Studied the word as a unit in second-language speech acquisition. Spanish and English monolinguals' renditions of "taco" differed systematically. Bilinguals' accuracy in producing the various segments of a second-language word may be interrelated. In judging second-language speech, listeners respond to phonetic errors distributed over the entire…

Discussed is whether high school students of teachers trained in the use of open-ended historical experiments dealing with light and sound perceive physics in a more favorable light. The effect of the training on the participants' classrooms on both teachers and students (n=130) is investigated. (KR)

Describes the rationale for, and the routine use of, individual and sound-field FM technology with children having all degrees of hearing loss. This technology is seen as enhancing acoustic accessibility in home and school environments for children of all ages. (DB)

Presents 10 classroom activities for young children that involve or explore sound. Includes lists of teacher/caregiver resources and books for children. (KB)

This article examines acoustical, technological, and rehabilitative solutions for improving classroom acoustics and speech perception in classroom settings. These procedures include: physical acoustical modifications of the room, personal hearing aids, hearing-assistive technologies, modifications in speaker-listener distance, optimizing visual…

Presents an activity on waves that addresses the state standards and benchmarks of Michigan. Demonstrates waves and studies wave's medium, motion, and frequency. The activity is designed to address different learning styles. (YDS)

This annotated subject guide to Web sites for grades K-8 focuses on art appreciation, farming, measurement, reading and phonics, renaissance daily life, sound and light, and calendar connections for June observances. Specific grade levels are indicated for each annotation. (LRW)

Proposes a general model of communication that takes place during a musical performance and particularly focuses on the performer-listener communication path within this model. Explores whether the medium is the message, defines the medium and message as separate entities, and demonstrates the applicability of this notion within the realm of…

Modal and falsetto registers are the basic vocal qualities used in female speaking voices. The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency at which modal register changed to falsetto register and the frequency range of each modal and falsetto register produced under three loudness levels: soft, comfortable and loud phonations in normal and…

This article reports the results of a survey of cell phone policies in university libraries conducted over a three-month period in 2005. The authors sought information about the libraries' problems regarding cell phone use and attendant noise by students and other library users. The authors began with an 18-question survey of one hundred…

Previous studies have suggested that nonnative (L2) linguistic sounds are accommodated to native language (L1) phonemic categories. However, this conclusion may be compromised by the use of explicit discrimination tests. The present study provides an implicit measure of L2 phoneme discrimination in early bilinguals (Catalan and Spanish).…

It is acknowledged that contrast plays an important role in understanding discourse and information structure. While it is commonly assumed that contrast can be marked by intonation only, our understanding of the intonational realization of contrast is limited. For German there is mainly introspective evidence that the rising theme accent (or…

Phonological awareness, an understanding that spoken language is comprised of individual sounds, is an important construct that has implications for educational assessment and intervention. Unfortunately, the relationship between phonological awareness and its many operationalizations is ambiguous, resulting in both theoretical and practical…

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine if amplifying beyond 2 kHz affected the objective and subjective performance of hearing instrument users with varying degrees of mild-to-severe high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. Method: Twenty participants were fitted binaurally with digital completely-in-the-canal devices with…

Purpose: This study was designed to determine whether within-speaker fluctuations in speech intelligibility occurred among speakers with dysarthria who produced a reading passage, and, if they did, whether selected linguistic and acoustic variables predicted the variations in speech intelligibility. Method: Participants with dysarthria included a…