Xiaojuan Zhang

Xi'an Jiaotong University | XJTU · School of Foreign Studies

Talker variability has been reported to facilitate generalization and retention of speech learning, but is also shown to place demands on cognitive resources. Our recent study provided evidence that phonetically-irrelevant acoustic variability in single-talker (ST) speech is sufficient to induce equivalent amounts of learning to the use of multiple...

Purpose: Systematic review and meta-analysis are regarded as standard and valuable tools for providing an objective and reproducible synthesis of research findings in the literature. Their increasing popularity has led to heightened expectations for comprehensiveness and rigor in conducting scientific reviews and analyses. The purpose of this tuto...

No PDF available ABSTRACT This study investigated the efficacy of a modified high variability phonetic training (HVPT) protocol in second language learning. The target Mandarin lexical tones in the training stimuli were acoustically exaggerated at four levels in terms of duration, pitch range, and pitch contour. Seven audiovisual perceptual trainin...

Purpose High-variability phonetic training (HVPT) has been found to be effective on adult second language (L2) learning, but results are mixed in regards to the benefit of multiple talkers over single talker. This study provides a systematic review with meta-analysis to investigate the talker variability effect in nonnative phonetic learning and th...

No PDF available ABSTRACT The “Perceptual Magnet Effect” (PME) is characterized by perceptual warping in favor of stronger assimilation near the prototypical sound against other nonprotypical variants. This ERP study adopted a modified oddball paradigm to examine the PME predictions. The participants were 18 normal adults. The stimuli were computer...

No PDF available ABSTRACT Our recent training study demonstrated that acoustic variability, independent of talker variability, promotes nonnative phonetic learning with an enhanced audiovisual adaptive protocol of high variability phonetic training (HVPT). In this follow-up study, we further investigated how cognitive factors may contribute to the...

The current investigation adopted high variability phonetic training with additional audiovisual input and adaptive acoustic exaggeration to examine the role of talker variability. Sixty native Chinese-speaking adults were randomly assigned to a multiple-talker (MT) training group, a single-talker (ST) training group, and a control (CTRL) group wit...

No PDF available ABSTRACT While native English speakers have been found to primarily use vowel spectrum on /i/-/ɪ/ perception, Chinese learners of English dominantly use vowel duration. This study examined training effects on cue reweighting in perceiving /i/-/ɪ/ by Chinese learners. We modified the canonical HVPT paradigm with introducing variabil...

No PDF available ABSTRACT This study aims to examine effects of the disyllabic tonal context on native Chinese speakers' cue weighting for perceiving and producing target Mandarin Tone 2 and Tone 3 that share similar pitch contours. The speech materials were disyllabic Mandarin words, matched by word frequency and familiarity. Acoustic manipulation...

No PDF available ABSTRACT This study tested the generalizability and efficacy of a modified high-variability phonetic training (HVPT) method with temporal exaggeration. The target sounds were the syllable-final /n/-/ŋ/ contrast in English, which was found to be difficult for adult Mandarin Chinese speakers. Our training software program featured sy...

High variability phonetic training (HVPT) has been found to be effective in helping adult learners acquire nonnative phonetic contrasts. The present study investigated the role of temporal acoustic exaggeration by comparing the canonical HVPT paradigm without involving acoustic exaggeration with a modified adaptive HVPT paradigm that integrated key...

While learning a foreign or second language ( L2) ，adults tend to have tremendous difficulties in acquiring nativelike pronunciation． This paper aims to provide an analysis of the neurocognitive mechanisms that constrain adult phonetic learning and discuss how the Native Language Neural Commitment interferes with L2 speech perception and production...