Cross-language word segmentation by 9-month-olds. Houston, D., Jusczyk, P. W., Kuijpers, C, Coolen, R, & Cutler, A Psychon Bull Rev, 7(3):504-9, 2000.
abstract   bibtex   
Dutch-learning and English-learning 9-month-olds were tested, using the Headturn Preference Procedure, for their ability to segment Dutch words with strong/weak stress patterns from fluent Dutch speech. This prosodic pattern is highly typical for words of both languages. The infants were familiarized with pairs of words and then tested on four passages, two that included the familiarized words and two that did not. Both the Dutch- and the English-learning infants gave evidence of segmenting the targets from the passages, to an equivalent degree. Thus, English-learning infants are able to extract words from fluent speech in a language that is phonetically different from English. We discuss the possibility that this cross-language segmentation ability is aided by the similarity of the typical rhythmic structure of Dutch and English words.
@Article{Houston2000,
  author   = {DM Houston and Peter W. Jusczyk and C Kuijpers and R Coolen and A Cutler},
  journal  = {Psychon Bull Rev},
  title    = {Cross-language word segmentation by 9-month-olds.},
  year     = {2000},
  number   = {3},
  pages    = {504-9},
  volume   = {7},
  abstract = {Dutch-learning and English-learning 9-month-olds were tested, using
	the Headturn Preference Procedure, for their ability to segment Dutch
	words with strong/weak stress patterns from fluent Dutch speech.
	This prosodic pattern is highly typical for words of both languages.
	The infants were familiarized with pairs of words and then tested
	on four passages, two that included the familiarized words and two
	that did not. Both the Dutch- and the English-learning infants gave
	evidence of segmenting the targets from the passages, to an equivalent
	degree. Thus, English-learning infants are able to extract words
	from fluent speech in a language that is phonetically different from
	English. We discuss the possibility that this cross-language segmentation
	ability is aided by the similarity of the typical rhythmic structure
	of Dutch and English words.},
  keywords = {Attention, Cognition, Cues, Female, Human, Infant, Language Development, Male, Phonetics, Speech, Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Newborn, Speech Discrimination Tests, Speech Perception, Child Psychology, Paired-Associate Learning, Psycholinguistics, Acoustic Stimulation, Age Factors, Comparative Study, Contrast Sensitivity, Language, Non-U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Vocabulary, Random Allocation, Discrimination Learning, Linguistics, Multilingualism, Netherlands, Recognition (Psychology), United States, 11082857},
}

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