Passive exposure alone can enhance the learning of foreign speech sounds
This type of learning is called perceptual learning. As a consequence of learning, new memory traces are formed in the brain. In contrast, in early infancy passive sound exposure is enough to enhance auditory discrimination during so called sensitive period.
In the recently published study, group of researchers from the Ģֱ in collaboration with the Beijing Normal University tested whether passive exposure to unfamiliar speech sounds can result in enhanced discrimination ability also in adulthood.
It was found that the mere passive exposure to foreign speech for several consecutive days leads to enhanced discrimination ability as indexed by the brain response measurements. This was previously thought to occur only during the sensitive period in infancy.
“These new results could be utilized in the future in foreign language learning or musical training. Perhaps in the future, language courses start with sessions of passive exposure to speech sounds in the language that is taught. Students could listen speech sounds for example during their home chores or during jogging without paying attention to the sounds. This way they could have already trained their brains to detect the changes in the new language and would be more ready for the traditional class room teaching”, says postdoctoral researcher Jari Kurkela form Ģֱ.
The research was conducted by researchers from Ģֱ and Beijing Normal University. The research was funded by the Academy of Finland and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). This article is part of Jari Kurkela’s PhD thesis. He defended his thesis in June 2018.
Further information:
Postdoctoral researcher Jari Kurkela, Ģֱ, e-mail jari.kurkela@jyu.fi, tel. +358 40 805 4538
University researcher Piia Astikainen, Ģֱ, e-mail piia.astikainen@jyu.fi tel. +358 40 805 3480
Kurkela, J.L.O. et al.,(2019). Passive exposure to speech sounds modifies change detection brain responses in adults. NeuroImage, 188, 208–216.