Developmental trajectories of non-native tone perception differ between monolingual and bilingual infants learning a pitch accent language.

Liu, L; Olstad, AMH; Gustavsson, L; Marklund, E; Schwarz, I-C

Developmental trajectories of non-native tone perception differ between monolingual and bilingual infants learning a pitch accent language.

Liu, L

Olstad, AMH Gustavsson, L Marklund, E Schwarz, I-C

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Publisher:: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Infant Behav Dev, 2024, 77, pp. 102003
Issue Date:: 2024-11-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Liu, L https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8671-5098
dc.contributor.author	Olstad, AMH
dc.contributor.author	Gustavsson, L
dc.contributor.author	Marklund, E
dc.contributor.author	Schwarz, I-C
dc.date.accessioned	2024-12-10T00:33:47Z
dc.date.available	2024-10-31
dc.date.available	2024-12-10T00:33:47Z
dc.date.issued	2024-11-15
dc.identifier.citation	Infant Behav Dev, 2024, 77, pp. 102003
dc.identifier.issn	0163-6383
dc.identifier.issn	1934-8800
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/182442
dc.description.abstract	The developmental trajectories of tone perception among tone and non-tone language learning infants have received wide attention and discussion in recent decades under the perceptual attunement framework. Nevertheless, tone perception in infants from pitch accent and bilingual language backgrounds has not been well understood. The present study examined monolingual and bilingual Norwegian-learning infants' discrimination of two Cantonese tone contrasts at 5 and 10 months, ages corresponding to the onset and offset of perceptual attunement. Results showed that while monolingual infants were sensitive to the salient contrast, bilingual infants showed sensitivity to both contrasts at 10 months. In sum, infant age and bilingual language background affected discrimination. Pitch accent language experience or contrast salience may also play a role. The finding that early bilingual experience facilitated tone perception is of particular interest. It suggests that infant perception could be enhanced by a more complex linguistic environment on a broader level. As this was observed only at 10 months, cumulative exposure may be required for infants in a complex bilingual environment. Future studies should disambiguate explanations generated from the current finding, ranging from neurocognitive plasticity to perceptual salience, and from experience-dependent to independent possibilities.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
dc.relation.ispartof	Infant Behav Dev
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.infbeh.2024.102003
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1103 Clinical Sciences, 1701 Psychology, 1702 Cognitive Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Developmental & Child Psychology
dc.subject.classification	32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
dc.subject.classification	52 Psychology
dc.title	Developmental trajectories of non-native tone perception differ between monolingual and bilingual infants learning a pitch accent language.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	77
utslib.location.activity	United States
utslib.for	1103 Clinical Sciences
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
utslib.for	1702 Cognitive Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health/GSH.Clinical Psychology
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2024-12-10T00:33:46Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	77

Abstract:

The developmental trajectories of tone perception among tone and non-tone language learning infants have received wide attention and discussion in recent decades under the perceptual attunement framework. Nevertheless, tone perception in infants from pitch accent and bilingual language backgrounds has not been well understood. The present study examined monolingual and bilingual Norwegian-learning infants' discrimination of two Cantonese tone contrasts at 5 and 10 months, ages corresponding to the onset and offset of perceptual attunement. Results showed that while monolingual infants were sensitive to the salient contrast, bilingual infants showed sensitivity to both contrasts at 10 months. In sum, infant age and bilingual language background affected discrimination. Pitch accent language experience or contrast salience may also play a role. The finding that early bilingual experience facilitated tone perception is of particular interest. It suggests that infant perception could be enhanced by a more complex linguistic environment on a broader level. As this was observed only at 10 months, cumulative exposure may be required for infants in a complex bilingual environment. Future studies should disambiguate explanations generated from the current finding, ranging from neurocognitive plasticity to perceptual salience, and from experience-dependent to independent possibilities.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/182442