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Tag: LANGUAGE/LINGUISTICS/SPEECH
Measurable changes in brain activity during first few months of studying a new language
Improvements in reading and listening skills of first-time Japanese language students observed via brain scan
Tired of video conferencing? Research suggests you’re right to question its effectiveness
A new study suggests that non-visual communication methods that better synchronize and boost audio cues are in fact more effective
Meta-analysis shows children prefer people who speak like them
Research shows that children prefer to befriend, listen to, and imitate people who speak similarly to them. While most of this research has been conducted on monolingual (speaking only one language) children from Western societies, a growing subset of research…
Overhearing negative claims about social groups may influence development of bias in children
Throughout the world, societies discriminate against and mistreat members of certain social groups. Young children may express intergroup biases that lead to such outcomes, demonstrating preferences for their own over other groups. How these biases develop is an important topic…
Words conveyed with gesture
The question of the origin of the language is one of the most important and at the same time one of the most difficult to solve. It was formulated in antiquity and has inspired religion and philosophy ever since, in…
Babies prefer baby talk, whether they’re learning one language or two
It can be hard to resist lapsing into an exaggerated, singsong tone when you talk to a cute baby. And that’s with good reason. Babies will pay more attention to baby talk than regular speech, regardless of which languages they’re…
Research in metaphors enables better understanding of depression and patients’ needs
A UOC study has conducted the first ever analysis of the discourse of patients with severe depression in blogs
Spanish-speaking children experience higher rate of obesity than English-speaking children
Childhood obesity also more prevalent among U.S. households with low socioeconomic status
Study shows stronger brain activity after writing on paper than on tablet or smartphone
Unique, complex information in analog methods likely gives brain more details to trigger memory
New studies in indigenous languages
Articulating lingual life histories and language ideological assemblages
When English and French mix in literature
New study explores the value of bilingual children’s books in second language learning
New study identifies a limit on the range of vocalizations that support infant cognition
Northwestern researchers test whether birdsong supports infants’ object categorization
Research shows that BSers are more likely to fall for BS
People who frequently mislead others are less able to distinguish fact from fiction, according to University of Waterloo researchers
To reach human-level intelligence, AI systems must truly understand language
New book details computational cognitive model for deep language comprehension
Universal prosodic cues facilitate learning in both animals and humans
Elements of oral expression such as pitch, tone and intonation, highlight important parts of speech, and not only humans benefit. According to a study on the evolution of language published in the journal Cognition
New research reveals story of Penguin’s work to bring Russian classics to English readers
New research reveals story of Penguin’s work to bring Russian classics to English readers in the 20th century
Research analyses misinformation and media coverage during COVID-19
At an informative level, the highlighted aspect during the first few months of the pandemic was the leading role of experts in “the need for authorised voices that can somehow contextualise what is happening, especially in a situation of uncertainty”,…
Creative physics rap on molecular clusters wins Science’s annual Dance your Ph.D. contest
Competition also awards new prize for dance about COVID-19
Human instinct can be as useful as algorithms in detecting online ‘deception’
Travellers looking to book a hotel should trust their gut instinct when it comes to online reviews rather than relying on computer algorithms to weed out the fake ones, a new study suggests.
Neandertals had the capacity to perceive and produce human speech
BINGHAMTON, NY — Neandertals — the closest ancestor to modern humans — possessed the ability to perceive and produce human speech, according to a new study published by an international multidisciplinary team of researchers including Binghamton University anthropology professor Rolf…
Ancient Egyptian manual reveals new details about mummification
Based on a manual recently discovered in a 3,500-year-old medical papyrus, University of Copenhagen Egyptologist Sofie Schiødt has been able to help reconstruct the embalming process used to prepare ancient Egyptians for the afterlife. It is the oldest surviving manual…
AI identifies social bias trends in Bollywood, Hollywood movies
Babies whose births were depicted in Bollywood films from the 1950s and 60s were more often than not boys; in today’s films, boy and girl newborns are about evenly split. In the 50s and 60s, dowries were socially acceptable; today, not so much.
