性别、幼儿园教育和英语学习对普通话儿童语音习得的影响

1　引言在研究儿童语言习得过程中 ,人们发现虽然所有正常发展的儿童最终都能习得目标语 ,但是习得的速度有快有慢。性别、家庭的社会经济地位 (包括父亲和母亲的文化程度、职业等 )、兄弟姐妹中的排行、智力、性格、思维方式等社会和个人因素都会对语言习得的速度产生一定的作用。Ｒｉｔｔｅｒｍａｎ＆Ｒｉｃｈｔｎｅｒ( 1 979)和Ｍｏｗｒｅｒ＆Ｂｕｒｇｅｒ( 1 991 )分别比较了男孩和女孩在英语习得过程中发音的音位数目和出现音位错误的数量 ,两项实验均没有发现男孩和女孩在习得语音过程中有显著差异。另有两项早期研究发现语音习得过程…     

汉语儿童的语音意识特点及阅读能力高低读者的差异

选取小学３,４,５年级儿童各２０名作为被试,系统探讨了儿童汉语普通话的音节意识、首音韵脚意识和音位意识的特点及发展,根据老师的评价把被试分为好的读者和差的读者。研究结果表明,语音意识测验成绩随年级的增长而提高;音节意识与首音一韵脚意识先于音位意识而发展;好、差读者在语音意识测验成绩上差异显著,而且,年级差异与好、差读者差异的程度和趋势是一致的,好、差读者在语音意识发展的速度上是不同的。     

方言经验对早期沪语儿童汉语语音意识的影响

已有研究对汉语儿童的英语语音意识进行研究,且取得了很多有价值的研究成果,但对方言儿童的汉语语音意识的研究很少。汉语是一种具有众多方言的独特语言,许多方言和标准语的语言体系有着显著差异。具有方言和普通话早期经验的双语儿童在汉语语音意识上是否存在优势,有两种不同的看法：一是从心理语言学层面上,母语学习中获得的语言能力或普遍语法能促进第二语言的学习;二是从语言学层面上来讲,母语对第二语言的学习存在干扰作用。那么双语儿童在汉语语音意识上比单一普通话儿童是否存在优势呢？本研究将进行调查。实验选取72名4岁、5岁和6岁学前儿童为被试,每个年龄组各24人,其中沪语儿童和单一普通话儿童各12名。采用听觉呈现方法对所选被试进行汉语语音意识水平的测试,包括声调意识、声母意识和韵母意识三部分,并收集儿童的口语资料。结果表明: 虽然沪语儿童声母意识和韵母意识主效应不显著,但沪语儿童语音意识总成绩和声调意识成绩均比单一普通话儿童高;沪语儿童汉语语音意识优势不受年龄的影响。本研究启示是,上海地区学前儿童学习标准语（普通话）之外应鼓励使用沪语。     

小学儿童汉语语音意识的发展

运用纵向与横向研究探讨了小学一年级儿童汉语语音意识发展的过程和小学一、三、五年级儿童汉语语音意识的年级差异。结果表明。在汉语语音意识各任务上,刚入学儿童的反应都处于随机的水平,其后声调意识先于其他语音意识而发展,其次为首音-韵脚意识,音位意识发展得最迟。     

汉语言语产生的语音加工单元——基于音位的研究

言语产生的语音加工单元具有跨语言的特异性。在印欧语言中, 音位是语音加工的重要功能单元。音位指具体语言中能够区别意义的最小语音单位, 如“big”包含三个音位/b/, /i/, /g/。目前, 在汉语言语产生中, 对音位的研究较少。本项目拟采用事件相关电位技术, 对汉语言语产生中的音位加工进行探讨, 试图考察：在汉语言语产生中, 1)音位加工的心理现实性, 以及音位表征是否受第二语言、汉语拼音习得、拼音使用经验的影响?2)音位的加工机制是怎样的?具体而言, 音位加工的特异性、位置编码、组合方式、时间进程是怎样的?对这些问题的回答, 将有助于深化对汉语言语产生的认识, 为建立汉语言语产生计算模型提供基础; 为比较印欧语言与汉语在机制上的异同提供基础; 为制定汉语语音教育教学方法提供心理学依据。     

