2020年9月23日上午10点，芝加哥大学语言学系Alan Yu教授应双语认知与发展实验室邀请，为广外师生带了一场题为“The cognitive origins of individual variation in speech perception and production”的主题报告。此次论坛采用线上Zoom会议模式，讲座由林洁绚博士主持。我中心专兼职研究员及校内外近110名师生在线参加了本次讲座。
Alan Yu教授在介绍研究背景的基础上提出研究问题：近年来，已有大量研究记录了语音感知和产出中存在系统的个体差异，导致这些个体差异的底层机制是什么？该问题仍亟待深入探究。他以语言使用者对不同元音环境中的/s/所产生的协同发音（coarticulation）以及相应的感知补偿（perceptual compensation）为例，指出两种加工之间可能的关联及关联强度所反映的个体差异，并讨论其反映的认知机制。随后，他从与孤独特质（autistic-like traits）相关的一系列神经机制、认知加工风格入手，探讨这些相关因素与以上语音加工模式的关联，并推论：对协同发音的感知需要对语境信息进行整合，而协同发音的产出更多的是听者导向的(listener-oriented)，这些感知与产出上的个体差异可能源于与孤独特质相关的神经认知加工（比如心智理论，theory of mind）上的差异。
Alan Yu教授最后总结道，除了常见的社会语言因素，比如年龄、性别等因素，认知加工特点也是语音加工个体差异的重要来源之一；同一语言的使用者并不一定共享完全相同的音系语法(phonological grammar),他们之间可能会展现出后天获得的、具有系统性的差异，这些差异具有认知基础。这对语音演变、语言系统是先天还是后天获得的争论（nature vs. nurture）有所启示。
Alan Yu教授研究语言感知和产生的视角十分新颖，以小见大，使大家深受启发。讲座结束后，大家反映热烈，提出了许多高质量的问题，Alan Yu教授一一予以详尽回应。最后在观众的意犹未尽中，林洁绚博士做总结并代表听众对Alan Yu教授致以真诚的感谢。
Lecture by Professor Alan Yu on “The cognitive origins of individual variation in speech perception and production”
On September 23rd, 2020, Professor Alan Yu from the University of Chicago was invited to give a talk entitled “The cognitive origins of individual variation in speech perception and production”. This talk was given on Zoom and was hosted by the Bilingual Cognition and Development Lab and the Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. The talk was well-received, attended by 110 researchers, teachers and students in and outside of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.
Professor Alan Yu first demonstrated the processing of the English consonant /s/ embedded in different vocalic contexts and revealed the relationship between coarticulation and perceptual compensation. He argued that the relationship suggested systematic inter-speaker variability. He then explored the potential cognitive sources for the variability by investigating how this variability was associated with different degrees of autistic-like traits in speakers. Using a series of experiments, he showed that speaker’s coarticulation was more likely to be listener-oriented than speaker-oriented, while the perception of coarticulation may rely on integration of contextual information. The variability in the perception and production of coarticulation might result from variations in autistic-like traits (particularly regarding theory of mind) in speakers.
In the talk, Professor Alan Yu highlighted the role of cognitive individual differences in explaining variations in speech processing and sound change. Speakers of the same language might not share the same phonological grammar. Instead, their speech may show systematic variations that may be learned. This has implications for sound change and for the “nature vs. nurture” debate in language acquisition.
The talk provided a novel perspective on how individual differences in cognitive processing can account for variability in speech perception and production. It inspired a heated discussion on the related issues and future directions among the audience.
Alan Yu 教授讲座截图
