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Impact of second‐language experience in infancy: brain measures of first‐ and second‐language speech perception
Author(s) -
Conboy Barbara T.,
Kuhl Patricia K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00973.x
Subject(s) - psychology , contrast (vision) , speech perception , first language , perception , language acquisition , audiology , language development , language experience approach , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , linguistics , comprehension approach , language education , medicine , philosophy , pedagogy , mathematics education , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science
Language experience ‘narrows’ speech perception by the end of infants’ first year, reducing discrimination of non‐native phoneme contrasts while improving native‐contrast discrimination. Previous research showed that declines in non‐native discrimination were reversed by second‐language experience provided at 9–10 months, but it is not known whether second‐language experience affects first‐language speech sound processing. Using event‐related potentials (ERPs), we examined learning‐related changes in brain activity to Spanish and English phoneme contrasts in monolingual English‐learning infants pre‐ and post‐exposure to Spanish from 9.5 to 10.5 months of age. Infants showed a significant discriminatory ERP response to the Spanish contrast at 11 months (post‐exposure), but not at 9 months (pre‐exposure). The English contrast elicited an earlier discriminatory response at 11 months than at 9 months, suggesting improvement in native‐language processing. The results show that infants rapidly encode new phonetic information, and that improvement in native speech processing can occur during second‐language learning in infancy.