语音加工的发展、老化及其神经机制

作为人类语言活动的重要组成成分,语音加工经历着“习得-发展-老化”的变化过程。本文首先综述了婴儿、儿童、成年人及老年人在语音意识、语音提取,语音工作记忆等方面的表现及相应加工机制。其次,分析了不同年龄段个体语音加工发展变化的神经基础。最后,通过比较不同时期个体语音加工发展进程,围绕语音加工发展过程、语音老化有无关键年龄以及如何干预等问题进行展望。     

小学儿童英语语音意识的发展

运用短期纵向与横向研究探讨了汉语儿童英语语音意识的发展过程与特点。研究结果表明,刚入学儿童在英语语音意识各项任务上的正确率间有显著差异,表现为押韵意识与末位音位任务上的正确率高于首音意识任务,后者又高于音位计数任务;尽管从一年级到五年级,儿童在语音意识任务上的正确率在不断提高,但这种趋势一直保持着。     

潮汕话-普通话双言者的词汇习得年龄效应

采用潮汕话-普通话双言者为被试, 通过3个实验, 考察了词汇习得年龄效应。实验1采用汉字命名和图片命名范式, 证实了在双言者的两种语言中都存在词汇习得年龄效应。实验2和实验3分别采用语义范畴判断及声母监控任务, 在语义层面及语音层面检验了双言者的两种语言的词汇习得年龄效应的特点。结果表明, 在语义任务上发现了词汇习得年龄效应, 在语音任务上未发现。整个研究表明, 语义在汉语词汇习得年龄效应产生中具有重要作用, 支持了语义假设。     

汉语儿童汉语与英语语音意识发展的关系

研究以押韵、首音、音位和声调(汉语)等语音学单位为基础考察了一、三、五年级302名汉语儿童汉语与英语语音意识发展间的关系。结果表明,汉语与英语语音意识之间存在着显著的相关,其中汉语押韵意识与英语各语音意识的相关最高,而声调意识最低;儿童在汉语语音意识的正确率显著地高于英语语音意识;汉语语音意识水平高的儿童在英语语音意识各任务上的正确率显著地高于汉语语音意识水平低的儿童。     

语法和语义线索对儿童动词习得的影响

口语词汇习得过程中存在语法促进和语义促进效应,而语法又包含了句法和词法。本研究采用优先指向范式考察了语法和语义线索对汉语儿童动词习得的影响。实验1发现, 5岁儿童可以利用单个句法线索词习得动词。实验2发现,4岁儿童可以在增加句法线索词或语义线索词条件下习得动词;实验2a发现,4岁儿童更倾向于将单音节词判定为动词,实验2b发现,在增加语义线索词条件下, 3岁儿童更倾向于将双音节词判定为名词。结果表明,5岁儿童可以利用单个句法线索词习得动词,4岁儿童可以通过多重线索习得动词。本研究拓展了以往关于汉语儿童动词习得的结果,提示语言习得研究应考虑语法线索的独特性和可靠性。     

The effects of the constancy of location and order in working memory visual–phonological binding of children with dyslexia

It has been suggested that children with dyslexia have difficulties in visual–phonological working memory (WM) binding, supporting the hypothesis that this ability is crucial in the formation of associations between written forms and phonological codes required by reading. However, research on this topic is currently scarce and has not clarified to what extent binding may be supported by spatial and temporal information. The present study examined visual–phonological WM binding performance in a group of children with dyslexia compared to a control group of typically developing children matched for age, gender, and grade. Children had to memorize ephemeral associations between meaningless shapes and nonwords, with stimuli presented in either fixed or variable spatial locations, and in either fixed or variable temporal order across trials; performance was assessed using a recognition task. Results showed that children with dyslexia have a deficit in visual–phonological WM binding in every presentation condition and that, unlike control children, they are not able to use fixed spatial locations as an aid to bind information. Crucially, however, children with dyslexia still benefit from the presentation of stimuli in a fixed temporal order. These findings support the hypothesis that a WM binding deficit is crucial in children with dyslexia, and have potential implications for treatment strategies.     

