Native Listening: Language Experience and the Recognition of Spoken Words
This is a remarkable book that provides a retrospective overview of the core ideas and data that have defined the field of spoken language processing over the past four decades. At the same time, it provides a prospective vision of the theoretical and empirical landscape before us. The central claim is that the processes of spoken language comprehension are shaped by native language experience. Each chapter develops a branch of this argument so that by the end a full, rich, and coherent picture has emerged. Thus, reading this book is a rewarding and enriching experience.(Ann Bradlow, Professor and Chair, Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University)Anne Cutler has written a truly outstanding book. The reasons for the scientific importance of the topic of each chapter are presented step by step in a clear and convincing manner. In addition to the normal figures with graphs and diagrams that one expects in this kind of literature, Cutler makes excellent pedagogical use of 'panels' enclosed in boxes. The panels function as useful supplements to points being made in the main text, and contain such things as introductions to theoretical concepts and good explanations of experimental techniques.(Arthur S. Abramson, Scientist, Haskins Laboratories; Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, the University of Connecticut)Ultimately, this book represents the rigorous research program that Cutler has carried out over the past four decades, one that has made a tremendous impact on speech-processing research and shaped the field as we know it today.(Language)