Intonation as a change in voice pitch can carry important information in communication. In non-tonal languages such as American English, differences in intonation can change a statement into a question while in tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese, intonations can change the meaning of every single spoken word. Despite its apparent importance, it remains unclear whether and how the ability to perceive tonal difference is acquired through learning during early development. To address this important question, Dr. Fuh-Cherng Jeng of University of Ohio proposes a project to be conducted at two infant centers, one in the United State and one in Taiwan, to first investigate whether newborn babies born to a tonal (Taiwan) and atonal (US) language environments differ in their ability to perceive intonation and to then follow up 3 months later to assess whether the exposure to different language environment lead to changes in this ability. Dr. Jeng will employ non-invasive electrophysiological techniques to measure how brain activity in subcortical and cortical structures changes in response to voice pitch at each point of the development. Through this technically challenging study, Dr. Jeng expects to answer the question whether the ability to detect intonation is learned or innate and how plastic are the infant brains in response to exposure to early life language environment.
The proposed study could lead to new approaches for diagnosis and possible remediation of developmental disorders of language. In particular, this research may have implications for the early detection and identification of social/communicative disorders such as autism. Furthermore, through the US-Taiwan collaboration, the PI creates exceptional opportunities for US graduate students with extensive international experience. These experiences are expected to broaden their understanding of research in a different cultural context, help students develop personal relations with Chinese researchers, and lay the foundation for initiating their own future international collaboration activity. Such experiences will also provide teaching and training opportunities for the students to deal with challenges and benefits of conducting research on a global stage. Finally, Dr. Jeng will participate in the big data effort by making the data available to support other coordinated NSF efforts that aim to make use of real data in the teaching of STEM related courses and to enable participation in discovery science by those who would otherwise have no access to such data.
This project is co-funded by the International Science and Engineering Section of the NSF Office of International and Integrative Activities
