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Published on: April 19, 2017
Navigating accent variability: 24-month-olds recognize known words spoken in an unfamiliar accent but require
Alexander LaTourrette1, Cynthia Blanco2, Naz Deniz Atik3
1Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, USA.
Abstract:
As infants learn their native languages, they must also learn to contend with variability across speakers of those languages. Here, we examine 24-month-olds' ability to process speech in an unfamiliar accent. We demonstrate that 24-month-olds successfully identify the referents of known words in unfamiliar-accented speech but cannot use known words alone to infer new word meanings. However, when the novel word occurs in a supportive referential context, with the target referent visually available, 24-month-olds successfully learn new word-referent mappings. Thus, 24-month-olds recognize and learn words in unfamiliar accents, but unfamiliar-accented speech may pose challenges for more sophisticated language processing strategies.
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