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Implicit language learning: Adults' ability to segment words in Norwegian

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2010

MEGAN M. KITTLESON ,
JESSICA M. AGUILAR ,
GRY LINE TOKERUD ,
ELENA PLANTE  and
ARVE E. ASBJØRNSEN
MEGAN M. KITTLESON
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
JESSICA M. AGUILAR
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
GRY LINE TOKERUD
Affiliation:
University of Bergen
ELENA PLANTE*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
ARVE E. ASBJØRNSEN
Affiliation:
University of Bergen
*
Address for correspondence: Elena Plante, Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, PO Box 210071, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0071, USAeplante@u.arizona.edu
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Abstract

Previous language learning research reveals that the statistical properties of the input offer sufficient information to allow listeners to segment words from fluent speech in an artificial language. The current pair of studies uses a natural language to test the ecological validity of these findings and to determine whether a listener's language background influences this process. In Study 1, the “guessibility” of potential test words from the Norwegian language was presented to 22 listeners who were asked to differentiate between true words and nonwords. In Study 2, 22 adults who spoke one of 12 different primary languages learned to segment words from continuous speech in an implicit language learning paradigm. The task consisted of two sessions, approximately three weeks apart, each requiring participants to listen to 7.2 minutes of Norwegian sentences followed by a series of bisyllabic test items presented in isolation. The participants differentially accepted the Norwegian words and Norwegian-like nonwords in both test sessions, demonstrating the capability to segment true words from running speech. The results were consistent across three broadly-defined language groups, despite differences in participants’ language background.

Keywords

implicit learninglanguagestatistical learningsecond language acquisition
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , October 2010 , pp. 513 - 523
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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Footnotes

*

This work was supported in part by NICHD grant 2R01 HD042170 and NIDCD grant R01DC004726.

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