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Bilingualism | Spoken language processing | Language experience and social variation
CV_Shen.pdfAcademic CV (last updated in 2020)
Recognizing spoken code-switched words
Recognizing spoken code-switched words
How do bilingual listeners manage switching between two languages?
How do bilingual listeners manage switching between two languages?
Does processing spoken code-switched words take longer than processing unilingual (single language) words? I.e., is there a switch cost in auditory language processing?
Figure A. This graph shows results from an eye-tracking experiment on the perception of code-switches. The curves represent Mandarin-English bilingual listeners' looks to images corresponding to unilingual and code-switched target words, and the facets show listeners' language dominance, from more Mandarin-dominant to more English-dominant. The higher and further left the curve, the more listeners looked toward the image, indicating quicker recognition of the target word. Mandarin-dominant listeners experienced a processing cost for recognizing code-switched English words, but English-dominant listeners experienced a processing advantage.
Mandarin-English code-switching is not necessarily costly, depending on dominant language. For bilingual speakers in the SF Bay Area, infrequent insertions, such as Mandarin words in English sentences, can be costly. But the costliness of frequent code-switches, such as English words in Mandarin sentences, depends on the listener's dominant language (Figure A, left).
Shen_LSA2020.pptxLSA 2020 Talk
Susanne Gahl, Keith Johnson, and I have also shown that phonetic patterns preceding a code-switched word can help listeners anticipate Mandarin-English code-switching. (See our paper and past presentations below.)
Pronunciation of code-switched speech
Pronunciation of code-switched speech
What are the phonetic consequences of code-switching?
What are the phonetic consequences of code-switching?
Unilingual Mandarin utterances are characterized by pitch patterns that depend on the tone of the following syllable. Mandarin-English code-switched utterances have similar pitch patterns as Mandarin-only utterances: the same tone-specific pitch trajectories occur before Mandarin code-switched words, but the pitch of the switched word itself may be reduced (Figure B, right).
PHREND2019_Poster_Shen.pdfPhREND 2019 Poster
Figure B. This graph shows the pitch measurements 500 ms before and after unilingual and code-switched words in unilingual and code-switched sentences produced by a Mandarin-English bilingual speaker. Code-switched Mandarin words have reduced tone and pitch coarticulation compared to unilingual Mandarin words, but code-switched English words have amplified pitch pitch compared to unilingual English words.
Acquiring second language (L2) sounds
Acquiring second language (L2) sounds
How effective are different training methods for learning new sound contrasts?
How effective are different training methods for learning new sound contrasts?
This collaboration examined how different phonetic training methods improved monolingual English speakers' productions of a Marathi sound contrast. Ultrasound training, in which the speaker was able to receive visual feedback of their articulations, resulted in more improvement than training using static mid-sagittal diagrams of the vocal tract.
ICPhS_948_Proc_Linetal2019.pdfOther projects
Other projects
LabPhon2018_Poster_BLutzrossetal.pdfPower and phonetic accommodation (LabPhon 2018)
PhonLab2016_Report_ChengShen.pdfUltrasounding Tswefap back consonants (PhonLab 2016 Report)
ICPHS0887_Proc_Kingstonetal2015.pdfIs perception personal? (ICPhS 2015 paper)
SROP_Shen.pdfPhonotactic probability (UCB SROP 2013 paper)
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