The use of new digital formats in language learning and testing improves both the learning and acquisition skills development process of language tests. The process of listening comprehension is considered one of the most complex in the field of Computer Aided Learning Language (CALL) because it relates to multimodal learning channels and brain…

This paper addresses the techniques of treating patients with functional disorders of pronouncing sibilants in Arabic. The sounds under question are /s/, /z/, /?/. The main disorders that are studied here are: substitution and distortion. A descriptive analytical approach was followed; patients from different ages of functional pronunciation…

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,…

Speech recognition is an active process that involves some form of predictive coding. This statement is relatively uncontroversial. What is less clear is the source of the prediction. The dual-stream model of speech processing suggests that there are two possible sources of predictive coding in speech perception: the motor speech system and the…

This article aims at exploring various strategies for coping with the auditory processing disorder in the light of foreign language acquisition. The techniques relevant to dealing with the auditory processing disorder can be attributed to environmental and compensatory approaches. The environmental one involves actions directed at creating a…

The brain mechanisms of hearing include large regions of the anterior temporal, prefrontal, and inferior parietal cortex, and an extensive network of descending connections between the cortex and sub-cortical components of what is presently known as the auditory system. One important function of these additional ("top-down") mechanisms for hearing…

In the process of language learning, individuals must acquire different types of linguistic knowledge, such as the sounds of the language (phonemes), how these may be combined to form words (phonotactics), and morphological rules. Early and late bilinguals tend to perform like natives on second language phonological tasks that involve pre-lexical…

Spivey, Grosjean, and Knoblich (2005) reported smoothly curved reaching movements, via computer-mouse tracking, which suggested a continuously evolving flow of distributed lexical activation patterns into motor movement during a phonological competitor task. For example, when instructed to click the "candy," participants' mouse-cursor trajectories…

In the 1950s, the assessment and management of children with language impairments emphasized their auditory and visual processing deficits and relied heavily on classifications of adult language disorders. Many compelling theoretical insights were offered, but research in language acquisition was in its infancy. It was not until the 1960s and…

The majority of studies in second-language (L2) speech processing have involved unimodal (i.e., auditory) input; however, in many instances, speech communication involves both visual and auditory sources of information. Some researchers have argued that multimodal speech is the primary mode of speech perception (e.g., Rosenblum 2005). Research on…

Despite receiving increased professional and public awareness since the initial American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) statement defining Auditory Processing Disorders (APDs) in 1993 and the subsequent ASHA statement (2005), many misconceptions remain regarding APDs in school-age children among health and academic professionals. While…

Theoretical accounts of both speech perception and of short term memory must consider the extent to which perceptual representations of speech sounds might survive in relatively unprocessed form. This paper describes a novel version of the serial recall task that can be used to explore this area of shared interest. In immediate recall of digit…

We outline how research into predictors of literacy underpins the development of increasingly accurate and informative assessments. We report three studies that emphasize the crucial role of speech and auditory skills on literacy development throughout primary and secondary school. Our first study addresses the effects of early childhood middle…

In the paper, we discuss the importance of network interactions between brain regions in mediating performance of sensorimotor and cognitive tasks, including those associated with language processing. Functional neuroimaging, especially PET and fMRI, provide data that are obtained essentially simultaneously from much of the brain, and thus are…

Describes the Verbal Transformation Effect (VTE): When listeners hear the same word repeated very many times at a rapid rate, the word tends to be perceived as other words. Reports lexical effects in the VTE and examines their cause. (Author/VWL)