Working memory (WM) is a significant predictor of academic performance. Emerging empirical evidence has shown that WM can be improved via computerized cognitive training (CCT). Though studies have shown that CCT can improve WM in typical and atypical populations, little is known regarding the efficacy of implementing CCT within a school setting.…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of three commonly observed choral singer performance conditions (no movement, slight swaying, full-body swaying) on acoustic and perceptual measures of choral sound. We audio recorded an established university choir (N = 29 singers) performing a memorized piece while viewing the same…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of wearing earplugs on classical musicians' pitch perception across three experimental conditions: no earplugs, foam earplugs, and Etymotic earplugs. Participants were graduate and undergraduate music majors attending a large school of music in the southeastern United States (N = 72).…

Decoding training is an approach to teaching listening skills to help learners develop the ability to recognize individual words from speech. Although it has been historically underemphasized, recent empirical studies have pointed to its potential value in listening education. However, instructors and students generally face certain challenges…

Purpose: Robust improvements in intelligibility following familiarization, a listener-targeted perceptual training paradigm, have been revealed for talkers diagnosed with spastic, ataxic, and hypokinetic dysarthria but not for talkers with hyperkinetic dysarthria. While the theoretical explanation for the lack of intelligibility improvement…

The prominent role of allophonic cues in English speech segmentation has widely been recognized by phonologists and psycholinguists. However, very meager inquiry was devoted to analysing the perception of these noncontrastive allophonic cues by Arab EFL learners. Accordingly, the present study is an attempt to examine the exploitation of…

Language learners need to map a continuous, multidimensional acoustic signal to discrete abstract speech categories. The complexity of this mapping poses a difficult learning problem, particularly for second language learners who struggle to acquire the speech sounds of a non-native language, and almost never reach native-like ability. A common…

Purpose: High-variability phonetic training (HVPT) has been found to be effective on adult second language (L2) learning, but results are mixed in regards to the benefit of multiple talkers over single talker. This study provides a systematic review with meta-analysis to investigate the talker variability effect in nonnative phonetic learning and…

Arabic emphasis refers to the production of consonants resulting from a primary constriction in the dental or alveolar region and a secondary constriction in the back of the vocal tract, recognized as 'Emphatic.' These have contrastive consonants produced in the dental or alveolar region, recognized as 'Plain.' The existing research on emphasis in…

Listener background variables have been recognized as potential contributors to language evaluation bias. This continuum of trait-irrelevant factors creates implications from the L2 classroom to integration in the target language community. This study examined how L2 Spanish learners' listener background factors including ethnicity, heritage…

Distributional learning is typically understood as (unattended) tracking of stimulus probabilities. Distributional training with speech yields mixed results and the influencing factors have not yet been fully investigated. This study explored whether prior linguistic experience could have an effect on distributional learning outcomes. Czech and…

The potential of high-variability phonetic training (HVPT) to help FL learners improve their pronunciation is well documented. However, research exploring learners' perceptions of the approach adopted after having experienced training is scarce. Likewise, the choice of labels adopted for training is not self-evident and has not been studied…

Female adolescent voice change (FAVC) is characterized by objectively measurable developments in both physiological and acoustical aspects of voice. Despite these observable changes, this period of vocal development has had little representation in both scientific and pedagogical research. Furthermore, few studies have articulated the perceptions…

The English teaching in a public vocational school of "Akomodasi Perhotelan" ("SMK AP") so far has shown unsatisfactory result. Based on the preliminary study it was found that the writing skill of the tent graders of SMK AP 3 was low. This classroom action research was aimed at improving the students' writing skill of…

Music education is being explored by researchers as a means of improving hearing acuity for children with hearing loss, particularly those with cochlear implants. Music educators are uniquely positioned to contribute to this important endeavor. This article describes normal and impaired hearing and how music perception is affected for students…