bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of the soundscape before and after the construction of the Block Island Wind Farm
Authors: Tripathy Aditi , Miller James H , Potty Gopu R. , Amaral Jennifer , Vigness-Raposa Kathleen J. , Frankel Adam S. , Lin Ying-Tsong , Newhall Arthur
Published: October 2018

The Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) south of Rhode Island is the first offshore windfarm in the United States. As part of the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, acoustic data were collected before the construction in the fall of 2009. Noise budgets were estimated based on this data and showed the dominant sources of sound in a 1/3-octave band centered at 500 Hz were shipping and wind. Data were again collected during and after construction of the wind farm and will be presented and compared to pre-construction levels. In 2009, Passive Aquatic Listener (PALs) were deployed. After construction was complete, data from a tetrahedral hydrophone array (~50 m from one of the wind turbines) were analyzed to study the soundscape from December 20, 2016 to January 14, 2017. The acoustic environment near the BIWF after construction showed contributions from shipping, wind, and marine life. Noise from the wind turbine was measured near 70 Hz at approximately 100 dB re 1 mPa at a range of 50 m. Significant marine mammal vocalizations were recorded including from humpback and fin whales. (Work supported by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.)
Speech-language pathology student–clinicians’ self-awareness of tongue position during rhotic sound production in American English
Authors: Diekhoff Megan , Lulich Steven M.
Published: October 2018

Proprioceptive signals from tongue positions are not strong, meaning it can be challenging to teach the articulation of speech sounds to language learners. Some of the most prevalent speech sound disorders in American English involve the rhotic /ɹ/. Speech-language pathologists provide modeling and feedback to their clients during treatment. Since tongue shape is not readily visible during rhotic production, clinicians rely heavily on verbal descriptions and auditory feedback to explain sounds to their clients. It is currently unclear how closely these approaches mirror or depend on veridical descriptions of tongue shape. An example from musical education provides an instructive backdrop: Although clarinet teachers frequently describe raising the tongue body for high notes, the tongue body must physically lower [Lulich et al., 2017 JASA]. Students successfully learn to play high notes regardless of the accuracy of the description, but would clarinet instruction be more effective if it reflected physical reality? Analogous issues and questions can be raised in the context of speech-language pathology. This study presents preliminary results of an investigation of student-clinicians’ self-awareness of tongue position during rhotic sounds.
A measurements laboratory built around a digitally-sampled microphone circuit
Authors: Wright Andrew B. , Wright Ann , Nolen Amanda
Published: October 2018

In Fall of 2017, a series of measurement laboratory exercises, built around a microphone preamplifier and filter, were used in teaching an engineering measurement techniques course. The microphone circuit included a preamplifier that introduced JFETs, a virtual ground and buffer to illustrate loading effects, a high pass filter and a low pass filter, and a zener-diode-based limiter. The data were sampled using a beaglebone microcontroller's built-in analog-to-digital converter. The data was transmitted to matlab for post-processing and analysis. The microphone was then used in the Spring 2018 acoustics class. A variety of projects, including a Kundt’s tube, a driven closed-open pipe, a 3D printed horn for a blue-tooth speaker, and an absorptivity measurement for a restaurant’s wall treatment tiles, were completed in the course. It was observed that students showed improved interest in the material (increased in-class and out-of-class questions about specifics of the course material related to the project, increased exploration of material outside the provided course materials, full participation by all members of the class in the project) and learning (improved test scores after the project began relative to scores before the project began) relative to earlier classes where no experimental component was included.
Vibra-Son: A general audience exhibition dedicated to acoustics in Sherbrooke, Québec
Authors: Robin Olivier
Published: October 2018

This presentation will present the ongoing setup of a general audience exhibition dedicated to acoustics in Sherbrooke, Québec. This project is built up with the Sherbrooke Nature and Science museum, Sherbrooke University (faculty and research groups) and with the contribution of external structures (like the Canadian acoustical association and companies). The exhibition will begin in 2019, June. The design of experiments that allows highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of acoustics is first described, as well as their setup in a limited space including possible travelling of the exhibition. The development or use of mobile applications to help sharing data or results with the visitors is especially under focus. The question of how including research projects into the exhibition is then discussed, with a dual objective of raising awareness of visitors about research but also making them a part of a research operation. Finally, satellites events that are currently planned are described, as well as their role in providing a multimodal description of acoustics, like a reading tour of comics in a library.
Mathematica simulation of circular synthetic aperture acoustic imaging
Authors: Kirkwood Kathryn P. , Korman Murray S.
Published: October 2018