Reading at Home: Comparison of Reading Ability Among Homeschooled and Traditionally Schooled Children

The homeschool framework differs significantly from the traditional school setting. Earlier research has shown differences between homeschooled and other children in language skills, but no study has examined how homeschooling is related to the acquisition of the different components of reading. The present research examined several reading skills, comparing these two groups. The findings indicated that the homeschooled children achieved lower results in reading comprehension, but not in listening comprehension. The homeschooled children were also found to have broader general knowledge than the other children did. The gap between the groups in reading was associated with lower levels of phonological awareness. These findings might be attributed to the different methods used to teach reading in the two frameworks.     

Cognitive and linguistic skills in Swedish children with cochlear implants - measures of accuracy and latency as indicators of development

The purpose of the present study was to examine working memory (WM) capacity, lexical access and phonological skills in 19 children with cochlear implants (CI) (5;7-13;4 years of age) attending grades 0-2, 4, 5 and 6 and to compare their performance with 56 children with normal hearing. Their performance was also studied in relation to demographic factors. The findings indicate that children with CI had visuospatial WM capacities equivalent to the comparison group. They had lower performance levels on most of the other cognitive tests. Significant differences between the groups were not found in all grades and a number of children with CI performed within 1 SD of the mean of their respective grade-matched comparison group on most of the cognitive measures. The differences between the groups were particularly prominent in tasks of phonological WM. The results are discussed with respect to the effects of cochlear implants on cognitive development.     

Reading and Spelling Disabilities in Children with and Without a History of Early Language Delay: A Neuropsychological and Linguistic Study

Language delay is a frequent antecedent of literacy problems, and both may be linked to phonological impairment. Studies on developmental dyslexia have led to contradictory results due to the heterogeneity of the pathological samples. The present study investigated whether Italian children with dyslexia showed selective phonological processing deficits or more widespread linguistic impairment and whether these deficits were associated with previous language delay. We chose 46 children with specific reading deficits and divided them into two groups based on whether they had language delay (LD) or not (NoLD). LD and NoLD children showed similar, severe deficits in reading and spelling decoding, but only LD children showed a moderate impairment in reading comprehension. LD children were more impaired in phonological working memory and phonological fluency, as well as in semantic fluency, grammatical comprehension, and verbal IQ. These findings indicate the presence of a moderate but widespread linguistic deficit (not limited to phonological processing) in a subset of dyslexic children with previous language delay that does not generalize to all children with reading difficulties.     

Phonological,visual, and semantic coding strategies and children's short-term picture memory span

Three experiments addressed controversies in the previous literature on the development of phonological and other forms of short-term memory coding in children, using assessments of picture memory span that ruled out potentially confounding effects of verbal input and output. Picture materials were varied in terms of phonological similarity, visual similarity, semantic similarity, and word length. Older children (6/8-year-olds), but not younger children (4/5-year-olds), demonstrated robust and consistent phonological similarity and word length effects, indicating that they were using phonological coding strategies. This confirmed findings initially reported by Conrad (1971), but subsequently questioned by other authors. However, in contrast to some previous research, little evidence was found for a distinct visual coding stage at 4 years, casting doubt on assumptions that this is a developmental stage that consistently precedes phonological coding. There was some evidence for a dual visual and phonological coding stage prior to exclusive use of phonological coding at around 5–6 years. Evidence for semantic similarity effects was limited, suggesting that semantic coding is not a key method by which young children recall lists of pictures.     

