items included real and nonce verbs of both Semitic and English origin. Accuracy rates and reaction time were recorded and compared across speakers. The results of this experiment support the psychological salience of the consonantal root as a unit of lexical organization.An elicitation experiment asked native speakers of Maltese to provide a verb form that corresponded to a given noun or adjective. The test items were nouns of Semitic and English origin and non-words constructed to resemble such nouns. Responses were broadly transcribed and analyzed for their similarity to the expected patterns. The results show that speakers are able to use two morphological strategies to form new words. The factors affecting the choice between morphological systems include linguistic structure and social variables.Collectively, this pair of experiments indicate that the consonantal root is a viable morphological and psychological unit of lexical organization, supporting a search-based approach to lexical access. Furthermore, speakers are able to form new words on the basis of whole words, showing that this level of organization must also be present to facilitate lexical access.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

If an individual speaks more than one language, there are always at least two ways of verbalising any thought to be expressed. The bilingual speaker must then have a means of ensuring that their utterances are produced in the desired language. However, prominent models of speech production are based almost exclusively on monolingual considerations and require substantial modification to account for bilingual production. A particularly important feature to be explained is the way bilinguals control the language of speech production: for instance, preventing interference from the unintended language, and switching from one language to another. One recent model draws a parallel between bilinguals??? control of their linguistic system and the control of cognitive tasks more generally. The first two experiments reported in this thesis explore the validity of this model by comparing bilingual language switching with a monolingual switching task, as well as to the broader task-switching literature. Switch costs did not conform to the predictions of the task-set inhibition hypothesis in either experiment, as the ???paradoxical??? asymmetry of switch costs was not replicated and some conditions showed benefits, rather than costs, for switching between languages or tasks. Further experiments combined picture naming with negative priming and semantic competitor priming paradigms to examine the role of inhibitory and competitive processes in bilingual lexical selection. Each experiment was also conducted in a parallel monolingual version. Very little negative priming was evident when speaking the second language, but the effects of interlingual cognate status were pronounced. There were some indications of cross-language competition at the level of lexical selection: participants appeared unable to suppress the irrelevant language, even when doing so would make the task easier. Across all the experiments, there was no evidence for global inhibition of the language-not-in-use during speech production. Overall results were characterised by a remarkable flexibility in the mechanisms of bilingual control. A striking dissociation emerged between the patterns of results for cognate and non-cognate items, which was reflected throughout the series of experiments and implicates qualitative differences in the way these lexical items are represented and interconnected.

abstract: The present study investigates the role lexical access plays in the oral fluency of intermediate second language (L2) learners. In order to do this, I utilized a picture-naming task (PNT) in the target language to assess lexical access and generated spontaneous L2 speech through two narration tasks to assess oral fluency. The response times from the PNT were correlated with the two fluency measures analyzed from the narration tasks, the frequency of filled pauses and the overall rate of speech. The results revealed that intermediate learners with faster PNT response times used fewer filled pauses in spontaneous L2 speech but did not reveal a significant relationship between intermediate learners' PNT response times and their rate of speech. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Spanish 2017

No description available.

<p>Cochleaimplantat (CI) är ett tekniskt hörselhjälpmedel som används av personer med grav hörselnedsättning eller dövhet. Ett CI ger barn med medfödd dövhet möjlighet att höra och utveckla talad kommunikation. CI ersätter inte normal hörsel och det finns stora individuella variationer i språk och talfärdighet hos personer med CI. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att studera kognitiva och språkliga förmågor hos barn med CI med fokus på läsförmåga. I studien deltog 57 barn i åldrarna 7;3-10;4 år. Sju av barnen hade CI. För att besvara frågeställningarna användes utvalda delar av SIPS (Sound Information Processing System), Fonemtest, TOWRE, Ortografiska val, Ortografisk inlärning, Woodcock och Blockmönster ur WISC III. Testresultatet analyserades på grupp- och individnivå och jämfördes med resultat från en kontrollgrupp med normalhörande barn. Barnen med CI presterade som grupp i nivå med normalhörande barn på majoriteten av testen. På de fonologiska testen presterade barnen med CI lägre än normalhörande men hade generellt en avkodningsförmåga i nivå med normalhörande barn. Barn med CI i årskurs 3 hade även en läsförståelse i nivå med normalhörande medan barnen med CI i årskurs 1-2 presterade signifikant lägre än normalhörande barn. Resultaten i studien indikerar att varken sen implantation, taluppfattningsnivå eller kommunikationssätt behöver leda till sämre läsförmåga.</p> / <p>A cochlear implant (CI) is a technical hearing device used by individuals with severe to profound hearing impairment. CI can provide children with congenital hearing impairment the abilities to hear and develop speech and language outcome. CI does not replace normal hearing and there are great individual variations in language and verbal skills in persons with CI. The aim of this study was to examine the cognitive and linguistic abilities in children with CI with focus on reading ability. In the present study 57 children between the ages of 7;3-10;4 participated.  Seven of the children had CI. SIPS (Sound Information Processing System), Phonological Output, TOWRE, Orthographic Choices, Orthographic Learning , Woodcock and Block Design Test from WISC III were selected to answer the question at issue. The results were analyzed both at a group and at an individual level and were compared with results from a group with normal hearing children. Children with CI performed as a group at the level of normal hearing children on the majority of the tests. The children with CI had lower performance levels than the normal hearing children in tasks of phonological skills but they generally had a decoding ability within the normal range for hearing children. Children with CI in grade 3 also demonstrated a reading comprehension within the normal range for hearing children whereas children with CI in grade 1-2 had lower performance level than normal hearing children. The results of the present study indicate that late implantation; neither speech perception nor means of communication have to result in poorer reading ability.</p>

