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Introduction: If ever attained, adopting native-like accent is achieved late in the learning process. Resemblance between L2 and mother tongue can facilitate L2 learning. In particular, cognates (phonologically and semantically similar words across languages), offer the opportunity to examine the issue of foreign accent in quite a unique manner.
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This paper provides a critical review of research on cross-linguistic interaction in the phonetic and phonological development of young bilingual children. After presenting some examples of cross-linguistic interaction (acceleration, delay, transfer) in German-Spanish bilingual children tested in Hamburg (i.e. Hamburg study), it examines whether ot...
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... This mute period could prove to be "beneficial in enabling the learner to hear (and thus produce) subtly different phonetic features, new phoneme distinctions and unfamiliar sequences of stress patterns". Future neurolinguistic findings may shed more light in this respect, also taking into account the involvement of the insula region, which was identified as a key component of accent processing, possibly playing a role in sensory-perceptual processing [61], and supporting conscious awareness and regulation of accent features [62]. This may help in understanding the observed differences between monolinguals and bilinguals in phonetic and phonological learning because these differences may partially also be due to the two groups' recruiting different cognitive resources to achieve learning, with more conscious and effortful processing in the case of monolinguals. ...
Bilingualism has been linked with improved function regarding certain aspects of linguistic processing, e.g., novel word acquisition and learning unfamiliar sound patterns. Two non mutually-exclusive approaches might explain these results. One is related to executive function, speculating that more effective learning is achieved through actively choosing relevant information while inhibiting potentially interfering information. While still controversial, executive function enhancements attributed to bilingual experience have been reported for decades. The other approach, understudied to date, emphasizes the role of sensory mechanisms, specifically auditory sensory memory. Bilinguals outperformed monolinguals in tasks involving auditory processing and episodic memory recall, but the questions whether (1) bilinguals’ auditory sensory memory skills are also enhanced, and (2) phonetic skill and auditory sensory memory are correlated, remain open, however. Our study is innovative in investigating phonetic learning skills and auditory sensory memory in the same speakers from two groups: monolinguals and early bilinguals. The participants were trained and tested on an artificial accent of English and their auditory sensory memory was assessed based on a digit span task. The results demonstrated that, compared to monolinguals, bilinguals exhibit enhanced auditory sensory memory and phonetic and phonological learning skill, and a correlation exists between them.
... The exact functions of the insulae in the articulatory network are under debate and still not entirely clear (Woolnough et al., 2019). Of note, an FMRI study on healthy individuals identified the left insula as an area associated with speech accent processing (Ghazi-Saidi et al., 2015). ...
... This explanation would lead us to predict that intense training of the required sounds would result in decreased activity in the articulatory network. This interpretation appears to be supported by Ghazi-Saidi et al. (2015), who trained native speakers of Spanish to pronounce French cognates (phonologically and semantically similar words across languages) in a native accent for 4 weeks. In a picture naming paradigm, the authors found increased activity for the contrast L2 > L1 only in a small area of the left insula, but not in other areas of the articulatory network. ...
Bilingualism and multilingualism are highly prevalent. Non-invasive brain imaging has been used to study the neural correlates of native and non-native speech and language production, mainly on the lexical and syntactic level. Here, we acquired continuous fast event-related FMRI during visually cued overt production of exclusively German and English vowels and syllables. We analyzed data from 13 university students, native speakers of German and sequential English bilinguals. The production of non-native English sounds was associated with increased activity of the left primary sensorimotor cortex, bilateral cerebellar hemispheres (lobule VI), left inferior frontal gyrus, and left anterior insula compared to native German sounds. The contrast German > English sounds was not statistically significant. Our results emphasize that the production of non-native speech requires additional neural resources already on a basic phonological level in sequential bilinguals.
