The objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of integrating natural language processing (NLP) technologies into an English language learning program aimed at enhancing auditory and speaking competencies. The methodology of the research is grounded in the development and testing of the intervention effectiveness of neural…

Purpose: The language processing of Mandarin-accented English (MAE) by older hearing-impaired (OHI), older normally hearing (NH), and younger NH listeners was explored. We examined whether OHI adults have more difficulty than NH listeners in recognizing and adapting to MAE speech productions after receiving brief training with the accent. Method:…

Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), as defined by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), refers to difficulties in the perceptual processing of auditory information in the central nervous system and the neurobiological activity that underlies that processing and gives rise to electrophysiologic auditory potentials (ASHA,…

Purpose: Previous research has found that auditory training helps native English speakers to perceive phonemic vowel length contrasts in Japanese, but their performance did not reach native levels after training. Given that multimodal information, such as lip movement and hand gesture, influences many aspects of native language processing, the…

Perceptual training was employed to characterize individual differences in non-native speech sound learning. Fifty-nine adult English speakers were trained to distinguish the Hindi dental-retroflex contrast, as well as a tonal pitch contrast. Training resulted in overall group improvement in the ability to identify and to discriminate the phonetic…

Several neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies on gender differences in speech processing lead to the suggestion that women use the neural network of predictive and integrative analysis of speech to a larger extent than men. During speech-reading there is indeed a lack of reliable clues for word recognition which should emphasize predictive…

We examined the effect of perceptual training on a well-established hemispheric asymmetry in speech processing. Eighteen listeners were trained to use a within-category difference in voice onset time (VOT) to cue talker identity. Successful learners (n = 8) showed faster response times for stimuli presented only to the left ear than for those…

Synthesized speech stimuli with slowed-down critical formant cues were easier for 24 children with delayed language to discriminate. Further training with extended duration stimuli did generalize to stimuli of normal durations. (Author/CM)

A significant proportion of the 45 Ss made language age gains of more than six months on subtests of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) and the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude (DTLA) and on the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory. (Author/SB)

Presented is a case study of a boy who could not process language auditorily even though he had normal hearing. The boy, who was hyperactive and had a monosyllabic vocabulary at the age of four, received training on speech patterns through sign language and repetition and became a high-achieving student. (JDD)

A study of children with listening comprehension difficulties concluded that these children also have reading problems that must be addressed either through remediation or alternative learning strategies. (SRT)