Cochleaimplantat (CI) är ett tekniskt hörselhjälpmedel som används av personer med grav hörselnedsättning eller dövhet. Ett CI ger barn med medfödd dövhet möjlighet att höra och utveckla talad kommunikation. CI ersätter inte normal hörsel och det finns stora individuella variationer i språk och talfärdighet hos personer med CI. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att studera kognitiva och språkliga förmågor hos barn med CI med fokus på läsförmåga. I studien deltog 57 barn i åldrarna 7;3-10;4 år. Sju av barnen hade CI. För att besvara frågeställningarna användes utvalda delar av SIPS (Sound Information Processing System), Fonemtest, TOWRE, Ortografiska val, Ortografisk inlärning, Woodcock och Blockmönster ur WISC III. Testresultatet analyserades på grupp- och individnivå och jämfördes med resultat från en kontrollgrupp med normalhörande barn. Barnen med CI presterade som grupp i nivå med normalhörande barn på majoriteten av testen. På de fonologiska testen presterade barnen med CI lägre än normalhörande men hade generellt en avkodningsförmåga i nivå med normalhörande barn. Barn med CI i årskurs 3 hade även en läsförståelse i nivå med normalhörande medan barnen med CI i årskurs 1-2 presterade signifikant lägre än normalhörande barn. Resultaten i studien indikerar att varken sen implantation, taluppfattningsnivå eller kommunikationssätt behöver leda till sämre läsförmåga. / A cochlear implant (CI) is a technical hearing device used by individuals with severe to profound hearing impairment. CI can provide children with congenital hearing impairment the abilities to hear and develop speech and language outcome. CI does not replace normal hearing and there are great individual variations in language and verbal skills in persons with CI. The aim of this study was to examine the cognitive and linguistic abilities in children with CI with focus on reading ability. In the present study 57 children between the ages of 7;3-10;4 participated.  Seven of the children had CI. SIPS (Sound Information Processing System), Phonological Output, TOWRE, Orthographic Choices, Orthographic Learning , Woodcock and Block Design Test from WISC III were selected to answer the question at issue. The results were analyzed both at a group and at an individual level and were compared with results from a group with normal hearing children. Children with CI performed as a group at the level of normal hearing children on the majority of the tests. The children with CI had lower performance levels than the normal hearing children in tasks of phonological skills but they generally had a decoding ability within the normal range for hearing children. Children with CI in grade 3 also demonstrated a reading comprehension within the normal range for hearing children whereas children with CI in grade 1-2 had lower performance level than normal hearing children. The results of the present study indicate that late implantation; neither speech perception nor means of communication have to result in poorer reading ability.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Lexical access, the matching of auditory information onto lexical representations in the brain, is a crucial component of online language processing. To understand the nature of lexical access, it is important to identify the kind of acoustic information that is stored in the long-term memory and to study how the brain uses such information. This dissertation investigates the contribution of prosodic information to lexical access and examines language-specific processing mechanisms by studying three typologically distinct languages: English, Turkish, and Swedish. The main research objective is to demonstrate the activation of long-term memory traces for words on the sole basis of prosodic information and to test the accuracy of typological phonological descriptions suggested in the literature by studying electrophysiological measurements of brain activation. A secondary research objective is to evaluate three distinct electrophysiological recording systems. The dissertation is based on three papers, each examining neural responses to prosodic changes in one of the three languages with a different recording system. The first two papers deal directly with the interplay between prosody and the lexicon, and investigate whether prosodic changes activate memory traces associated with segmentally identical but prosodically different words; the third paper introduces morphology to this process and investigates whether prosodic changes activate memory traces associated with potential lexical derivations. Neural responses demonstrate that prosodic information indeed activates memory traces associated with words and their potential derivations without any given context. Strongly connected neural networks are argued to guarantee neural activation and implementation of long-term memory traces. Regardless of differences in prosodic typology, all languages exploit prosodic information for lexical processing, although to different extents. The amount of neural activation elicited by a particular piece of prosodic information is positively correlated with the strength of its lexical representation in the brain, which is called lexical specification. This dissertation could serve as a first step towards building an electrophysiological-perceptual taxonomy of prosodic processing based on lexical specification.