Nativeness and Intelligibility of Japanese accented English Consonants by French Listeners

Abstract

International audienceThe presence of a Foreign Accent (FA) in the communicative process may interfere with the correct transmission of a message. This interference can arise from various traits, such as rhythm, intonation and speech rate. This can affect perception by both L1 and L2 listeners. Therefore, in this study we focused on the segments of Japanese FA in English as perceived by French listeners. Seven consonants ([l, ɹ, t h , k h , θ, f, v]) were extracted from the beginning of CVC English words. Using sound manipulation techniques, they were transformed into their most expected Japanese realisation ([ɾ, ɾ, t, k, s, ɸ, b] respectively) to generate a new set of words in which only the first segment was accented. The French cohort showed clear differences in perceived intelligibility of rhotic consonants and the [f/ɸ] contrast compared with previously analysed groups of Japanese and American listeners