Effects of first language processes and representations on second language perception: The case of vowel epenthesis by Japanese speakers

Abstract

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Japanese speakers are known to perceive "illusory vowels" within consonant clusters illicit in their language. The present study examines how this perceptual vowel epenthesis is affected by first language (L1) processes (restoration of vowels devoiced through Japanese high vowel devoicing), L1 representations (loanword representations in Japanese speakers' lexicons), and proficiency in English. Design/methodology/approach: The participants judged the presence or absence of a mora (e.g., ム /mu/) in an auditorily presented English word (e.g., homesick). The 40 test items contained a heterosyllabic consonant cluster with four different voicing patterns to examine whether the vowel restoration process is related to vowel epenthesis. Twenty of the test items are frequently used as loanwords in Japanese, meaning that they are stored in the L1 lexicon with a vowel inserted inside the consonant cluster (e.g., /hoomusikku/). The other 20 are low-frequency items that are virtually nonwords for the non-native participants. Data and analysis: The vowel epenthesis rates and reaction times (RTs) were obtained from 14 introductory learners, 15 intermediate learners, and 19 native speakers. Findings/conclusions: The results show the main effects of Voice, Loanword Representation, and Proficiency, as well as the interaction among the three factors. Negative correlations between vowel epenthesis rates and RTs were also observed for the learners. The results indicate differential effects of vowel restoration and loanwords on perceptual epenthesis by learners of different proficiency levels. Originality: The present study was one of the first attempts to test the relation between proficiency and perceptual vowel epenthesis using real English words. Significance/implications: The findings demonstrate the robustness of L1 processes and representations in second language perception while substantiating the existing argument for early vowel epenthesis. They also raise questions regarding the effects of training and the role of native speaker input.

The Effects of Phonetic Duration on Loanword Adaptation: Mandarin Falling Diphthong in Chinese Korean

“…Based on a cross-linguistic survey of prosodic adaptation, Kang (2010b) suggests that faithfulness to the input prosodic structure will be more significant in the context of high than low bilingualism. In (Best & Tyler, 2007;Bundgaard-Neilson et al, 2011;Nomura & Ishikawa, 2016;Kwon, 2017). These studies find that experienced listeners of the input language (in our case, Mandarin) tend to show more sensitivity to the input language phonological structure and tend to preserve it better in their perception than listeners with limited experience with the input language.…”

Current research on the linguistic features of Chinese English

“…This feature is widespread in Central and Northern China (Deterding, 2006b;Ho, 2003) and in Yunnan (Ao & Low, 2012), however less frequently found in Guangxi (Deterding, 2016). The latter finding is interesting, given that this feature seems to be common in different Asian varieties of English such as Korean English (Darcy & Thomas, 2019) or Japanese English (Nomura & Ishikawa, 2018;Yazawa, Konishi, & Kondo, 2015) and that S. Li and Sewell (2012) reported it for speakers coming from both the north and south of China. There are two other types of epenthetic vowels that received slightly less attention in the literature (Ao & Low, 2012), namely insertion of a vowel into a consonant cluster within a word and the insertion of a schwa before a nasal /n/ within a word.…”

An overview and synthesis of research on English loanwords in Japanese

“…Psycholinguists are interested primarily in the cognitive processes underlying language acquisition and use. Researchers have used Japanese loanwords to investigate how L1 knowledge shapes the perception and production of foreign words/non-words (Dupoux, Kakehi, Hirose, Pallier & Mehler, 1999;Nomura & Ishikawa, 2018;Peperkamp, Vendelin & Nakamura, 2008;Sumiya & Healy, 2008;Vendelin & Peperkamp, 2004;Weber, Broersma, & Aoyagi, 2011;Yazawa, Konishi, Hanzawa, Short & Kondo, 2015) or how latent L2 knowledge may influence L1 knowledge (Tamaoka & Miyaoka, 2003). Studies have described the features of Japanese-English cognates (Allen & Conklin, 2014) and demonstrated cross-linguistic effects with them in masked priming experiments (Allen, Conklin & Van Heuven, 2015;Ando, Matsuki, Sheridan & Jared, 2015;Nakayama, Sears, Hino & Lupker, 2012;Nakayama, Verdonschot, Sears & Lupker, 2014).…”