title: Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: IV. Some effects of perceptual learning on speech production.
abstract: This study investigated the effects of training in/r/-/l/ perceptual identification on /r/-/l/ production by adult Japanese speakers. Subjects were recorded producing English words that contrast /r/ and /l/ before and after participating in an extended period of /r/-/l/ identification training using a high-variability presentation format. All subjects showed significant perceptual learning as a result of the training program, and this perceptual learning generalized to novel items spoken by new talkers. Improvement in the Japanese trainees' /r/-/l/ spoken utterances as a consequence of perceptual training was evaluated using two separate tests with native English listeners. First, a direct comparison of the pretest and post-test tokens showed significant improvement in the perceived rating of /r/ and /l/ productions as a consequence of perceptual learning. Second, the post-test productions were more accurately identified by English listeners than the pretest productions in a two-alternative minimal-pair identification procedure. These results indicate that the knowledge gained during perceptual learning of /r/ and /l/ transferred to the production domain, and thus provides novel information regarding the relationship between speech perception and production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405-1301, USA.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bradlow
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Pisoni
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Akahane-Yamada
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tohkura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement