Language/Linguistics/Speech

Findings highlight potential for "bottom-up" approaches to drive discovery in vocal communication Researchers have developed a new algorithm capable of identifying features of male zebra finch songs that may underlie the distinction…

Expressive language sampling (ELS) is a useful tool for measuring communication development in youth with Down syndrome, a new multi-site study has found. The study, co-led by Angela Thurman and Leonard Abbeduto from the UC Davis MIND…

Doublespeak, or the use of euphemisms to sway opinion, lets leaders avoid the reputational costs of lying while still bringing people around to their way of thinking, a new study has found. Researchers at the University of Waterloo…

UTokyo-MIT study measures brain activity while learning basic sounds, grammar rules of unfamiliar language Multilingual people have trained their brains to learn languages, making it easier to acquire more new languages after mastering a…

Concerns for fair treatment in courts and community Autistic adults can be wrongly perceived as deceptive and lacking credibility, Flinders University researchers say, with this working against many caught in the legal system. Ahead of…

University of Arizona engineers have created a tiny, wireless device to rapidly change the pitch of adult songbirds' songs, with the goal of better understanding communication and speech in the human brain.Credit: University of Arizona…

University of Bath Press release Children with a common but regularly undiagnosed disorder affecting their language and communication are likely to be finding the transition back to school post-lockdown harder than most, according to a…

Training and flexibility needed to help those with severe intellectual disabilities A new study examining how people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities resist activities while in care recommends that institutions improve…

The first in-depth look at the human ability to decode the range of emotions tied to the acoustic cues of screams People are adept at discerning most of the different emotions that underlie screams, such as anger, frustration, pain,…

As our planet warms, seas rise and catastrophic weather events become more frequent, action on climate change has never been more important. But how do you convince people who still don't believe that humans contribute to the warming…

Improvements in reading and listening skills of first-time Japanese language students observed via brain scan A study with first-time learners of Japanese has measured how brain activity changes after just a few months of studying a new…

A new study suggests that non-visual communication methods that better synchronize and boost audio cues are in fact more effective In the year since the coronavirus pandemic upended how just about every person on the planet interacts with…

Unique, complex information in analog methods likely gives brain more details to trigger memory A study of Japanese university students and recent graduates has revealed that writing on physical paper can lead to more brain activity when…

Articulating lingual life histories and language ideological assemblages The Journal of Anthropological Research has just published a new article on the development of linguistic documentation among heritage language speakers:…

New study explores the value of bilingual children's books in second language learning Do children learning French as a second language see benefits from reading bilingual French-English children's books? A study recently published in…

Credit: University of Guam Recognizing the need to make instructional resources about the CHamoru language and culture more accessible to the community, Inetnon Lalåhen Guåhan -- the Young Men's League of Guam -- presented the…

Computer engineers at the world's largest companies and universities are using machines to scan through tomes of written material. The goal? Teach these machines the gift of language. Do that, some even claim, and computers will be able…

New book details computational cognitive model for deep language comprehension TROY, N.Y. -- The original goal of human-like artificial intelligence was abandoned decades ago in favor of less ambitious approaches, two cognitive scientists…

Credit: Pirámide At an informative level, the highlighted aspect during the first few months of the pandemic was the leading role of experts in "the need for authorised voices that can somehow contextualise what is happening,…

Competition also awards new prize for dance about COVID-19 The newest overall winner of Science's annual Dance your Ph.D. contest, now sponsored by the artificial intelligence company Primer, is a Finnish researcher studying atmospheric…