... This explanation would lead us to predict that intense training of the required sounds would result in decreased activity in the articulatory network. This interpretation appears to be supported by Ghazi-Saidi et al., who trained native speakers of Spanish to pronounce French cognates (phonologically and semantically similar words across languages) in a native accent for 4 weeks (46). In a picture naming paradigm, the authors found increased activity for the contrast L2 > L1 only in a small area of the left insula, but not in other areas of the articulatory network. ...
Bilingualism and multilingualism are highly prevalent. Non-invasive brain imaging has been used to study the neural correlates of native (L1) and non-native (L2) speech and language production, mainly on the lexical and syntactic level. Here, we acquired continuous fast event-related FMRI during visually cued overt production of exclusively German and English vowels and syllables. We analyzed data from 13 university students, native speakers of German and sequential English bilinguals. The production of non-native English sounds was associated with increased activity of the left primary sensori-motor cortex, bilateral cerebellar hemispheres (lobule VI), left inferior frontal gyrus, and left anterior insula compared to native German sounds. The contrast German > English sounds was not statistically significant. Our results emphasize that the production of non-native speech requires additional neural resources already on a basic phonological level in sequential bilinguals.
... On the other hand, these differences might also be ascribed to conscious versus more automatic learning strategies, as tag questions, on which the monolinguals performed better compared to the other features, were arguably the most salient of all, due to having the longest duration and sentence-final position, possibly creating a recency effect [21]. Future work should be aimed at identifying some of the neural mechanisms underlying the observed phonetic learning behavior of monolinguals and bilinguals, specifically whether novel accent learning tasks reveal differences in terms of conscious awareness and regulation of accent features (typically associated with the insula, [22]) and whether monolinguals exhibit more effortful phonetic processing (as possibly reflected by greater neural recruitment in the articulatory-auditory network, [23]). The observed differences in phonetic learning may ultimately be due to the two groups' recruiting different cognitive resources to achieve learning, with more conscious and effortful processing in the case of monolinguals. ...
... This evidence seems to support the notion of the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), which claims that near-native speaking attainment in a second language is biologically determined. Thus, the L2 learner will not always be able to achieve native-like proficiency in a second language due to age constraints (Ghazi-Saidi, Dash & Ansaldo, 2015;Szyszka, 2015). All of this seems to be true, especially for the attainment of the kind of/level of L2 pronunciation. ...
One important decision that English language teachers should make is to decide on a pronunciation model. This decision should be based not only on mere preference, but also on technical information. This paper seeks to review the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), a pronunciation model proposed by Jennifer Jenkins (1998, 2000) in an attempt to facilitate communication for L2 speakers. This paper also presents a set of reactions that her proposal has prompted in scholars in the area of teaching English language pronunciation. Such reactions are the manifestation of rejection of the LFC which is based on a number of arguments. First, there is no agreement as to the number of interactions that occur in English in L1 and L2 contexts. Thus, the predominant use of L2 speakers of English is questioned. Secondly, the advantage of the intelligibility of non-native speakers over native speakers in interaction with other non-native speakers is also subjected to scrutiny. Finally, a special focus on implications for the L1-Spanish-speaking learner of English is proposed, as well as for English language teachers who teach pronunciation. For instance, a series of issues which could facilitate the learner’s workload is discussed. One the other hand, the implementation of the LFC implies that the amount of work to be done by the teacher would be drastically increased. This necessarily entails a disadvantage in terms of both time and teaching materials to be allocated by the English Language Teaching (ELT) professional.
... After reconstructing the hemodynamic responses from chosen IMFs, the taskunrelated spiky noises as well as low-frequency drifts were removed so that spurious activation clusters were suppressed. As shown in right panels of Fig. 5, the suspicious areas, appeared as small activation spots (<15 voxels) [47] distributed over cerebellum anterior lobe marked by dark blue circle), right brainstem (marked by light blue circle), right cerebellum posterior lobe (marked by green circle), occipital (marked by cyan circle), and precuneus areas (marked by orange circle), are seldom reported in previous literatures. This could be caused by artifacts induced by standard motion correction process [48]. ...
