The modification of speech perception and production in second-language learning

Williams, Lee

doi:10.3758/bf03208301

Cited by 82 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Native English children may identify shortand long-lag stops more reliably than French children because they learn to make use of the F| transition duration and onset frequency differences which co-occur with the VOT difference distinguishing shortand long-lag English stops. Unfortunately, the hypothesis concerning formant transi tion duration cannot be evaluated, for neither Zlatin and Koenigsknecht [see Zlatin, 1974] nor Williams [1979aWilliams [ , 1979b provided information concerning the dura tion of the F| transitions in their synthetic stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linguistic and Developmental Effects on the Production and Perception of Stop Consonants

1986

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This study examined production and perception of the contrast between /t/ –/d/ by subjects differing in native language and age. Acoustic analysis revealed that native speakers of English realized word-initial /t/ with significantly longer VOT values (approximately 85 ms) than native speakers of Spanish (approximately 19 ms). Native English and Spanish adults realized /t/ with VOT values that were non-significantly longer than those of 9-year-olds of the same native language background. Native English adults prevoiced /d/ more often than English children, but Spanish adults and children realized /d/ with lead VOT values in nearly every instance. In a labelling task, the native English speakers showed steeper identification functions, and category boundaries at significantly longer VOT values, than age-matched native Spanish subjects. The boundaries of both the native English and Spanish adults occurred at significantly longer VOT values than those of children who spoke the same language. Three possible explanations are offered for the effect of age on stop voicing judgments: the auditory processing of acoustic parameters associated with stops changes with age; listeners require an increasingly long VOT interval to perceive /t/ as they get older because they produce /t/ with somewhat longer VOT values; listeners ‘attune’ their perception to optimally match the stops they hear.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linguistic and Developmental Effects on the Production and Perception of Stop Consonants

1986

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“…In the first, the native segment is produced in a manner more similar to a second-language segment. Williams [1979] found that child native Spanish learners of English produced Spanish voiced stops with less voicing lead and voiceless stops with more voicing lag than did Spanish monolingual adults and that, furthermore, the younger children differed to a greater extent. Flege and Hillenbrand [1984] and Flege [1987] found that highly experienced late learners of English produced their native French stops with VOT values intermediate between their first-and second-languages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vowel Systems of Quichua-Spanish Bilinguals

Guion

2003

Phonetica

198

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This study investigates vowel productions of 20 Quichua-Spanish bilinguals, differing in age of Spanish acquisition, and 5 monolingual Spanish speakers. While the vowel systems of simultaneous, early, and some mid bilinguals all showed significant plasticity, there were important differences in the kind, as well as the extent, of this adaptability. Simultaneous bilinguals dffered from early bilinguals in that they were able to partition the vowel space in a more fine-grained way to accommodate the vowels of their two languages. Early and some mid bilinguals acquired Spanish vowels, whereas late bilinguals did not. It was also found that acquiring Spanish vowels could affect the production of native Quichua vowels. The Quichua vowels were produced higher by bilinguals who had acquired Spanish vowels than those who had not. It is proposed that this vowel reorganization serves to enhance the perceptual distinctiveness between the vowels of the combined first- and second-language system.

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“…Nonnalives who learn English as an L2 often produce English /p t k/ with shorter VOT values than do English monolinguals [c.g.. Carmazza el al" 1973: Williams, 1979b: Flege and Hillenbrand, 1984Flege and Ecfting. 1988: Major.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age of Learning Affects Rate-Dependent Processing of Stops in a Second Language

1996

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The aim of this study was to assess the effect of speaking rate changes on the perception of English stop consonants by four groups of subjects: English and Spanish monolinguals, ‘early’ Spanish/English bilinguals who learned English in childhood, and ‘late’ bilinguals who learned English in adulthood. Subjects identified, and then later rated for goodness as exemplars of the English /p/ category, the members of two voice onset time (VOT) continua. The English monolinguals identified a well-defined range of VOT stimuli as English /p/, and stimuli with longer VOT values as ‘exaggerated’ instances of English /p/. Their goodness ratings increased as VOT increased, then showed a systematic decrease as VOT began to exceed values typical for English /p/. The English monolinguals’ goodness ratings also varied systematically as a function of speaking rate, which was simulated in the two continua by varying syllable duration. The Spanish monolinguals, on the other hand, failed to consistently identify any of the stimuli as English /p/. Although speaking rate influenced their goodness ratings, the Spanish monolinguals’ rate effects differed significantly from the English monolinguals’. The early bilinguals resembled the English monolinguals, and differed from the Spanish monolinguals to a greater extent than did the late Spanish/English bilinguals. This was taken as support for the hypothesis that early bilinguals are more likely than are late bilinguals to establish new phonetic categories for stop consonants in a second language.

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The modification of speech perception and production in second-language learning

Cited by 82 publications

References 19 publications

Linguistic and Developmental Effects on the Production and Perception of Stop Consonants

Linguistic and Developmental Effects on the Production and Perception of Stop Consonants

The Vowel Systems of Quichua-Spanish Bilinguals

Age of Learning Affects Rate-Dependent Processing of Stops in a Second Language

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