A Mathematica simulation will simulate circular synthetic aperture radar (CSAR) and its acoustic counterpart (CSAA). Two-dimensional and three-dimensional point targets will be imaged from echoes collected by a co-located transmitter/receiver moving along a circular track above the target plane. Previous work involved a Mathematica® (ver. 11) simulation of Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS). This simulation demonstrated how two-dimensional and three-dimensional point targets on a ground plane can be imaged from a collection of acoustic echoes using stripped-map geometry or a straight line track with a co-located transmitter/receiver element. The backprojection algorithm is used in both imaging geometries to construct a reflectance image of positioned point targets. The upcoming simulation will provide a comparison between circular track geometry and stripped-map straight line geometry.
The sound image trajectory of a moving sound approaching a reflective wall
Authors: Kurachi Shunya , Morikawa Daisuke , Hirahara Tatsuya
Published: October 2018

The movement of a sound image may not coincide with that of the sound source in a room with reflective walls. A listener sitting by a reflective wall perceives the movement of the sound image bending around their head when a sound source approaches the wall straight in the front of them. In order to investigate this perception quantitatively, we measured the trajectory of the sound image perceived by a listener against a sound source moving straight in front of them using a magnetic motion sensor. The sound source was a 1/3-octave band noise with a center frequency of 300, 750, 1500, 3000, or 6000 Hz emanating from a small moving loudspeaker at a sound pressure level of 70 dB. The loudspeaker moved on a rail perpendicular to the wall in front of the listener at a constant linear velocity. The listener tracked the direction of the moving sound image with his fingers by holding a motion sensor with his eyes closed. Results show that the sound image trajectory bent around the listener’s head only when the stimulus contained low frequency components below 1.5 kHz, suggesting that interaural time difference plays an important role in the phenomenon.
Right/left asymmetricity of horizontal sound localization of younger people
Authors: Osawa Tsukuru , Morita Kazumoto , Toyoda Kenta , Sakashita Jo , Toi Takeshi
Published: October 2018

To investigate the performance of horizontal sound localization of younger people, authors conducted a test using 12 young participants (11 males, 1 females; ages 21–24.) The stimuli were presented through headphones to their right and left ears with 4 interaural time differences (ITDs) (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 ms) and 4 interaural level differences (ILDs) (3, 6, 9, and 12 dB(A)) besides the same condition to both ears. Concerning the frequency, pure tones of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kHz, and composite sound of 0.5 + 2.0 kHz were presented, which lasted one second for each trial. The participants answered “Right” or “Left” after each trial according to their own judgment. The results of ITD condition showed that a right-sided inferiority was recognized in case of 1.0 and 2.0 kHz. Concerning the ILD condition, no right/left asymmetricity was shown. This asymmetricity may be caused by the improper setting of the experiment apparatus. Therefore, we switched right/left of the headphones to carry out an additional test in the same way. The same tendency as the original test was obtained, which means that the asymmetricity is likely due to the native characteristics of the participants.
Characteristics of horizontal sound localization of elderly people and analysis of its potential influential factors
Authors: Morita Kazumoto , Osawa Tsukuru , Toyoda Kenta , Sakashita Jo , Toi Takeshi
Published: October 2018

To investigate the performance of horizontal sound localization of elderly people, authors conducted a test using 19 elderly participants (10 males, 9 females; ages 65-85; mean 71.5 years old.) The stimuli were presented through headphones to their right and left ears with 4 interaural time differences (ITDs) (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 ms) and 4 interaural level differences (ILDs) (3, 6, 9, and 12 dB(A)) besides the same condition to both ears. Concerning the frequency, pure tones of 1.0 and 2.0 kHz, and composite sound of 0.5 + 2.0 kHz were presented, which lasted one second for each trial. The participants answered “Right” or “Left” after each trial according to their own judgment. The results of ITD condition showed that in case of the pure tones a right-sided inferiority was recognized, which was poorer than the results of the younger participants. Meanwhile, no right/left difference was recognized with the composite sound. Concerning the ILD condition, no right/left asymmetricity was shown. Furthermore, no significant differences were recognized regarding the relationships between their sound localization performance and potential influential factors. The factors were Trail Making Test (TMT) results, their preferred ear, and their hearing loss difference between right/left ears.
Historical development of damping models in structural acoustics and vibrations
Authors: McDaniel James G.
Published: October 2018

This presentation discusses historical developments of damping models most commonly used in the analysis of structural acoustics and vibrations today. This presentation represents all damping models as frequency-dependent complex-valued matrices that appear in the equations of motion. The historical development of damping models has benefited from research on two fronts. The first is satisfaction of passivity and causality conditions by the damping model. The passivity condition requires no net power flow from the material over a cycle of vibration, while the causality condition requires that the material cannot respond before the excitation begins. The passivity condition is clearly stated in the frequency domain but is less obvious in the time domain. Conversely, the causality condition is clearly stated in the time domain but less obvious in the frequency domain. The second front is the affect of each damping model on computational methods used to evaluate the equations of motion. Discussion will include the use of undamped eigenvectors and Krylov spaces to create reduced-order models. Examples involving a rectangular plate will be presented to illustrate the features of commonly used damping model.
Structural intensity on shell structures via a Finite-Element-Method approximation
Authors: Pires Felipe , Vanlanduit Steve , Dirckx Joris
Published: October 2018