Olfactory dysfunction is related to several clinical neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, degenerative ataxias, Parkinson’s disease, etc. Owing to the individual difference in sensory adaption of human smell function, the olfactory responses usually present large inter-individual difference and change over time after repeated stimulations. Traditional analysis tools, such as statistical parametric mapping (SPM) in functional magnetic resonance imaging technique (fMRI) analysis, utilize paradigm-based linear correlation and statistical techniques to discriminate activation areas from background activities. However, these traditional approaches extract olfactory-induced responses using stereotypic template or paradigm generated model. Olfactory-induced hemodynamic responses affected by internal / external events, such as changes of smell fatigue and attention, are not considered and therefore could result in misleading results. In this study, owing to the stochastic characteristic of olfactory-induced responses, we adopted multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) to extract olfactory-induced hemodynamic responses in MRI blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signals. The MEMD is an efficient data-driven approach to extract nonlinear and non-stationary signals, which is an improved method to expand traditional empirical mode decomposition (EMD) from one channel to multi-channel processing. We applied MEMD to decompose time series of BOLD signals from each slice into multivariate intrinsic mode functions (IMF). The MEMD enables common features of different scales in an image slice to be arranged in distinct IMFs. Each IMF is an analytic, self-constructed, well-defined and data-driven function with time-varying frequencies. Each IMF was examined by checking its correlation with paradigm-generated template. Task-related IMFs were chosen to reconstruct olfactory-induced hemodynamic responses. The group analysis of MEMD-processed data showed olfactory-induced activations in anterior cingulate cortex and middle frontal gyrus.
... Given that the intelligibility rating we gathered was based on a selective subset (n ¼ 12) of vocal expressions produced by two speakers, we refrain from drawing major conclusions about the importance of accent intelligibility on believability inferences due to our small data sample. Nevertheless, our findings support the hypothesis that intelligibility differentiates native and unfamiliar accents in the medial occipital cortex, the premotor and motor regions (Ackermann and Rieker, 2004;Ghazi-Saidi et al., 2015), and that accent could mediate how we derive social inferences from the voice by differentially engaging these regions. ...
... Acquiring a new sound system activates analytical and motor skills, cognitive control related to self-awareness and monitoring, vocal tract control, and subvocal rehearsal of phonemic sequences (Ghazi-Saidi, Dash, & Ansaldo, 2015). Sounding authentic requires articulatory precision at the segmental level, mastery over stress and intonation, accuracy in phrasal timing, juncture, and so on. ...
Age of onset has long been assumed to predict outcomes in second/foreign language accent. Yet beyond early childhood , acquiring a new accent has much to do with social-affective factors such as learner identity and motivation, as well as cognitive factors such as learning strategies (Pfenninger, 2017). Newer perspectives acknowledge this complexity, emphasizing learner experience and orientation instead. This article contextualizes the age factor and prioritizes self-concept, given that those with a strong affinity to the target language and culture end up sounding more authentic, that is, closer-to-native, than those with a more conflicted sense of L2 self (see Moyer, 2004). Given the connections between self-concept and self-regulated learning, age actually confers two benefits: self-awareness and metalinguistic knowledge, which can be channeled into strategies such as goal-setting and self-evaluation. Pedagogical strategies can facilitate the development of a strong L2 self-concept as well as an appreciation for the importance of accent in the target language.
... The collective evidences across a variety of clinical population shows the role of a set of areas in accent processing; these include Broca's area (frontal operculum and posterior third of the inferior frontal gyrus), the premotor cortex, the striatum, the insula, the pallidum, the thalamus, as well as white-matter pathways of the internal capsule all typically on the left side in right handed patients [16]. The authors have argued that the ensemble of the neurofunctional and neuroanatomical evidence from this single-case report suggests that FAS entails altered planning and execution of speech production, with both cognitive control and emotional communication dimensions, this report shows the key role played by the insula-frontal operculum circuit in the processing of accent [17]. ...
... Some experiments in healthy second language learners in relation with fMRI have showed a significant activation in left middle , left Lingual gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus and left, and right middle occipital gyri, right parahippocampal gyrus, right cerebellar tonsil and the insula. Mostly of those areas have been showed impaired in FAS patients[16].Moreno Torres in 2013 reported a case of a woman with chronic FAS, her MRI showed bilateral lesions, particularly in the left deep frontal operculum, and dorsal anterior insula. Also, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and tractography suggested disrupted left deep frontal operculum-anterior insula connectivity. ...
Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is rare speech disorder
that affects about 80 persons in all the world, it´s a rare
speech disorder characterized by segmental (abnormality
in time of pronunciation of vocal and consonant) and
prosodical deficits (abnormality in rhythm and intonation
of words and phrases) without abnormal grammatical
abnormalities, the patient´s speech resembles a nonnative
accent. The most of cases present like an acquired
abnormality of the speech due to a damage of the central
nervous system. It could be secondary to neurologic or
psychogenic disturbances. We present a case of FAS. It
was a 65 years old woman with diagnosis of Multiple
Sclerosis. Neurophysiological and Image tests were done
to her. Visual Evoked Potential showed abnormality of
nerve conduction on visual system due to demyelinating,
Somatosensory Evoked Potential showed abnormality of
nerve conduction on somatosensory way at left parietal
area, probably due to demyelinating. EEG revealed
paroxysmal activity on bilateral Fronto-Centro-Temporal
regions, a peak of energy on theta band in all of
derivation, predominantly in lower Frontal and Temporal
regions and increase of absolute and relative power as
well as mean frequency of theta band on lower Frontal
and Temporal regions. 3T MRI showed hyperintense
yuxtaxial image in cortical regions, hypointense images in
brain stem, demyelinating plaques on left Frontal, Parietal
and Temporal subcortical areas and in periventricular
regions. We conclude that FAS is a rare disorder, it could
be associated to Multiple Sclerosis.
... Unlike our previous studies on linguistically close languages (Ghazi-Saidi, 2012;Raboyeau et al., 2010), the present study shows that the three word categories significantly activated the cingulate gyrus bilaterally (BA 32), whose role in cognitive control mechanisms (Goghari & MacDonald, 2009;Kuhl & Rivera-Gaxiola, 2008), and monitoring of semantic and phonological L1-L2 overlap or accent processing (Abutalebi et al., 2011;Abutalebi, 2013;Botvinick et al., 2001;Botvinick et al., 2004; Q6 Q7 Q8 Ghazi-Saidi, Dash & Ansaldo, 2015) has been reported. The fact that cognates activated this structure suggests higher attention and monitoring demands imposed by a distant L1 even with words that share both semantic and phonological features. ...
... Finally, the significant activation of the cerebellum with all word categories differs from our previous work with close language pairs, (Ghazi-Saidi et al., 2015;Raboyeau et al., 2010;Marcotte & Ansaldo, 2014), showing a role of the cerebellum with non-cognates and clangs only. The cerebellum participates to fine motor tuning and programming, but it also plays a role in language control (Green & Abutalebi, 2013;Abutalebi & Green, 2016). ...
Behavioral and neural correlates of cross-linguistic transfer (CLT) effects were studied at the word level, in a pair of linguistically distant languages. Twelve adult Persian speakers were tested on an overt picture-naming task in L2, during event-related fMRI scanning after an intensive computerized French lexical-learning program including cognates, clangs and non-cognate-non-clangs.
In distant language pairs, naming in L2 is effortful and demanding. Thus, it is less automatic, and must recruit more neural resources for lexical retrieval, and articulatory processing; it also requires more attention and cognitive control, even in cases where there is phonological overlap. Activation observed with different word types reflects the interaction of language and other cognitive systems including executive control and working memory circuits, even with phonologically similar and highly consolidated words. Moreover, phonologically similar words (cognates and clangs) seem to involve the implicit memory processing, whereas phonologically distant words (non-cognate-non-clangs) seem to require explicit memory.
