Giovanni Di Liberto: who's a Ph. D. Student in the Infant Language and cognition group in the Cbl, the Basque center on cognition, brain and language.
Giovanni Di Liberto: So, Giorgio, he he was awarded the project, The The Travel Grant last year with a project titled
Giovanni Di Liberto: Does non-native directive speech enhance non-native listeners, cortical tracking. So, Georgia, we're not talking just about that. George will be talking about his Ph. D. Project and also a little bit about what he did here.
Giovanni Di Liberto: One cool thing that he did, and was to complement the scholarship that he won through the workshop with some other funding
Giovanni Di Liberto: erez agmoni, and so he managed to spend 3 full months in Dublin, and so he managed to collect data and also to you know, he's close to publication with that 100.
Giovanni Di Liberto: And so that's the kind of of idea that that we like to promote. But even if you wanted to come for a week. That's still okay.
Giovanni Di Liberto: George, are you online?
Giovanni Di Liberto: Is Georgia online?
Giorgio Piazza: Okay, yeah. Here I could. I couldn't unmute myself.
Giovanni Di Liberto: That's fine. Welcome to the workshop again, Georgia, and the floor is yours.
Giorgio Piazza: Thank you.
Giorgio Piazza: Okay, I think, yeah. I'm trying to share the screen
Giorgio Piazza: right here we are.
Giorgio Piazza: Alright. So well, thank you. First of all. Joandi, everybody from be here. I guess you can hear me. Well, if not, please let me know. Now. So yeah. Gonna talk about well, mostly, actually, the project that Carrie versus stay at Joanna's lab. That? Well, the the title I gave slight difference. Non native speech supports to learn ascarting speech. But it's basically the same thing.
Giorgio Piazza: So it's also part of the bigger project of my Ph. D. Station. It's all about non native speech, which is a speech register and
Giorgio Piazza: sorry. Say, okay, that works. It also has other names for some foreign directive speech, usually non native director. Speech is the preferred name, because it's more neutral term. But for this presentation gonna use the acronym off from the old name, let's say so. Fds, just because it's easier because it will be compared to native speech, which is what the acronym is. And yes, of course.
Giorgio Piazza: so just to make clear. It's not foreigner. Santa speech would be the guy here on the right, speaking in in English, for instance, it's about the way native speakers like the English girl on the left. It could be any language, of course. That's the way how she speaks. She addresses a a melodular. So someone's learning a English. In that case a second language.
Giorgio Piazza: fds, as compared to native speech, increases speech clarity, and this is reflected in some acoustic features.
Giorgio Piazza: for instance, low speech rate. So, for instance, there would be a low number of syllables per minute, or words per minute, and also an expanding vocalic space is known as vowel hyper articulation. Just to give you like a graphical representation. There's not fundamental to understand this presentation.
Giorgio Piazza: but this is how we calculate vowel particular, they'll be taking the first 2 formats of the vowel production, plot them on a Cartesian plane, and then we calculate the the area of the triangle. So the Red Triangle represents how the girl on the left will address the guy on the right, so hyper articulating power, so producing the vowels far away from each other.
Giorgio Piazza: and the blue triangle will represent the way the powers of native records piece. So how you speak to another native listener. And this is interpreted as being promoter of language learning and also processing because it supports detection of vocalic options because they're easier to detect. So they're not so overlapping.
Giorgio Piazza: Apart from that, apart from assumptions, we also found in our latest study that's now under review that and L to learners when they're exposed to Fds. They actually learn better and faster at no worse as compared to participant, were exposed to Nda nd. Yeah, so
Giorgio Piazza: and so it seems to be a a a tool for teaching a second language, and but we use single representation, a short presentation, shorter sentences. Sorry. So it is still unclear. Whether the aspect, most of perceptual continue speech. It would be like more naturalistic environment.
Giorgio Piazza: so, and also studies for mostly mosaics on fds or behavioral. And that do not allow us to investigate the process of altru processing while it is going on. But when it's already completed, and of course you know that, eg. Allows that
Giorgio Piazza: And so, anyway, so far, this just a single study on foreign directive speech with eg. It was a single presentation, single representation. That's nothing on continuous speech and ecological value stimuli. And so one way, of course, to investigate whether Fds supports through processing is by using eg. And measuring measuring cortica tracking of continued speech.
Giorgio Piazza: Well, there's no need to say this, but we'll say, anyway, so particle tracking as a synchronization of cortical cortical ocular activity to fluctuation of surgical stimuli. Of course I read it. And of course, one feature you can study is speech handle like the most typical feature.