The study of energy transmission on plate-like structures is widely documented in literature. Its analysis requires the computation of the spatial derivatives of the out-of-plane displacement field of the studied sample and a priori knowledge of its material properties. However, if the structural intensity is to be assessed on irregular shells, such a study requires a more elaborate data processing. In addition to in-plane displacements, also the spatial derivatives along the sample’s local coordinates are needed. For this purpose, a method was developed to approximate both the experimental displacement data and the spatial coordinates of a given arbitrary shell using a Finite-Element-Method model. After measuring the global displacement fields and their corresponding spatial coordinates for a given sample, the data was transferred to a shell model whose basis functions were properly defined in accordance to the application’s demands and whose individual elements were assumed to behave in accordance with the Kirchhoff plate theory. The proposed method was able to process the experimental displacement and shape data of shells structures and proved to be a reliable tool to assess energy transmission.
A quasi-analytical formulation for acoustic radiation modes of simple curved structures
Authors: Goates Caleb B. , Sommerfeldt Scott D. , Blotter Jonathan
Published: October 2018

Acoustic radiation modes have become a useful and widespread analysis tool in situations involving sound radiation from vibrating structures. They have found use in applications such as active structural acoustic control, optimization of structures for minimal sound radiation, and acoustical holography. Analytical expressions for the radiation resistance matrix, from which the radiation modes are obtained, are available only for a small number of simple source geometries, while the obtaining of radiation modes for more complicated structures typically requires BEM or similar computational methods. This paper details the development of quasi-analytical expressions for the radiation resistance matrices of singly-curved structures such as curved plates, cylinders, and angularly truncated cylinders. It is shown that the radiation modes of these structures may be obtained with a relatively low computational load compared to conventional methods.
On the physical meaning of subsonic wavenumber truncation as applied to source identification on vibration structures
Authors: Shepherd Micah R. , Sommerfeldt Scott D. , Rose Michael T.
Published: October 2018

Wavenumber methods have been used to identify the supersonic portions of a vibrating structure that radiate to the farfield. To estimate the supersonic wave energy of a vibrating structure, the discrete Fourier transform can be used to determine the wavenumber spectrum which is then truncated above the acoustic wavenumber. The purely supersonic wavenumber spectrum can now be transformed back into the spatial domain to determine the vibration pattern associated only with the supersonic waves. Often, a cut-off coefficient associated with the acoustic wavenumber of the spatial radiation filter is used to reduce error. Equivalent spatial convolutions have also been formulated to obtain supersonic components of a vibrating pattern. This paper discusses the physical meaning of wavenumber truncation and its accuracy in identifying the surface areas of a vibrating structure that radiate sound. It is shown that truncating subsonic components of the vibration pattern will create non-physical vibration patterns which lie outside of the physical boundaries of the structure. Thus, subsonic wavenumber truncation methods may not be a reliable method for determining the radiated portions of a vibration pattern.
Effects of formant proximity and language experience on subcortical neural encoding of vowels in adulthood
Authors: Zhao Tian , Masapollo Matthew , Polka Linda , Menard Lucie
Published: October 2018

Formant frequency convergence (or “focalization”) and linguistic experience interact to shape the perception of vowels in adulthood. Here, we provide evidence of the effects of formant proximities and language experience at subcortical levels of the auditory pathway. Using a passive oddball/reversed oddball paradigm, the frequency-following response (FFR) in the auditory brainstem was elicited in sixteen healthy monolingual English speakers by a less-focal/English prototypic /u/ and a more-focal/French prototypic /u/. We examined the FFR as a function of stimulus type (English vs. French prototype) and condition (Standard vs. Deviant). A cross-correlation analysis revealed higher overall similarity between the FFR and evoking stimulus for the English prototype than the French prototype, suggesting an effect of language experience. Yet, deviants exhibited higher correlational values than standards. This effect was largely driven by the French prototype, suggesting an influence of focalization. A subsequent Fourier analysis revealed an effect of stimulus type at the f0 peak, whereas only a condition effect was observed at the first harmonic peak. The latter effect was largely driven by the French prototype. Altogether, these findings suggest that subcortical encoding of vowels in adulthood is influenced by a complex interplay between formant proximities and long-term linguistic experience.
The role of voice familiarity in bilingual speech processing
Authors: Molnar Monika
Published: October 2018