汉语儿童阅读能力发展中的语音加工技能研究

通过对儿童阅读发展这一领域相关研究的回顾,对汉语儿童阅读能力发展中的语音加工问题进行了探讨。在汉语阅读过程中,语音成分的介入已经得到了研究的普遍支持,但是在语音技能与阅读能力间的关系方面,虽然语音加工技能的不同成分（语音意识、声旁意识及言语工作记忆）与儿童阅读能力发展间都存在着一定的联系,但这些语音技能在汉语儿童阅读能力发展中所起作用的具体机制及介入程度还需进一步的研究论证。     

Phonological, visual, and semantic coding strategies and children's short-term picture memory span

Three experiments addressed controversies in the previous literature on the development of phonological and other forms of short-term memory coding in children, using assessments of picture memory span that ruled out potentially confounding effects of verbal input and output. Picture materials were varied in terms of phonological similarity, visual similarity, semantic similarity, and word length. Older children (6/8-year-olds), but not younger children (4/5-year-olds), demonstrated robust and consistent phonological similarity and word length effects, indicating that they were using phonological coding strategies. This confirmed findings initially reported by Conrad (1971), but subsequently questioned by other authors. However, in contrast to some previous research, little evidence was found for a distinct visual coding stage at 4 years, casting doubt on assumptions that this is a developmental stage that consistently precedes phonological coding. There was some evidence for a dual visual and phonological coding stage prior to exclusive use of phonological coding at around 5-6 years. Evidence for semantic similarity effects was limited, suggesting that semantic coding is not a key method by which young children recall lists of pictures.     

How is phonological processing related to individual differences in children’s arithmetic skills?

While there is evidence for an association between the development of reading and arithmetic, the precise locus of this relationship remains to be determined. Findings from cognitive neuroscience research that point to shared neural correlates for phonological processing and arithmetic as well as recent behavioral evidence led to the present hypothesis that there exists a highly specific association between phonological awareness and single‐digit arithmetic with relatively small problem sizes. The present study examined this association in 37 typically developing fourth and fifth grade children. Regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness was specifically and uniquely related to arithmetic problems with a small but not large problem size. Further analysis indicated that problems with a high probability of being solved by retrieval, but not those typically associated with procedural problem‐solving strategies, are correlated with phonological awareness. The specific association between phonological awareness and arithmetic problems with a small problem size and those for which a retrieval strategy is most common was maintained even after controlling for general reading ability and phonological short‐term memory. The present findings indicate that the quality of children’s long‐term phonological representations mediates individual differences in single‐digit arithmetic, suggesting that more distinct long‐term phonological representations are related to more efficient arithmetic fact retrieval.     

Musical rhythm discrimination explains individual differences in grammar skills in children

This study considered a relation between rhythm perception skills and individual differences in phonological awareness and grammar abilities, which are two language skills crucial for academic achievement. Twenty‐five typically developing 6‐year‐old children were given standardized assessments of rhythm perception, phonological awareness, morpho‐syntactic competence, and non‐verbal cognitive ability. Rhythm perception accounted for 48% of the variance in morpho‐syntactic competence after controlling for non‐verbal IQ, socioeconomic status, and prior musical activities. Children with higher phonological awareness scores were better able to discriminate complex rhythms than children with lower scores, but not after controlling for IQ. This study is the first to show a relation between rhythm perception skills and morpho‐syntactic production in children with typical language development. These findings extend the literature showing substantial overlap of neurocognitive resources for processing music and language. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/_lO692qHDNg     

The relationship between phonological skills and word decoding

Word decoding ability is a critical factor in reading performance. In the present study, we examined the relationship between word decoding ability and three different phonological skills; phonemic awareness, verbal short-term memory (V-STM), and rapid automatic naming (RAN) in 1007 Scandinavian third- and fifth-graders. In the first part of the study, we sought to investigate the influence of the three phonological skills on word decoding ability. Using multiple regression analysis, our result clearly demonstrated that phonemic awareness was the most powerful phonological skill explaining variance in word decoding ability among average decoders. Among children with poor decoding skills, however, RAN was the most important factor in Grade 3, whereas V-STM was the main contributor to decoding ability among children in Grade 5. In the second part of the research, we examined the relationship between poor phonological skills and word decoding ability. Interestingly, our result revealed that approximately one half of the children with phonological difficulties, still performed within the average range with regard to word decoding ability. However, our analyses confirmed earlier research concerning the severe word decoding difficulties children with both poor phonemic awareness and restricted V-STM, experience.