Giorgio Piazza: so there's also some evidence showing that, according to tracking speech, especially in low frequency bands, usually the theater more or less is a Markov underlying process. And
Giorgio Piazza: and that's also some evidence showing that it's fundamental for adult speech processing. In some cases a quarter track is being linked to speech, clarity, flexibility, and so on so forth, and also, as has been studied in infant language development. So really, in relation to infant speech, there is another speech register in this case directed to infants, and which shares a lot of features with a foreign, direct speech. So
Giorgio Piazza: it is possible to explore, to investigate or tracking, using temp response function. Of course you are here because you know it is, but it's regularized linear regression that maps it to the the continuous stimulus to an error response.
Giorgio Piazza: And I think Joanne is familiar with this figure here. You know that. And and then it's possible to using Trf to predict response and correlates it to actual eg, activity. So this is a one possible outcome, one possible, dependent, variable. And using this presentation.
Giorgio Piazza: okay. Another interesting feature of Drf is possible to invest feature, not just like a speech handle. For instance. Other features are non acoustic to as well, for instance, like Samanthi say, and of course you already know why, what direction going. So we aim to measure what you're tracking in foreign to speech. And then yes, so native speech.
Giorgio Piazza: But in literature it has been shown that tracking is also affected by speech rate. And so we for this reason we had a third condition that we call slow, and yes.
Giorgio Piazza: which had the same features of nds. So actually, we we use nds, and then we slow it down to match the speech rate of Fds, and we did it by means of well, sorry. I will say there's a next slide.
Giorgio Piazza: Then then I'm working sorry so, and slow, and yes, so slow and yes, doesn't have any feature that is supposed, that is expected to support and to learn as perception.
Giorgio Piazza: and also well, it has never been addressed the impact of Fds supported tracking a second language speech. And of course it's it's important and supportive to shed light on this point, because it will tell us more about how a second language is process also acquired?
Giorgio Piazza: Because of the features of Foreign Directive speech they told you about before, and there are adapted to the to learner, and Fds is assuming to promote, as I said, to processing, but not yes, and this should be reflected, or more efficient. And this should be true just for help to learn this.
Giorgio Piazza: So in the starting, the birth study, we aim to answer the question here. So the first question does Fds promote L to learn as cortical tracking speech? And if you have time we'll just give you a hint about the next analysis, we're running to answer the second question.
Giorgio Piazza: So we're into experiments.
Giorgio Piazza: So data were collected in 2 different experiments. Why? 2 experiments? Because they were 2 different labs. One is Spain and one Ireland, and also with 2 different systems. One is by assigning that one. It's great fiction.
Giorgio Piazza: So in the first experiment, and we collected data from 25 at to parents of English. Who's us who says one l. One is Spanish.
Giorgio Piazza: and then experiment to so far 1890 s. Native English listeners, we are still still in the process of collected data.
Giorgio Piazza: and all the participants listen to continuous speech and form a storytelling in the free story in the free conditions.
Giorgio Piazza: and each story was about 50 min each, and while the stories were both were recorded with a British English accent, just to make a make it easier for English for Spanish participants.
Giorgio Piazza: So while we're listening to the stories, of course, we record their participants, eg. Activity. And we also asked them to answer some questions about the content story and total with the after each break. They asked the 5 questions for all 25 questions per story, and also we where we went forward. Lowest events, 1, 2, 8 hurts, and for the with the features of speech and look so far.
Giorgio Piazza: and here we are the results, and for the comprehension results, and for the compressor score. As expected, we found main effect, speech, register, and participants respond with higher accuracy.
Giorgio Piazza: It was stories when the story was pronounced and foreign right to speech as compared to the other 2 conditions here alighted in bold, and the main comparison of interest which is foreign right to speech versus and yes, native work to speech, and this is in line what we were expecting.
Giorgio Piazza: and so they seem to be more accurate, so to understand better, say, the stories and Fds. Of course we know there are other funds, so we cannot conclude much so because there's tension engagement. But this is still the first results interesting. So for this reason we also had more, of course, checking measurement. We use predicate correlations, obviously, for a Trf model.
Giorgio Piazza: And we found that a participant showed high prediction correlation when they listen to the stories in foreign record speech as compared to native record speech as compared to slow and yes, and again, here the the interesting comparison between Fds and Nbs. And so it seems that they were encoding better speech handle aware listening to Fds.
Giorgio Piazza: okay. So then the results of the English Listener group, and, as expected. We didn't find any difference across the preconditions for the comprehensive score, because they are native. So they don't need any any acoustically feature development, understand? And process and stories, and we also what would like was to stress out that there's no sending effect. We made sure that they didn't got all the same wrong answers, some variability which is
Giorgio Piazza: important as well, and for the prediction correlations we had something that was kind of spec unexpected, and because we got a higher predicate correlation. And yes, as compared to Fds and slowing this.