Interlocutor context affects proficient bilinguals’ spoken language processing. For instance, bilinguals in a visual-auditory lexical decision task are able to predict the context-appropriate language based on the visual cues of interlocutor context (e.g., Molnar et al., 2015). Because it has been also demonstrated that bilinguals, as compared to monolinguals, process talker-voice information more efficiently (Levi, 2017), in the current study we addressed the question whether bilinguals are able to predict context-appropriate language based on voice information alone. First, in a same-different task, English monolingual and bilingual participants were familiarized with the voices of 4 female speakers who either spoke English (shared language across the monolingual and bilingual participants) or Farsi (unknown to both monolingual and bilingual participants). Then, in a lexical decision task, the participants heard the same 4 voices again, but all of the voices spoke in English this time. We predicted that if the participants established a voice-language link in the first part of the task, then their response times should decrease when they hear an “English-voice” (as opposed to a “Farsi-voice”) uttering an English word in the lexical decision task. Accordingly, our preliminary results suggest that the bilinguals’ performance is facilitated by the established voice-language link.
The effect of language experience on lexical tone perception
Authors: Li Xianzhuo , Gao Zhiyan
Published: October 2018

Language experience has often shown to affect speech perception at segmental levels (Holt, 2010). Whether and how language experience affect perception of suprasegmental elements is often subject to dispute (Xu et al., 2006; Peng, 2016). The current study focused on the identification and discrimination of Mandarin lexical tones by 3 groups of listeners, namely, 15 native speakers of Mandarin Chinese (tonal language), 15 native speakers of Lao (tonal language), and 15 native speakers of Uzbek (non-tonal language). We ask (1) whether experience with lexical tones (tonal vs. non-tonal) affects categorical perception of pitch contours; (2) whether differences in native tone inventories (Mandarin vs. Lao) affect pitch perception. Stimuli were 7 monosyllabic snippets resynthesized from a natural Mandarin speech sample. The stimuli represented a physical continuum of pitch contours ranging from a Mandarin level to a Mandarin rising tone. Preliminary results show a strong categorical perception of pitch contours for Mandarin speakers than for Lao and Uzbek speakers, and Lao speakers exhibited stronger categorical perception of pitch contours than Uzbek speakers. The results indicate that lexical tone perception is affected by both the experience with tonal languages and one’s native tone inventory.
Perceptual cues used by Chinese native speakers in English /i/-/ɪ/ distinction
Authors: Wang Zhuqing
Published: October 2018

Native English speakers rely on spectral cues primarily and durational cues secondarily for /i/-/ɪ/ distinction whereas Chinese EFL learners tend to ignore tense-lax markedness due to a lack of lax /ɪ/ in Chinese vowel inventory and the speakers' insensitivity to formant values. Therefore, this study aims to explore whether Chinese speakers can use both durational and spectral cues for /i/-/ɪ/ distinction and whether females and males perform similarly in a perception test. The test was administered to 12 intermediate-level Chinese native speakers. Beat and bit were used as the basic stimuli and each stimulus was manipulated with seven different durations. The result showed that participants were predisposed to regard stimulus with long durations as /i/ and short durations as /ɪ/. Both the factor of gender and vowel duration had a significant effect on the correctness. Females were outperformed by males in the perception test correctness in most duration points except for very short vowels. Additionally, the size of differences between genders was larger in /ɪ/ than /i/ responses. In conclusion, although no significant spectral cue use was found with the participants, some uses of spectral cues at different vowel durations (90 ms, 390 ms, and 450 ms) were observed.
Exploring the skill of being "good with accents": A study of monolingual English speakers' ability to reproduce a novel foreign accent
Authors: Spinu Laura , Pincus Nadya
Published: October 2018

We collected production data from monolingual English speakers who were trained to produce a foreign accent of English, specifically Russian English (RE). First, the subjects read a paragraph in their own accent (baseline). Second, they listened to recordings of English sentences produced by a native speaker of Russian; next, the sentences were replayed, and the subjects imitated each sentence after hearing it. Finally, they were instructed to read the baseline sentences again (without audio prompts), trying their best to reproduce the RE accent. Several acoustic analyses are underway, addressing (a) vowel characteristics, (b) realization of stops, and (c) intonation patterns. Preliminary results show considerable differences in speakers' performance. The questions we address based on the data collected are (1) is there a continuous or more categorical change in speakers' ability to reproduce the RE accent? (2) which aspects of RE are most salient to native English speakers?, and (3) is there a correlation in quality and quantity such that speakers who pick up on more cues also produce them in more native-like manner? Our goal is to develop an algorithm to predict a given speaker's accentedness, and compare its performance with native speakers' accentedness ratings in a follow-up perceptual experiment.
A multigenerational investigation of the acoustics of English-Modern Hebrew heritage speakers
Authors: Jones Kyle
Published: October 2018

