Category: Publication

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new research article titled “Tracking phonological regularities: exploring the influence of learning mode and regularity locus in adult phonological learning” in the journal Linguistics Vanguard. The paper, authored by Xiaoyu, Thomas, Frank, Albert, and Youngah, investigates the ways adults learn phonological patterns in language.

The study focused on the concept of regularity tracking, where learners subconsciously identify and utilize consistent patterns within a language system. The researchers examined how two factors – the learner’s approach (goal-oriented vs. exploratory) and the type of regularity (phonotactics vs. alternation) – influence this process.

Participants were tasked with acquiring vowel harmony rules for forming plurals in an experimental language. Across four conditions, researchers manipulated both the learning approach (whether participants were explicitly given a learning goal) and the type of regularity present in the language (phonotactics governed vowel selection vs. random vowel alternations).

The study’s key finding is that learners exhibited a stronger preference for identifying regularities when they had no explicit learning goal and when the language contained random alternations. This suggests that statistical learning mechanisms – which underlie our ability to unconsciously pick up on patterns – are influenced by the level of uncertainty in the learning environment and the nature of the regularity itself. Learners seem to be more sensitive to avoiding irregularities, particularly when the structure of the language itself is unpredictable. The findings overall suggest that learning strategies and the inherent structure of the language itself play a role in shaping how learners identify and utilize regularities within phonological patterns.

Yu, X., Van Hoey, T., Tan, F., Du, B. & Do, Y. (2024). Tracking phonological regularities: exploring the influence of learning mode and regularity locus in adult phonological learning. Linguistics Vanguard. open_in_newDOI file_download PDF

Xiaoyu and Youngah’s paper, “Perceptual and featural measures of Mandarin consonant similarity: Confusion matrices and phonological features dataset,” has recently been published in Data in Brief.

The paper presents a comprehensive dataset containing two types of similarity measures for 23 Mandarin consonant phonemes: perceptual and featural measures. The perceptual measures are derived from confusion matrices obtained through native speakers’ identification tasks in quiet and noise-masked conditions. Based on these matrices, specific perceptual measures, such as confusion rate and perceptual distance, are calculated. Additionally, the authors propose a phonological feature system to evaluate the featural differences between each pair of consonants, providing insights into phonological similarity.

The dataset reveals a significant positive correlation between the perceptual and featural measures of similarity. Distance matrices are generated using the perceptual distance data, and a hierarchical cluster dendrogram is plotted using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). This dendrogram displays five major clusters of consonants.

This dataset can serve as a valuable reference for future studies seeking quantified perceptual measures of Mandarin consonant similarity. Additionally, it can be beneficial for research exploring consonant similarity in perceptual and phonological domains, as well as investigating the influence of linguistic and extralinguistic factors on consonant perception.

Yu, X., & Do, Y. (2024). Perceptual and featural measures of Mandarin consonant similarity: Confusion matrices and phonological features dataset. Data in Brief, 52, 109868. open_in_newDOI

Youngah and Tingyu’s paper have recently published in the journal Glossa. The paper is titled “Substantive bias and variation in the acquisition of vowel harmony.”

The study delves into substantive bias, a phenomenon where learners exhibit a preference for phonetically motivated patterns during language acquisition. The paper provides evidence that variable input, as opposed to categorical input, can activate substantive bias. In the experiment, native Hong Kong Cantonese speakers were randomly assigned to either categorical or variable training conditions for vowel backness harmony or disharmony, or to a no-training control condition. The results reveal that participants in the categorical and control conditions did not show a bias towards either pattern. However, those in the variable conditions demonstrated a preference for vowel harmony. This suggests that input variability can strengthen the effect of substantive bias. This research contributes to our understanding of the role of input variability in phonological learning and the mechanisms involved in acquiring phonetically motivated and unmotivated phonological patterns.

Congratulations to Youngah and Tingyu on their successful publication! The paper is accessible through Glossa under open access.

Huang, T., & Do, Y. (2023). Substantive bias and variation in the acquisition of vowel harmony. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 8(1), Article 1. open_in_new DOI

Youngah, Jon, and Samuel’s article, “Variation learning in phonology and morphosyntax”, has been published in the journal “Cognition”.

Phonological variation includes phonetic variation, which is influenced by articulatory or perceptual factors, whereas morphosyntactic variation is not. The researchers aimed to identify whether learning differences exist when children are exposed to phonological or morphosyntactic patterns with equal complexity. Cantonese-speaking children were taught an artificial language involving rounding harmony and gender agreement, with patterns applying variably or categorically.

The results showed that in the categorical learning conditions, participants had comparable rates of harmony and agreement. However, in the variable phonological learning conditions, children’s application of harmony exceeded the rate of exposure in training, suggesting a bias towards phonetically grounded rounding harmony. In the variable morphosyntactic condition, participants applied agreement below the rate of exposure.

These findings reveal a qualitative difference between learning in the two domains, with phonological learning being influenced by substantive grounding, while morphosyntactic learning is not. This research contributes to our understanding of language acquisition in children and may have implications for educational practices and interventions.

The article can be accessed here until 13 September 2023.

Do, Y., Havenhill, J., & Sze, S. S. L. (2023). Variation learning in phonology and morphosyntax. Cognition, 239, 105573. open_in_new DOI