Changes in writing style provide clues to group identity
Small changes to people’s writing style can reveal which social group they “belong to” at a given moment, new research shows. Groups are central to human identity, and most people are part of multiple groups based on shared interests or…
Embracing our excremental selves
In her latest book, Mary Foltz examines the ways several postmodern authors produce scatological works to critique how humans treat each other and the natural world
From melody to language
In the first few months of their lives, babies cry, babble, gurgle and make a variety of other peculiar sounds. It can be difficult to imagine that they are actually laying the foundations for later speech with these utterances. However,…
New dating techniques reveal Australia’s oldest known rock painting, and it’s a kangaroo
Two-meter kangaroo painting thought to be 17,300 years old
Positive vibes only: Forego negative texts or risk being labelled a downer
University of Ottawa study finds using a negative emoji when texting — in any context — reflects negatively despite intent
How the brain processes sign language
The ability to speak is one of the essential characteristics that distinguishes humans from other animals. Many people would probably intuitively equate speech and language. However, cognitive science research on sign languages since the 1960s paints a different picture: Today…
AI may mistake chess discussions as racist talk
PITTSBURGH–“The Queen’s Gambit,” the recent TV mini-series about a chess master, may have stirred increased interest in chess, but a word to the wise: social media talk about game-piece colors could lead to misunderstandings, at least for hate-speech detection software.…
Study finds no gender discrimination when leaders use confident language
PULLMAN, Wash. – People tend to listen to big talkers, whether they are women or men. Still, more women prefer not to use assertive language, according to a new study led by Washington State University economist Shanthi Manian. The study,…
Foreign language learners should be exposed to slang in the classroom and here’s why….
Experts say English slang and regional dialect should not be banned from classrooms but when you’re getting to grips with a second language how helpful is it to learn non-standard lingo?
Predicting words’ grammatical properties helps us read faster
Such prediction can be successfully modelled by neural networks
Star-shaped brain cells may be linked to stuttering
UC Riverside-led study examined the effects of the medication risperidone on brain metabolism in stuttering
Changing the connection between the hemispheres affects speech perception
When we listen to speech sounds, the information that enters our left and right ear is not exactly the same. This may be because acoustic information reaches one ear before the other, or because the sound is perceived as louder…
Disease epidemic possibly caused population collapse in Central Africa 1600-1400 years ago
A new study published in the journal Science Advances shows that Bantu-speaking communities in the Congo rainforest underwent a major population collapse from 1600 to 1400 years ago, probably due to a prolonged disease epidemic, and that significant resettlement did…
The politics of synonyms
Researchers examine how the subtle choice of synonyms may tip your hand as to which political party you support
Key metaphors in the most popular love songs speak of proximity and possession
A Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) study has analysed seven decades (1946 to 2016) of pop hits from the Billboard charts to explore how conceptions of love have changed.
Recognizing liars from the sound of their voice?
Faster speech rate, greater intensity in the middle of the word, and falling pitch at the end of the word: that is the prosody[1] to adopt if one wants to come across as reliable and honest to one’s listeners. Scientists…
Studies use mathematics to analyze the semantics of dream reports during the pandemic
Researchers at a center for neuromathematics say dreams reflect the fear and anxiety fueled by the disease
Marmoset monkeys eavesdrop and understand conversations between other marmosets
Humans continuously observe and evaluate interactions between third parties to decide with whom to interact in the future. But it is difficult to measure what information animals gain when they eavesdrop on vocal interactions between conspecifics: If they do understand…
Misguided sense of balance exacerbates climate scepticism
Many of us may have inadvertently contributed to the growing climate scepticism of recent years, a widespread phenomenon fuelled by “system errors” built into journalism, social media and parliamentary debates. A new book illustrates the nature of the problem. In…
When simpler is harder
A study shows that brain activity during speaking varies between simple and complex grammatical forms
Jihadi online media productions and how different groups deal with them
A new book looks at the use of audiovisual media by jihadi groups and their supporters as well as at how these contributions are being countered
ISIS and the Taliban use different strategies to appeal to women in English-language magazines
ISIS, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban use their English-language magazines to encourage women to support jihad in different ways, according to new research.
Stimulating brain pathways shows origins of human language and memory
Scientists have identified that the evolutionary development of human and primate brains may have been similar for communication and memory.
Growing up in a bilingual home has lasting benefits
‘Early bilinguals’ have advantages over those who learn a second language later
Visual figure discrimination is more closely related to linguistic t
The question of the role of language in the human psyche has a long history, but researchers still have drastically opposing views on the matter, ranging from the belief that language does not play any significant role to the belief…
Endangered linguistic heritage: a new website for the Pangloss Collection
Like certain animal and plant species, some of the world’s languages are in danger of extinction. Fortunately, the Pangloss Collection, an open archive started in 1995 by the Langues et civilisations à tradition orale laboratory (CNRS/Université Sorbonne Nouvelle/Inalco), makes available…
Study explains role of bone-conducted speech transmission in speech production and hearing
Scientists investigate transmission properties of bone-conducted (BC) speech sound, opening doors to BC-based speech and hearing assistive technology