This research investigates the speech acoustics of two generations of U.S. olim (immigrants) in Israel: First generation immigrants, whose first language (L1) is American English (AE), and their second-generation children, for whom English is a heritage language (HL). A specific HL accent has been demonstrated in the studies that have investigated the phenomenon, showing that heritage speakers have good control of phonetic/phonological contrasts between their two languages and distinct patterns from both NS and L2 learners (who both show L1 influence). The research focuses on issues of heritage language phonology and intergenerational multilingualism: What is the speech of HL speakers of AE in Israel like? How does this speech compare to the speech of their parents (their main source of input for AE)? How does Modern Hebrew (MH), their L2 or primary language, affect their AE? These questions are investigated through a language questionnaire and an acoustic analysis of voice onset time (VOT) in stops. Acoustic analysis demonstrates that HL speakers, echoing previous studies, have excellent control over phonetic and phonological contrasts in salient distinctions between their two languages, despite greater overall variability. VOT is closer to MH norms when speaking MH and closer to AE norms when speaking AE.
Effects of audiovisual perceptual training with corrective feedback on the perception and production of English sounds by Korean learners
Authors: Lee Ho-Young , Lee Jookyeong , Hwang Hyosung , Lim Joo Yeun
Published: October 2018

This paper aims to propose a new audiovisual perceptual training with corrective feedback and compare the results of this training with those of audio only and audiovisual perceptual training. The results are compared in order to see which is more effective in improving the perception and production of English sounds by Korean learners. For this experiment, we selected 6 consonant pairs (i.e., /p-f/, /b-v/, /t-θ/, /l-r/, /s-ʃ/) and 4 vowel pairs (i.e., /i:-ɪ/, /ɛ-æ/, /ɑ:-ʌ/, /ɔ:-oʊ/), which are visually distinguishable from one another but often confused by Koreans. 20 subjects participated in audio only training (A group), 20 subjects in audiovisual training (AV group) and 25 subjects in audiovisual training with corrective feedback (CF group). 8 training sessions, each lasting about 40 minutes, were offered. All the groups showed a significant improvement in the perception of vowels and consonants (i.e., 5.4% and 3.4% improvements for the A group, 7.7% and 3.4% for the AV group, and 11.1% and 4.1% for the CF group). However, only A group showed a significant improvement in the production of vowels (i.e., 7.19% improvement) while only AV and CF groups showed a significant improvement in the production of consonants (i.e. 6.08% and 8.00% improvements for the AV and CF groups, respectively).
Listener flexibility to lexical alterations for foreign- and native-accented speech
Authors: Burke Kali , Tulloch Michelle K. , van Heugten Marieke
Published: October 2018

Listeners regularly encounter speech produced by speakers born and raised in linguistic communities different from their own. Given that individuals from different linguistic communities often speak in a distinct fashion, it is not uncommon for listeners to be exposed to accent-induced variability. This can lead to discrepancies in the realization of words, rendering such speakers difficult to understand. As a result, listeners tend to increase their flexibility in their interpretation of variations in the phonological form for known words. To examine whether or not a foreign accent also leads to an increased flexibility in label-object mapping, we tested participants in a preferential looking paradigm. Using a between-subject design, participants either listened to a foreign- or to a native-accented speaker. In some trials, the target word labeled an object that was depicted on the screen (match trials), while in other trials the target word referred to an object that was closely related (but not an exact match) to one of the objects depicted on the screen (mismatch trials). Listeners’ looking behavior after target word onset was examined across accents and trial types. The results of this study show that lexical alterations affect word recognition across foreign- and native-accented speech.
Production of English stop voicing distinction in familiar and unfamiliar positions by Spanish speakers
Authors: Swain Alicia , Lee Chao-Yang
Published: October 2018

The voicing distinction in English stop consonants involves distinct acoustic correlates depending on the position of the consonant. For Spanish speakers, prevocalic voicing distinction is in a familiar position whereas postvocalic voicing is in an unfamiliar position. In this study we examined whether Spanish speakers could use voice onset time and vowel duration to produce the voicing distinction in these two positions. Acoustic analysis showed Spanish speakers were able to produce the voicing distinction in both positions, although the magnitude of between-category difference is smaller compared to those produced by native English speakers. Production of the VOT distinction for prevocalic stops improved significantly following a brief tutorial on the acoustics of stop consonants, but the vowel duration difference for postvocalic stops did not show comparable change. These results suggest implementation of a phonological contrast in an unfamiliar position is constrained by native language characteristics. [Work supported by Ohio University College of Health Sciences and Professions Student Research Grant.]
Emotional responses to speech accommodation: A systematic review
Authors: Rothermich Kathrin , Harris Havan , Sewell Kerry , Bobb Susan
Published: October 2018

Five percent of the U.S. population speak English “not well” or not at all, often leading to miscommunication, which can be especially problematic in a healthcare environment or at the workplace. According to socio-linguistic frameworks such as Communication Accommodation Theory, native speakers have interactional goals and strategies to communicate effectively with non-native speakers. One of these strategies, foreign-directed speech, involves modifying the speech output acoustically and linguistically by slowing down, simplifying speech, and exaggerating vowels. While the acoustic properties of foreign-directed speech are well documented, research is limited on how non-native speakers interpret them emotionally and pragmatically. For instance, do non-native speakers find foreign-direct speech helpful or does it come across as condescending? The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the current evidence on how speech accommodation affects the listener, with a special focus on how it is perceived by non-native speakers. In this review, we outline the basic components of communication accommodation, provide a systematic review of the literature related to the emotional effects of speech accommodation, and discuss current issues. We conclude by formulating recommendations for future research.
Effects of the place of articulation of the following consonant on the identification and discrimination of American English vowels by native speakers of Japanese and Korean
Authors: Nozawa Takeshi , Han Heesun
Published: October 2018

