"Cross-language speech perception and variations in linguistic experience"

This ASA Special Workshop on Speech revolves around the fundamental question of how experience with language systematically shapes perception of even the most basic building blocks of spoken communication - consonants and vowels. The topics will cover current theoretical perspectives and recent research on cross-language speech perception. Specific topics include basic issues and findings, neuropsychological undrepinnings, and language-training applications related to language-tuned speech perception. The populations addressed run the gamut from young first language learners, to bilingual language users and learners, to second-language learners.

We offer an exciting two-day program of invited speakers, as well as sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons for contributed talks and posters. The keynote address will be given by Winifred Strange, who will describe her newly-developed Automatic Selective Perception (ASP) model of attentional tuning in cross-language speech perception, and recent findings motivated by it.

The ASA and the organizing committee have a strong commitment to training future speech researchers. Toward this goal, we have included several young investigator invited speakers, and have scheduled two contributed poster sessions and two contributed talk sessions, for which we strongly encourage student- and young-investigator submissions. We are also offering six student travel awards for student presenters (1st-author).