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Vowel phonology, phonetics and learning on a preconscious level

The aim of the project is to study the conscious and preconscious processes of vowel perception using phonetic, psychometric ja psychophysiologial methods. Special areas of interest are the differences between vowel systems and the role of the internal structure of vowel phonemes in vowel perception and the conscious and preconscious processes in foreign language learning.

Researchers

Phonetics:
Janne Savela, M.A.
Tuulia Kleimola, student
Leena Mäkelä, student
Jyrki Tuomainen, researcher, Dr.Phil.
Maija S Peltola, lecturer, Lic.Phil.
Mira Mäkelä, B.A.

Collaborators:
Risto Näätänen, Teija Kujala, Åke Hellström

Funding

Janne Savela, student in the national doctoral school of language technology, Maija S Peltola has been recipient of a scholarship of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and a scholarship of the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.

Contact

Janne Savela, Maija S. Peltola

References

differences in tonal versus vowel processing as revealed by an ERP component called mismatch negativity (MMN). Brain and Language, 44, 139-152.

Aaltonen, O., Eerola, O., Lang, H. & Uusipaikka, E. (1994). Automatic discrimination of phonetically relevant and irrelevant vowel parameters as reflected by mismatch negativity (MMN). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 96, 1489-1493.

Aaltonen, O., Eerola, O., Hellström, Å., Uusipaikka, E. & Lang, H. (1997). Perceptual magnet effect in the light of behavioural and psychophysiological data. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 101, 1090-1106.

Cheour, M., Martynova, O., Näätänen, R., Erkkola, R., Sillanpää, M., Kero, P., Raz, A., Kaipio, M-L., Hiltunen, J., Aaltonen, O., Savela, J. & Hämäläinen, H. (2002).Speech sounds learned by sleeping infants. Nature, 415, 599-600.

Savela, J., Kujala, T., Tuomainen, J., Ek, M., Aaltonen, O., Näätänen, R. The mismatch negativity and reaction time as indices of the perceptual distance between the corresponding vowel of two related languages, submitted

Peltola, Maija S., Ek, Maria, Kujala, Teija, aaltonen, Olli and Näätänen, Risto. The Acquisition of a New Vowel: MMN as an Indicator of the Interrelation Between L1 and L2. 7th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference 2001