Native speakers of Japanese and Korean identified 6 American English monophthongs /i, ɪ, ɛ, æ, ɑ, ʌ/ and discriminated 6 vowel pairs /i/-/ɪ/, /ɛ/-/ɪ/, /æ/-/ɛ/, /æ/-/ɑ/, /æ/-/ʌ/, /ɑ/-/ʌ/ in in /hVt/, /pVt/, /pVn/ and /pVl/ frames. The two groups of listeners' identification and discrimination accuracy were submitted to 2 mixed-design ANOVAs, respectively, with 2 Listener Groups as a between-subject variable, and 6 frames and 6 vowels (or vowel pairs) as within-subject variables. As for identification, a main effect of vowel and frame are both significant (p<.001), and a three-way interaction of listener groups × vowels × frames is also significant (p<.001). Post-hoc pair-wise comparisons revealed that Korean listeners identified /ʌ/ significantly better than Japanese listeners. This is probably because Korean listeners can equate the English vowel to Korean /ʌ/. Japanese listeners' identification accuracy of /i/ is lower before /n/ and /l/, but that of Korean listeners was not affected by the context. As for discrimination, a main effect of the frames and vowel pairs was significant (p<.001). A three-way interaction of the 3 factors was not significant, but all the two-way interactions were significant (p<.001). Post-hoc pair-wise comparisons revealed that Japanese listeners' discrimination accuracy of /i/-/ɪ/ and /æ/-/ɛ/ is lower before /n/ and /l/ than before /t/, while that of Korean listeners was not affected by the context. Korean listeners discriminated /æ/-/ɛ/ least accurately of all the six vowel pairs.
Information-theoretic variables in Spanish-English bilingual speech
Authors: Johnson Khia A.
Published: October 2018

Languages lenite similar segments to different extents—a finding that can be accounted for with information-theoretic variables like frequency, predictability, and informativity [Cohen Priva, 2017, Language 93: 569–597]. Prior research addresses the role of segment information content across languages, but assumes that information-theoretic variables operate on an in-language basis. While appropriate for monolingual speech, this assumption is problematic for bilingual speech, as an individual’s languages are known to influence one another (e.g. [Fricke et al., 2016, J. Mem. Lang. 89: 110–137]). In this paper, I report on a study using the Bangor Miami corpus [Deuchar et al., 2014, Advances in the Study of Bilingualism: 93–110], addressing how well information-theoretic variables predict lenition in Spanish-English bilingual speech. Specifically, do they operate on an in-language or cross-language basis? To address this, I focus on the duration of word-medial intervocalic fricatives shared by both languages—/f/ and /s/. Accounting for variables known to affect segment duration (e.g. speech rate), I use linear mixed-effect models to assess the contribution of information-theoretic variables in accounting for duration variation in bilingual speech. Four models are evaluated, compared, and discussed: (i) English in-language, (ii) English cross-language, (iii) Spanish in-language, and (iv) Spanish cross-language.
The effect of native language on the second language vowel variability
Authors: Kang Jaekoo , Whalen D. H. , Nam Hosung
Published: October 2018

Korean learners of English must create four vowel categories for English (/i, ɪ/ and /ɛ, æ/) in relation to two similar native categories (/i/ and /ɛ/). It is hypothesized that new categories should be easier to learn than similar ones (Flege, 1994), but it is unclear whether the English L2 vowels are similar or new. The degree of similarity between the four English vowels and the two Korean vowels was examined using the distribution metrics (i.e., ellipse overlap, cross-entropy, and Gaussian Mixture Model) as well as Euclidean distance in F1/F2 space. The L2 spoken corpus included 100 repetitions of words in both Korean and English spoken by 37 Korean L2 learners (20 female). Preliminary results indicate that the English (L2) high vowel pair was more overlapped with Korean /i/ than the low vowel pair with Korean /ɛ/, especially for male speakers. For the English (L2) low vowel pair, female speakers showed less overlap but higher variability along F1 direction than male speakers. This demonstrates that the similarity between Korean and English vowels is characterized by the distribution as well as the distances between the vowel categories. Acoustic results will be further compared with identification by native English speakers.
An ultrasound investigation of how accurately people follow tongue movement instructions
Authors: Wilson Ian , Villegas Julián
Published: October 2018

