The development of tone discrimination in infancy: Evidence from a cross-linguistic, multi-lab report

Kalashnikova M 1 , Singh L 2 , Tsui A 3 , Altuntas E 4 , Burnham D 4 , Cannistraci R 5 Show all authors , Chin NB 6 , Feng Y 7 , Fernández-Merino L 1 , Götz A 4 , Gustavsson L 8 , Hay J 5 , Höhle B 9 , Kager R 10 , Lai R 7 , Liu L 4 , Marklund E 8 , Nazzi T 11 , Oliveira DS 5 , Olstad AMH 12 , Picaud A 11 , Schwarz IC 8 , Tsao FM 13 , Wong PCM 7 , Woo PJ 14

Affiliations 

  • 1 Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain
  • 2 Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
  • 3 Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
  • 4 MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
  • 5 Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
  • 6 Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
  • 7 Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
  • 8 Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 9 Linguistics Department, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
  • 10 Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 11 INCC, CNRS Paris, Paris, France
  • 12 Center of Multilingualism across the Lifespan, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • 13 Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 14 Department of Psychology, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia
Dev Sci, 2024 May;27(3):e13459.
PMID: 37987377 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13459

Abstract

We report the findings of a multi-language and multi-lab investigation of young infants' ability to discriminate lexical tones as a function of their native language, age and language experience, as well as of tone properties. Given the high prevalence of lexical tones across human languages, understanding lexical tone acquisition is fundamental for comprehensive theories of language learning. While there are some similarities between the developmental course of lexical tone perception and that of vowels and consonants, findings for lexical tones tend to vary greatly across different laboratories. To reconcile these differences and to assess the developmental trajectory of native and non-native perception of tone contrasts, this study employed a single experimental paradigm with the same two pairs of Cantonese tone contrasts (perceptually similar vs. distinct) across 13 laboratories in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North-America testing 5-, 10- and 17-month-old monolingual (tone, pitch-accent, non-tone) and bilingual (tone/non-tone, non-tone/non-tone) infants. Across the age range and language backgrounds, infants who were not exposed to Cantonese showed robust discrimination of the two non-native lexical tone contrasts. Contrary to this overall finding, the statistical model assessing native discrimination by Cantonese-learning infants failed to yield significant effects. These findings indicate that lexical tone sensitivity is maintained from 5 to 17 months in infants acquiring tone and non-tone languages, challenging the generalisability of the existing theoretical accounts of perceptual narrowing in the first months of life. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: This is a multi-language and multi-lab investigation of young infants' ability to discriminate lexical tones. This study included data from 13 laboratories testing 5-, 10-, and 17-month-old monolingual (tone, pitch-accent, non-tone) and bilingual (tone/non-tone, non-tone/non-tone) infants. Overall, infants discriminated a perceptually similar and a distinct non-native tone contrast, although there was no evidence of a native tone-language advantage in discrimination. These results demonstrate maintenance of tone discrimination throughout development.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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