AN EAR FOR LANGUAGE: SENSITIVITY TO FAST AMPLITUDE RISE TIMES PREDICTS NOVEL VOCABULARY LEARNING. Issue 5 (10th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Marecka, Marta; Fosker, Tim; Szewczyk, Jakub; Kałamała, Patrycja; Wodniecka, Zofia
• Is Part Of: Studies in second language acquisition. Volume 42:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 987
• Page End: 1014
• Publication Date: 2020-12-10
• Subjects: Second language acquisition -- Periodicals; Language and languages -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 401.9
• DOI: 10.1017/S0272263120000157
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-2631

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study tested whether individual sensitivity to an auditory perceptual cue called amplitude rise time (ART) facilitates novel word learning. Forty adult native speakers of Polish performed a perceptual task testing their sensitivity to ART, learned associations between nonwords and pictures of common objects, and were subsequently tested on their knowledge with a picture recognition (PR) task. In the PR task participants heard each nonword, followed either by a congruent or incongruent picture, and had to assess if the picture matched the nonword. Word learning efficiency was measured by accuracy and reaction time on the PR task and modulation of the N300 ERP. As predicted, participants with greater sensitivity to ART showed better performance in PR suggesting that auditory sensitivity indeed facilitates learning of novel words. Contrary to expectations, the N300 was not modulated by sensitivity to ART suggesting that the behavioral and ERP measures reflect different underlying processes.