One of the most representative morpho-phonological features of Finnish is the existence of vowel harmony. Back vowels (a, o, and u) and front vowels (ä, ö, and y) cannot appear in the same monomorphemic word (e.g., PÖYTÄ [table] but not POYTÄ)--the vowels e and i are considered "neutral" and can accompany either front or back vowels…

Children are known to be fast learners due to their neural plasticity. Learning a non-native language (L2) requires the mastering of new production patterns. In classroom settings, learners are not only exposed to the acoustic input, but also to the unfamiliar grapheme-phoneme correspondences of the L2 orthography. We tested how 9-10-year-old…

This study explores Finnish children's word-level spelling by applying a linguistically based multilayered word structure model for assessing spelling performance. The model contributes to the analytical qualitative assessment approach in order to identify children's spelling performance for enhancing writing skills. The children (N = 105)…

This study investigated adult cochlear implant users' (n == 39) vowel recognition and confusions by an open-set syllable test during 4 years of implant use, in a prospective repeated-measures design. Subjects' responses were coded for phoneme errors and estimated by the generalized mixed model. Improvement in overall vowel recognition was highest…

The purpose of this study was to use acoustic analyses to describe speech outcomes over the course of 1 year after radial forearm free flap (RFFF) reconstruction of the tongue. Eighteen Canadian English-speaking females and males with reconstruction for oral cancer had speech samples recorded (pre-operative, and 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year…

The research presented in this dissertation examined changes in brain activity associated with learning, forgetting and using a second language. The first experiment investigated the changes that occur when novice adult second language learners acquire and forget second language words. Event-related brain potentials were measured while native…

The present study assesses the phonological development of 17 children acquiring Finnish at the developmental point of 25 words (ages 1;2-2;0). The analysis is made using the "PHONOLOGICAL MEAN LENGTH OF UTTERANCE" (PMLU) method (Ingram & Ingram, 2001; Ingram, 2002), which focuses on the children's whole-word productions. Two…

Proficiency in a second language (L2) may depend upon the age of exposure and the continued use of the mother tongue (L1) during L2 acquisition. The effect of early L2 exposure on the preattentive perception of native and non-native vowel contrasts was studied by measuring the mismatch negativity (MMN) response from 14-year-old children. The test…

A study investigated how 19 Finnish adults who were postlingually severely or profoundly hearing impaired would relearn to recognize vowels after receiving multi-channel cochlear implants. Average vowel recognition was 68% 6 months after switch-on, and 80% 24 months after switch-on. Vowels y, e, and o were most difficult. (Contains references.)…

Illustrates how the use of an appropriately designed keyboard can help with the learning of a set of symbols for transcribing English and at the same time provide learners of English with a picture of its phonological system. Although the computer has an instrumental role in the development of the idea, it is not essential for its implementation.…

Theoretical considerations of phoneme construction were explored and a study was made of phoneme efficiency for deaf communication in Finland which utilized 128 deaf pupils (77 boys and 51 girls from grades 3 to 8 and from ages 8 to 15). The main factors of defective production were found in visual reception. It was concluded that, on the average,…