In an analytic-linguistic approach to teaching segmental pronunciation and articulatory setting, teachers and voice coaches give explicit instructions on tongue placement and movements. Instructors assume that learners can do exactly as instructed. This assumption was tested in research by Wilson and Horiguchi (2012, PSLLT), who showed that phonetically untrained participants were very poor at following explicit tongue movement instructions. In their study, both the magnitude and direction of movement of the tongue’s centre of gravity were calculated from 2D ultrasound images. However, by only measuring changes in the centre of gravity, it is possible that movements were found to be smaller than they really were, especially if participants focused on the front of the tongue rather than the whole tongue body. In this study, we reanalyzed the original data, this time focusing on the surface of the tongue, rather than the centre of gravity. We made tongue traces using EdgeTrak software (Li et al., 2005), and compared them using a Smoothing-Spline ANOVA method (Davidson, 2006). Results differed from the original study, showing that participants were more conscious of what the front of the tongue was doing rather than the whole tongue body. Implications for segmental pronunciation teaching will be discussed.
Parallel adjustment of phonetic targets in L2 English voice onset time
Authors: Chodroff Eleanor , Baese-Berk Melissa M.
Published: October 2018

The phonetic realization of any given speech sound varies considerably across speakers and languages. For instance, the voice onset time (VOT) of [kh] can range from ~40 ms to over 100 ms (Cho & Ladefoged, 1999). Within American English, recent research has demonstrated that the VOT of [kh] is also systematically and linearly related to the VOTs of [ph] and [th] (Chodroff & Wilson, 2017). In the present study, we investigated whether these relations were maintained across L2 speakers of English. L2 speech production could arise from independent acquisition (or adjustment) of the phonetic targets for each speech segment. Alternatively, the presence of covariation would indicate that properties of speech sounds may be altered in tandem. To investigate this, VOT data was obtained from a subset of the ALLSSTAR Corpus, which contained matched connected speech data from 26 L1 American English speakers and 114 L2 English speakers (22 unique L1s). Preliminary analysis revealed strong VOT covariation among aspirated stops across L2 speakers (rs = 0.67 to 0.74), and qualitatively equivalent covariation across L1 speakers (rs = 0.57 to 0.75). The observed covariation may arise from a universal principle of uniformity requiring near-identical implementation of the shared laryngeal feature value.
A study of the difference vowel duration according to pronunciation assessment and the stress
Authors: Park Kihoon , Lee Seok-Chae
Published: October 2018

The purpose of this paper is to examine Korean elementary English learners’ production of lexical and phrasal stress and the difference of the vowel length according to stress and pronunciation assessment. For the study, Korean-spoken English Corpus spoken by Korean elementary students was used. Lexical and phrasal stress were analyzed in terms of vowel length. As a result of the analysis, the following was revealed. A) Higher level groups of pronunciation assessment pronounced stressed syllables much longer than unstressed syllables compared to the lower level groups. B) As a result of the comparison according to the stress position, it was found that the stressed vowel located in the second syllable was pronounced much longer in all the pronunciation assessment group. It can be predicted as a result of the effect of mother tongue interference, which does not allow diphthong. C) Speakers that produced stressed syllables with much longer duration than unstressed syllables were classified as higher level groups in assessment. The result of this research suggests that segments and supra segments should be taught at the same time.
Quantifying fine-scale details of vowel spaces in German language learners
Authors: Elliott Lauren , Taft Benjamin N.
Published: October 2018

Second language learners may be particularly challenged when the new language makes distinctions between sounds that are phonetically equivalent in the speaker's first language. If the distinction occurs between vowels, native speakers and learners should occupy the relevant vowel spaces in different ways. Native speakers’ vowel spaces should show denser, more acoustically separate regions for each vowel. Learners’ spaces should show less consistent, more overlapping spaces. In contrast, when a pair of vowels are phonetically distinct in both languages, there should be little difference between native and learner acoustic spaces. We use a custom formant tracker to quantify the vowel spaces of two native speakers and 6 German language learners.
Digit span error patterns in bilinguals and monolinguals
Authors: Philipp-Muller Noah M. , Spinu Laura , Rafat Yasaman
Published: October 2018

Research shows that bilinguals tend to outperform monolinguals on certain cognitive and linguistic tasks. While the mechanism underlying these advantages remains unclear, it has been suggested that bilinguals have enhanced working memory, which may be responsible for some of the cognitive advantages observed in these populations. To examine the mechanism responsible for the bilingual advantage, serial working memory was compared between monolingual and bilingual undergraduate students using an adaptive digit span test (n = 77). The results of the test were algorithmically adjusted in order to reveal not only if each digit was correct, but also the existence of serial errors and digit scrambling. The results showed that bilinguals made significantly fewer transpositional errors compared to monolinguals (p < 0.02, d = 0.61). These results are thought to be caused by differences in attention to serial information between bilinguals and monolinguals. Another possible explanation for these results is that bilinguals implement more cognitive memory techniques (like chunking), and are therefore better at retaining serial information. The computational methods developed in this experiment will help guide paths for further research on the impact of syntactical co-activation on serial memory recall, and primacy/recency effects.
Assessing multimodal speech-gesture coordination: correlation map analysis for signal comparison
Authors: Danner Samantha G.
Published: October 2018

