Session L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory:

Second Language Acquisition and Exemplar Theory

Type: special
Chair: Valerie Hazan, Wim v. Dommelen
Date: Tuesday - August 07, 2007
Time: 16:00
Room: 1 (Red)

 

L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-1 SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND EXEMPLAR THEORY
Valerie Hazan, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL
Paper File
  In the last decade or so, there has been a revived interest in studying the phonetic aspects of second language (L2) acquisition. In spite of increased research efforts, the representation and processing of L2 speech is still unclear. The aim of this session is to discuss the construction of a mental lexicon for L2 and the use of L1-specific speech processing strategies by L2 learners. A central issue is the extent to which words are stored as episodic traces or as abstract representations. This introductory paper summarises the two target papers by Cutler & Weber and Goldinger, and the views of the four commentators: Bradlow, Davidson, Maye and McLennan.
L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-2 LISTENING EXPERIENCE AND PHONETIC-TO-LEXICAL MAPPING IN L2
Anne Cutler , Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen
Andrea Weber, Saarland University, Saarbrücken
Paper File
  In contrast to initial L1 vocabularies, which of necessity depend largely on heard exemplars, L2 vocabulary construction can draw on a variety of knowledge sources. This can lead to richer stored knowledge about the phonology of the L2 than the listener's prelexical phonetic processing capacity can support, and thus to mismatch between the level of detail required for accurate lexical mapping and the level of detail delivered by the prelexical processor. Experiments on spoken word recognition in L2 have shown that phonetic contrasts which are not reliably perceived are represented in the lexicon nonetheless. This lexical representation of contrast must be based on abstract knowledge, not on veridical representation of heard exemplars. New experiments confirm that provision of abstract knowledge (in the form of spelling) can induce lexical representation of a contrast which is not reliably perceived; but also that experience (in the form of frequency of occurrence) modulates the mismatch of phonetic and lexical processing. We conclude that a correct account of word recognition in L2 (as indeed in L1) requires consideration of both abstract and episodic information.
L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-3 A COMPLEMENTARY-SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ABSTRACT AND EPISODIC SPEECH PERCEPTION
Stephen D. Goldinger, Arizona State University
Paper File
  Over the past two decades, numerous experiments have shown that spoken word perception creates detailed memory traces, containing not only word meanings, but also extraneous, perceptual or contextual details. This is shown, for example, by voice-specific priming effects. Based on such results, exemplar theories suggest the mental lexicon may consist of accumulated episodic traces. Although an episodic approach is well-suited to explain priming, ample evidence suggests that language also entails abstract representations. Certainly at the segmental level, there are logical constraints that require unitization. An optimal theory may include stable abstract representations, combined with context-sensitive episodic traces. This paper summarizes new tests examining word perception from a complementary-systems perspective, wherein reciprocal neural networks represent hippocampal and cortical memory systems. In this approach, detailed episodic traces and holographic, abstract traces combine to create behavior in real-time, allowing perceptual or memorial data to appear more or less “episodic,” depending on myriad factors. I summarize new results and simulations on perceptual priming, and discuss the model with respect to perceptual learning in speech.
L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-4 INFORMATION FLOW AND PLASTICITY ACROSS LEVELS OF LINGUISTIC SOUND STRUCTURE: RESPONSES TO THE TARGET PAPERS BY CUTLER & WEBER AND BY GOLDINGER
Ann Bradlow , Northwestern University
Paper File
  The two target papers in this session present different approaches to substantiating the consensus position that both abstract and episodic levels of representation underlie speech processing. Cutler and Weber’s paper provides an interesting illustration of the non-direct phonetic-to-lexical mapping in second language speech processing. Their contribution presents a series of studies in which meta-knowledge of a second language contrast facilitated representation of the contrast at a lower level. As a complement to this contribution, I discuss cases in which the lack of access to abstract category representations effectively blocks the passage of information across the episodic-to-abstract hierarchy. Second, picking up on the challenge of specifying the nature of exemplars as discussed in Goldinger’s target article, I discuss recent data regarding experience-dependent shaping of the basic sensory circuitry. These data are particularly relevant to the case of second language speech learning as they help specify the levels of plasticity required for successful non-native language acquisition.
L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-5 THE INFLUENCE OF NON-PHONETIC FACTORS ON THE FORM OF L2 LEXICAL ENTRIES: RESPONSE TO CUTLER AND WEBER
Lisa Davidson , Department of Linguistics, New York University, New York
Paper File
  Cutler and Weber argue that L2 lexical representations must incorporate both abstract and episodic information. In this paper, the nature of non-phonetic information that is useful to L2 learners is further explored, with a focus on orthographic and minimal pair data. It is argued this type of information is useful to L2 listeners because it provides them with an overt incentive to distinguish non-native phonemic or phonotactic categories. However, it is noted that not all phonemic categories may be equally learnable in L2 acquisition, which is a challenge for episodic models of lexical storage.
L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-6 LEARNING TO OVERCOME L1 PHONOLOGICAL BIASES
Jessica Maye, Northwestern University and the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems
Paper File
  This paper expands upon the complementary-systems model of speech perception by proposing that exemplar encoding is filtered by native language phonolgy through differential attentional weighting of particular acoustic cues. Phonetic processing in a second language is presumed to rely on an L2 phonological system that is not native-like due to the persistent effects of this attentional filtering. In learning to either re-weight attention or work around this filtering effect, individuals may vary with respect to their ability to exploit the exemplar store in L2 processing, leading to differences in long-term ability to develop native-like L2 phonologies.
L2 Acqu. & Exemplar Theory-7 CHALLENGES FACING A COMPLEMENTARY-SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ABSTRACT AND EPISODIC SPEECH PERCEPTION
Conor McLennan, Cleveland State University
Paper File
  It has been nearly a decade since the publication of Goldinger’s 1998 Psychological Review paper in which he presented his episodic theory of lexical access. Moreover, Goldinger’s (and others’) empirical work providing evidence for episodic representations predates the formal presentation of his episodic theory. This is an appropriate time to note how the field has progressed in the past decade with respect to the debate over the nature of lexical representations. As evidenced by the two main papers, the emphasis is no longer on whether there are abstract and/or episodic representations. Instead, the focus is now on the ideal framework that can account for their coexistence. Goldinger’s presentation of a complementary systems (hereafter CS) approach offers a glimpse into the direction that many future investigations of lexical representation may be headed. I discuss some of the challenges facing a CS approach in an effort to stimulate further discussion, and to help provide an impetus for future empirical, theoretical, and modeling studies.

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