Seminar in Speech Perception

Speech perception seems simple because all typically developing humans perform it easily, but humans are biologically geared to overcome the complications thanks to thousands of years of evolution. In this class, we will explore some of the phenomena that show speech perception to be quite involved, such variability, categoricity, categorical perception, loss of phonetic sensitivity during acquisition, and the effect of first language on second language perception. Major theories, such as Quantal Theory, the Motor Theory, acoustic theories generally and exemplar theory, will be discussed in detail. Implications for linguistic sound systems, language impairment, and second language learning will be explored. The course assumes familiarity with phonetics.

Offer as needed

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