Speech acoustics and body movements are systematically linked during speaking; however, there is no consensus regarding which acoustic and/or kinematic signals are relevant for this coordination nor what critical landmarks facilitate this linkage. To address this, we use correlation map analysis (CMA) of speech acoustics and body movement to assess the hypothesis that speech and gesture are coordinated at prosodically prominent speech regions. CMA allows for the analysis of correlation between any two continuous signals both instantaneously and at user-defined ranges of delay. In this study, we examine the relationship of the speech’s RMS acoustic amplitude signal with the dominant hand’s velocity signal at speech turns, phrase boundaries, acoustic amplitude peaks, and other ("elsewhere") regions. We find that turns and phrase edges exhibit the greatest likelihood of positive correlation. Additionally, the likelihood of correlation is higher when the hand velocity signal is delayed with respect to the amplitude signal. These results suggest that speech and gesture may be strongly linked at speech turn landmarks for the purpose of signaling a floor exchange. Thus in addition to coordination for semantic and prosodic purposes, we propose that speech-gesture coordination can serve with prosody to signal speech turns in conversation. [Work supported by NIH.]
Nonlinear waveform distortion: Assessment and detection of clipping on speech data and systems
Authors: Hansen John H. L. , Stauffer Allen , Xia Wei
Published: October 2018

Speech, speaker, and language systems have traditionally relied on carefully collected speech material for training acoustic models. There is an overwhelming abundance of publicly accessible audio material available for training. A major challenge, however, is that such found data is not professionally recorded, and therefore may contain a wide diversity of background noise, nonlinear distortions, or other unknown environmental or technology-based contamination or mismatch. There is a critical need for automatic analysis to screen such unknown data sets before acoustic model development training, or to perform input audio purity screening prior to classification. In this study, we propose a waveform based clipping detection algorithm for naturalistic audio streams and analyze the impact of clipping at different severities on speech quality measures and automatic speaker identification systems. We use the TIMIT and NIST-SRE08 speech corpora as case studies. The results show, as expected, that clipping introduces a nonlinear distortion into clean speech data, which reduces speech quality and performance for speaker recognition. We also investigate what degree of clipping can be present to sustain effective speech system performance. The proposed detection system, which will be released, could potentially contribute to new audio collections for speech and language technology development.
Numerical analysis for source direction finding using a cylindrical array with scattered sound fields
Authors: Kim Sea-Moon , Lee Keunhwa , Byun Sung-Hoon
Published: October 2018

Numerous studies on beamforming techniques have been done for source direction finding using various types of arrays. A circular array as well as a linear array is also widely used for its compact configuration and smaller angular dependency of beamforming performance. In underwater environments, a circular array faces high drag forces due to not only ocean current but also its moving platform. One of the solutions may be an array of hydrophones flush mounted on a cylindrical structure to reduce the drag. However this configuration causes sound scattering, which deteriorate the pressure distribution based on the free field condition. This talk deals with numerical approach for source localization techniques with scattered sound fields. Parametric study shows that beamforming performance is improved and relative high resolution can be achieved using an array of small-sized aperture. [This work was financially supported by the research project PES9410 funded by KRISO.]
Acoustic and ultrasound investigation of word-initial gemination in Moroccan Arabic
Authors: Frej Mohamed Yassine , Caringnan Christopher , Proctor Michael I. , Best Catherine T
Published: October 2018

Moroccan Arabic uses geminate/singleton contrasts in medial position but it is controversial whether it maintains them utterance-initially. To address this issue, we made simultaneous ultrasound and acoustic recordings of five native speakers producing target words containing /t/-/tt/ and /d/-/dd/ contrasts utterance-initially and -medially, 10 times each. The ultrasound data were analysed via a novel method of using pixel-derived principal components and linear discrimination to generate a time-varying articulatory “closure” signal directly from the ultrasound images, without the need for manual tracing. This articulatory signal was subsequently used to measure closure duration by determining gestural landmarks from its velocity function. The results provide clear articulatory evidence that speakers produce utterance-initial singletons versus geminates with significantly different closure durations, although the contrast provides no acoustic evidence of closure duration per se. Rather, our results reveal that speakers realize geminate/singleton contrasts via acoustic dimensions not related to consonant duration: The vowel is significantly longer following geminates than singletons, and the stop bursts have greater amplitude for geminates than singletons. Together these findings provide evidence that the gemination contrast is maintained in initial position in Moroccan Arabic, and challenge traditional assumptions that consonant length contrasts are primarily carried by acoustic closure duration differences.