Auditory Processing of Non-speech Stimuli by Children in Dual-Language Immersion Programs

Chloe Jones; Elizabeth Collin; Olga Kepinska; Roeland Hancock; Jocelyn Caballero; Leo Zekelman; Maaike Vandermosten; Fumiko Hoeft

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687651

Auditory Processing of Non-speech Stimuli by Children in Dual-Language Immersion Programs

Front Psychol. 2021 Oct 18:12:687651. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.687651. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Chloe Jones^{1

2}, Elizabeth Collin^{1

3}, Olga Kepinska^{1

4

5

6

7

8}, Roeland Hancock^{1

9}, Jocelyn Caballero⁴, Leo Zekelman^{4

10}, Maaike Vandermosten^{4

11}, Fumiko Hoeft^{1

4

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States.
² Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States.
³ Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
⁵ Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁶ Brain and Language Lab, Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁷ Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁸ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁹ Brain Imaging Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States.
¹⁰ Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States.
¹¹ Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
¹² Departments of Mathematics, Neuroscience, Psychiatry, and Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States.
¹³ Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States.

Abstract

Perception of low-level auditory cues such as frequency modulation (FM) and rise time (RT) is crucial for development of phonemic representations, segmentation of word boundaries, and attunement to prosodic patterns in language. While learning an additional language, children may develop an increased sensitivity to these cues to extract relevant information from multiple types of linguistic input. Performance on these auditory processing tasks such as FM and RT by children learning another language is, however, unknown. Here we examine 92 English-speaking 7-8-year-olds in the U.S. and their performance in FM and RT perceptual tasks at the end of their second year in Cantonese or Spanish dual-language immersion compared to children in general English education programs. Results demonstrate that children in immersion programs have greater sensitivity to FM, but not RT, controlling for various factors. The immersion program students were also observed to have better phonological awareness performance. However, individual differences in FM sensitivity were not associated with phonological awareness, a pattern typically observed in monolinguals. These preliminary findings suggest a possible impact of formal language immersion on low-level auditory processing. Additional research is warranted to understand causal relationships and ultimate impact on language skills in multilinguals.

Keywords: bilingual; dynamic; frequency modulation; language development; multilingual; phonological awareness; rise time; temporal.

Abstract

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