Giorgio Piazza: So we're expecting that because of the slow speed trade, or because of the acoustic feature somehow. We would serve higher British correlations in Sds and slow nds. But instead, it seems that it's more important. The fact that nds was suited. So it was like meant to to address native listeners as it was the same for Fds. So just to then. Now I will just sum up all the results. So it'd be clear so.
Giorgio Piazza: and we asked ourselves whether Fds supports processing of continuous piece, especially for add to learners. We found that it was the case, at least for the behavioral results, and with the limitations that before and we saw we found the same. Well congruent consistent results for the
Giorgio Piazza: and in fact, we found that Spanish listener had high British correlation fps, whereas English listener and higher predation correlation in Mbs, so it seems to be the the the case that it's not just Fps having
Giorgio Piazza: some sort of some special acoustic features that make the you know, make speech to be encoded better is the fact that they are the meant, the intended addresses of the those speech registers, and also, it seems to suggest the results seem to suggest that this is not an effect of speech rate.
Giorgio Piazza: And because why? We find the same effect in both groups, so slow speech rate would drive the fact. And this was not the case, and also we would find the same effect for flow. And yes, since it was a slower as low as yes.
Giorgio Piazza: and one might ask whether slow nds was like weird or or natural. We don't think so also because we would expect them an effect here. So we don't find that we didn't find any difference between Fds and slow nds in the English. This one group, so probably most probably was just a matter of fact that they're not exposed both groups, both
Giorgio Piazza: experiments participant, not usually exposed to slow because they are they, they they are either exposed to Fds if they are no native, and to ndf and nds, if they are usually, you know, interact with other native speakers.
Giorgio Piazza: And so these are results for the presentation today, and just a quick end on the ongoing analysis.
Giorgio Piazza: So we're trying to answer that question more than about comprehension will be, how Fps support semantic and pony, let's say. And so you use Gpg to just values. And of course we align them to the onset of the worst, and so we use it again. Turf model so for a model to predict the response.
Giorgio Piazza: but so I have no time to show, so I'll see you. So I have some time for some questions, if you have any. Thank you very much
Giorgio Piazza: hope it wasn't too fast.
CNSP: Great talk, Georgia. Again. Feel free to raise your hand. We'll
CNSP: unmute you, or allow you to unmute if
CNSP: you have a question, or you can put a question in the chat.
CNSP: We have one for Georgia.
CNSP: I did have a question. Actually, Ed has a question probably be way better than mine.
EDMUND LALOR: Hi, Georgia, thanks for the nice talk. Hope you can hear me. Okay, I'm in a different room now. I just had a quick question about how these results might fit with.
EDMUND LALOR: I know Giovanni has published paper before looking at using a lot of these eg. Measures to determine someone's and
EDMUND LALOR: abilities in. In English, for example, as they go from a novice to an expert or a native speaker, is there is there a relationship there with what you're finding in terms of this foreign? I know it's a different question. But I'm just wondering if it's if there's still a
Giorgio Piazza: we. We are thinking about using the coding again to so to do the call the comprehension score. They go. So in that case I think it will be something more similar than from here. Yeah. So in in that, II think you're referring to the Joan's paper. Grant 21 to speakers. In that case, of course, there's no variation between speech registered. So it's just English as it is.
Giorgio Piazza: and most probably I think they use like native direct speech, because, like stories. So this allowing, of course, and by that case will be well, we didn't have any variability between. Well, we have some variability, but not that much between the Spanish listener groups. So they are all made low, proficient in each.
Giorgio Piazza: I guess. Well, I was back to find senior results. But it would be interesting to see the the calling if we sign, find something different, for like nds and and fds. In that case. So it's something that we II will work on
Giorgio Piazza: next future. Thank you.
CNSP: Any other questions.
Giovanni Di Liberto: There is a raise hand. I don't.
CNSP: Oh, accidentally muted. You, Marley.
Marlies Gillis: I am. Yes, I'm I'm in muted now, I guess. Can you hear me?
Giorgio Piazza: Yep, yep.
Marlies Gillis: thanks for a talk. It was really cool, cool project?
Marlies Gillis: Maybe I missed it. But How is the acoustics of the speakers? Are they, those 2? Are they from the same speaker, other or or not.
Giorgio Piazza: Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I didn't say just from our time, mostly. But yeah, it was the the same speaker that recorded the same story twice to the same British single Speaker, female. And then we transform from nds, we just coming to slow nds. But yeah, we compiled between Fds and Ds and ways. The same speaker. Yes.
Marlies Gillis: okay, cool. Thanks.
CNSP: Okay. So if there's no other questions leave it up there. Thanks again, Giorgio. It's a great job that you did a lot of work, and
CNSP: short amount of time actually, not not quite so short. But you did a good job in
CNSP: your project, so
CNSP: make sure, setting a good example for whoever follows next year.
CNSP: So we'll
CNSP: ended it there for this session. That's the last