Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: IV. Some effects of perceptual learning on speech production.
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.
Bradlow
A R
AR
Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405-1301, USA.
Pisoni
D B
DB
Akahane-Yamada
R
R
Tohkura
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement