Quick learning of novel vowel-consonant conjunctions within the mature speech production system - a commentary on Dell et al. (2019)

• Published in: Language, cognition and neuroscience Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 532 - 536
• Main Authors: Smalle, Eleonore H.M., Szmalec, Arnaud
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 21.04.2022
• Subjects: hidden units; implicit learning; phonotactics; speech errors; Speech production
• ISSN: 2327-3798; 2327-3801
• DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2021.1995613

This is a commentary on a review article by Dell et al. (2019), "Tuning the blueprint: how studies of implicit learning during speaking reveal the information processing components of the production system", doi: 10.1080/23273798.2019.1613553. The authors describe limitations for what can be learned in the mature language production system. In particular, they demonstrate how adult speech slowly adapts to novel vowel-contingent phonotactic constraints. A connectionist framework is proposed for which variability in learning outcomes may be explained by the availability of hidden units as a function of early linguistic experience. Here, we enclose data from French-speaking adults in which rapid phonotactic constraint learning of vowel-consonant conjunctions could be observed. The data fit within their proposal for hidden units in a connectionist model, where hidden units can be variously accessible, and suggest that not only maturation but also linguistic knowledge may affect how language learning abilities evolve throughout life.