Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 24, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

Evaluating acoustic speaker normalization algorithms: evidence from longitudinal child data.

Mary Elizabeth Kohn¹, Charlie Farrington

¹Department of Linguistics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 104A Smith Building, CB #3155, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3155, USA.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|March 20, 2012

Summary

Speaker vowel formant normalization methods were compared in African American children. Techniques using central tendency and vowel space range best reduced age-related variation, aiding sociolinguistic studies.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Considering Performance in the Automated and Manual Coding of Sociolinguistic Variables: Lessons From Variable (ING).

Frontiers in artificial intelligence·2021

Same author

Sources of variation in the speech of African Americans: Perspectives from sociophonetics.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2021

Same author

Durational and spectral differences in American English vowels: dialect variation within and across regions.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2014

See all related articles

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Acoustic Phonetics
Sociolinguistics

Background:

Speaker vowel formant normalization is crucial for variationist studies to account for physiological differences.
Existing normalization algorithms reduce vocalic data variation, but real-time developmental studies are lacking.
Understanding child participation in vowel shifts requires tracking normalization effectiveness from childhood to adolescence.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the effectiveness of different normalization techniques on vocalic data from African American children.
To assess the reduction in age and gender-related variation after applying normalization.
To identify normalization methods that preserve sociolinguistic variation while reducing physiological variation.

Main Methods:

More Related Videos

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 24, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

Analysis of acoustic data from ten African American children across five developmental time points.

Application and comparison of various speaker vowel formant normalization algorithms.

Linear regressions used to quantify age and gender variation reduction for specific vowels (BEET, BAT, BOT, BUT, BOAR).

Main Results:

Normalization techniques incorporating central tendency and vowel space range demonstrated superior reduction of age-related variation.
Some age-related variation persisted post-normalization, particularly in certain vowel regions.
The effectiveness of normalization varied across different vowels within the speech samples.

Conclusions:

Normalization methods balancing central tendency and vowel space range are most effective for developmental studies.
Further refinement of normalization techniques may be needed to fully eliminate age-related acoustic variation.
These findings facilitate better research into child phonological development and participation in sound change.