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Neural representation of linguistic feature hierarchy reflects second-language proficiency

View ORCID ProfileGiovanni M. Di Liberto, Jingping Nie, Jeremy Yeaton, Bahar Khalighinejad, Shihab A. Shamma, Nima Mesgarani
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.15.142554
Giovanni M. Di Liberto
1Laboratoire des systèmes perceptifs, Département d’études cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
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  • ORCID record for Giovanni M. Di Liberto
  • For correspondence: diliberg@tcd.ie nima@ee.columbia.edu
Jingping Nie
2Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
3Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
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Jeremy Yeaton
1Laboratoire des systèmes perceptifs, Département d’études cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
4Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, UMR 7290, CNRS, France. Aix-Marseille Université, France
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Bahar Khalighinejad
2Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
3Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
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Shihab A. Shamma
1Laboratoire des systèmes perceptifs, Département d’études cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
5Institute for Systems Research, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
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Nima Mesgarani
2Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
3Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
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  • For correspondence: diliberg@tcd.ie nima@ee.columbia.edu
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Abstract

Acquiring a new language requires a simultaneous and gradual learning of multiple levels of linguistic attributes. Here, we investigated how this process changes the neural encoding of natural speech by assessing the encoding of the linguistic feature hierarchy in second-language listeners. Electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded from native English and native Mandarin speakers with varied English proficiency as they listened to English stories. The neural encoding of acoustic, phonemic, phonotactic, and semantic features was measured in individual participants. We found a progressive convergence of linguistic feature representation in native and nonnative listeners with increased proficiency, which enabled accurate decoding of language proficiency. At the same time, we found distinct neural signatures in native and nonnative listeners that persisted even in the most proficient listeners. This detailed view advances our understanding of the cortical processing of linguistic information in second-language learners and provides an objective measure of language proficiency.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵** Senior author

  • Conflicts of interest: none declared.

  • Funding sources: this study and N.M., B.K., and J.N. were supported by the NIMH MH114166-01 grant. G.D.L. and S.S. were supported by an ERC Advanced grant (Neume, Grant agreement ID: 787836). J.Y. was supported by the ERC Advanced grant (POP-R, Grant agreement ID: 742141).

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted June 15, 2020.
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Neural representation of linguistic feature hierarchy reflects second-language proficiency
Giovanni M. Di Liberto, Jingping Nie, Jeremy Yeaton, Bahar Khalighinejad, Shihab A. Shamma, Nima Mesgarani
bioRxiv 2020.06.15.142554; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.15.142554
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Neural representation of linguistic feature hierarchy reflects second-language proficiency
Giovanni M. Di Liberto, Jingping Nie, Jeremy Yeaton, Bahar Khalighinejad, Shihab A. Shamma, Nima Mesgarani
bioRxiv 2020.06.15.142554; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.15.142554

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