Catalan speakers' perceptual assimilation of English vowels : effects of L2 experience and phonetic context

This research project investigated the role of L2 experience and phonetic context in Catalan speakers' perceptual assimilation of English vowels. A Perceptual Assimilation Task was performed by L2 learners and non-learners in which they had to assimilate the English vowels /i:, ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, u:/ to a Catalan vowel category and provide goodness-of-fit ratings. Results for English /i/, /æ/, /u/ showed that highly assimilated vowels are not affected by context or L2 experience. English vowels /ʊ/, /ɪ/ and /ɛ/, which had no clear mapping to any Catalan categories, showed some consonantal and experience effects, especially for inexperienced learners. However, the little difference in the results between the proficiency levels and the contexts is a possible indicator that these two factors do not influence cross-linguistic perceptual assimilation.En aquest projecte es van investigar els efectes de l'experiència en una segona llengua i del context fonètic en l'assimilació perceptiva de vocals angleses per catalans natius. Es va dur a terme una Tasca d'Assimilació Perceptiva en la qual participants amb i sense experiència en l'anglès havien d'assimilar les sis vocals angleses/i:, ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, u:/ a una vocal catalana i puntuar el grau de similitud entre totes dues. Els resultats de les vocals angleses/i/, /æ/, /u/mostren que a les vocals amb un alt grau d'assimilació no els afecta el context o l'experiència. Les vocals angleses /ʊ/, /ɪ/ i /ɛ/, que no mostraven una assimilació clara a cap vocal catalana, van mostrar efectes per context, especialment amb el grup sense experiència. Tot i així, la poca diferència entre els resultats dels dos grups d'experiència i els contexts són un possible indicador que aquests dos factors no afecten l'assimilació perceptiva entre les dues llengue

Forming New Vowel Categories in Second Language Speech: The Case of Polish Learners' Production of English /I/ and /e/

The paper concentrates on formation of L2 English vowel categories in the speech of Polish learners. More specifically, it compares distribution of two English categories - /I/ and /e/ relative to neighbouring Polish vowels. 43 participants recorded Polish and English vowels in a /bVt/ context. First two formants were measured at a vowel midpoint and plotted on a vowel plane. The results reveal that while a separate /I/ category is formed fairly effectively in Polish learners pronunciation of English, a category of /e/ is almost completely subsumed by a Polish vowel /ϵ

Phonetic and orthographic cues are weighted in speech sound perception by second language speakers: evidence from Greek speakers of English.

Second language (L2) learning can involve processing of speech-sound contrasts that have multiple phonetic cues (e.g. Iverson et al., 2003). This can be particularly difficult for foreign-language learners especially if the cues are weighted differently in the foreign and native languages (e.g., Giannakopoulou et al., 2011, 2013). The orthographic representation of words is suggested to also interfere with speech sound perception in way of presenting additional cues for the second language learner. Greek child and adult speakers of English were studied to determine on what basis they are making perceptual identification between English vowels with the use of pictures as visual stimuli. Performance was impaired for Greek speakers across all tasks but worst for Greek speakers for the picture stimuli task. Findings suggest a 'link' between orthography and perceptual identification serving as an additional cue for L2 speakers

Comparative Study of the Acoustic Vowel Space of Egyptian English Vowels and General American English Vowels

This study provides cross-language comparisons of Egyptian English and General American English (GAE) vowels. The main purpose of this study is to determine the intelligibility of Egyptian speakers in comparison with GAE speakers. In order to implement this comparison, eleven GAE vowels in /hVd/ contexts produced by five male and five female Egyptian speakers were analyzed acoustically using Praat software. The results reveal that Egyptian speakers’ production of GAE vowels is affected by the Egyptian vowel system. While some GAE vowels are easy for Egyptians to pronounce intelligibly, others such as /æ, ɛ, o, ɔ, ɑ/, are difficult to produce close to the standard American English pronunciation

Japanese Listeners' Use of Duration Cues in the Identification of English High Front Vowels

Morrison's (2002a) hypothesis concerning the use of duration cues in high vowel identification by determining whether Japanese listeners identify English /i/ and /I/ using the same duration criteria that they use to identify Japanese /i:/ and /i/

Adult L2 Japanese learners’ production and perception of Vietnamese monophthong vowels

This paper reports a study that investigated the role of prior native or first language (L1) phonological and phonetic learning on the integration of vowel quality features in the acquisition of second language (L2) vowels by examining adult L2 Japanese learners’ perception and production of Vietnamese monophthong vowels in an identification, an imitation and a read aloud tasks. Two groups of participants took part in the study (11 control Vietnamese, 10 Japanese learners of Vietnamese).  The stimuli consisted of 9 Vietnamese monophthongs /i, e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, u, ɤ, ɯ/ and 5 simple Japanese vowels /i, e, a, o, ɯ/. The results showed that Japanese learners of Vietnamese failed to distinguish the Vietnamese vowel pairs /ɛ/-/e/, /o/-/ɔ/ and /u/-/ɯ/ accurately in their perception. In terms of production, Vietnamese vowels /ɛ/ and /e/ merged in vowel space. Moreover, the three Vietnamese vowels /ɔ/, /o/ and/ɤ/ produced by Japanese learners in both production tasks tend to cluster together. Vietnamese vowels /u/ and /ɯ/ produced by Japanese learners also overlapped in vowel space. In general, the findings of this study showed that Japanese learners transfer their L1 vowel quality features into the production of Vietnamese vowels.