LINGUIST List 22.2336 Thu Jun 02 2011 Diss: Neroling:Kadyamusuma: 'The Effect of Brain Damage and ...' Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfonlinguistlist.org> To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     McLoddy Kadyamusuma , The Effect of Brain Damage and Linguistic Experience on Shona Lexical Tone Processing Message 1: The Effect of Brain Damage and Linguistic Experience on Shona Lexical Tone Processing Date: 01-Jun-2011 From: McLoddy Kadyamusuma <kadyamusrz.uni-potsdam.de> Subject: The Effect of Brain Damage and Linguistic Experience on Shona Lexical Tone Processing E-mail this message to a friend Institution: Universität Potsdam Program: International M.Sc. / Ph.D. Programme for Experimental and Clinical Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2011 Author: McLoddy Rutendo Kadyamusuma Dissertation Title: The Effect of Brain Damage and Linguistic Experience on Shona Lexical Tone Processing Linguistic Field(s): Neurolinguistics Subject Language(s): Shona (sna) Language Family(ies): Niger-Congo Dissertation Director: Joerg Mayer Roelien Bastiaanse Ria De Bleser Dissertation Abstract: This dissertation investigates the effect of brain lesions and linguistic experience on the processing of Shona lexical tone. The first two studies focus on hemispheric lateralization of lexical tone in Shona brain damaged patients in order to establish the roles played by the left and right cerebral hemispheres in the processing of lexical tone (Van Lancker, 1980). Whereas Study three focuses on the influence of linguistic experience with pitch contrasts on the ability to perceive Shona lexical tone in non-native speakers (Thai and German) with an emphasis on the strategies used by the different speakers. Study 1 examined the ability of Shona speakers with unilateral left and right hemisphere lesions to produce and identify lexical tone in disyllabic words using a confrontational naming task and a picture identification task. The study revealed that the left hemisphere (LH) damaged patients are more impaired than right hemisphere (RH) damaged patients in their ability to identify lexical tone indicative of a left hemisphere preferential role in tone perception in Shona. On the other hand, there was no difference in the ability to produce tone in left and right hemisphere damaged patients, showing that tone perception and tone production can be differentially disrupted after brain damage. Study 2 further explored the effect of brain damage on the perceptual discrimination of lexical tone in Shona speakers in a linguistic (pitch used phonemically in Shona disyllabic words) and non-linguistic context (low-pass filtered speech). The two tasks were meant to test the differential processing of pitch either in the left or right hemisphere. The results demonstrated that the performance of the LH damaged patients was more reduced than that of RH damaged patients in both contexts, though the performance of the RH damaged patients was not error free. From this we concluded that the LH is more involved and dominant in the processing of Shona lexical tone. Findings from the first two studies show that though the LH is more involved in the processing of Shona lexical tone, the RH also plays a part since no patient had near normal performance. Study 3 examined the perceptual discrimination of Shona, Thai and German speakers by exploring the effect of linguistic background on the ability to perceive a typologically different tone language, Shona. The three groups differed with regards to experience with manipulation of pitch. German speakers had experience with pitch contrasts at the sentential level, while Thai and Shona had experience with pitch at the syllabic level. The three groups were examined using disyllabic words and low pass-filtered speech. Experiment 1 tested the perceptual discrimination of Shona minimal pairs, whereas experiment 2 tested both minimal and non-minimal pairs. The results revealed that linguistic experience with a tone language aids the perception of a typologically different language. However, the three groups use different strategies based on their native phonological contrasts to distinguish unfamiliar contrasts using selective processing. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 02-Jun-2011       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.