Abstract
Research suggests that the size of the second language (L2) vowel inventory relative to the native (L1) inventory may affect the discrimination and acquisition of L2 vowels. Models of non-native and L2 vowel perception stipulate that naïve listeners' non-native and L2 perceptual patterns may be predicted by the relationship in vowel inventory size between the L1 and the L2. Specifically, having a smaller L1 vowel inventory than the L2 impedes L2 vowel perception, while having a larger one often facilitates it. However, the Second Language Linguistic Perception (L2LP) model specifies that it is the L1–L2 acoustic relationships that predict non-native and L2 vowel perception, regardless of L1 vowel inventory. To test the effects of vowel inventory size vs. acoustic properties on non-native vowel perception, we compared XAB discrimination and categorization of five Dutch vowel contrasts between monolinguals whose L1 contains more (Australian English) or fewer (Peruvian Spanish) vowels than Dutch. No effect of language background was found, suggesting that L1 inventory size alone did not account for performance. Instead, participants in both language groups were more accurate in discriminating contrasts that were predicted to be perceptually easy based on L1–L2 acoustic relationships, and were less accurate for contrasts likewise predicted to be difficult. Further, cross-language discriminant analyses predicted listeners' categorization patterns which in turn predicted listeners' discrimination difficulty. Our results show that listeners with larger vowel inventories appear to activate multiple native categories as reflected in lower accuracy scores for some Dutch vowels, while listeners with a smaller vowel inventory seem to have higher accuracy scores for those same vowels. In line with the L2LP model, these findings demonstrate that L1–L2 acoustic relationships better predict non-native and L2 perceptual performance and that inventory size alone is not a good predictor for cross-language perceptual difficulties.
Highlights
In adulthood, perception of sound categories in a second language (L2) is broadly thought to occur through the lens of the native language (L1)
We examined whether the size and/or acoustic properties of native vowel inventories relative to the target language aid or impede L2 perceptual difficulties by directly comparing L2 vowel discrimination and categorization patterns by two listener groups with varying vowel inventory sizes
The study tested whether cross-linguistic linear discriminant analyses (LDA) and stepwise models were predictive of AusE and Peruvian Spanish (PS) listeners’ vowel classification patterns, which in turn should predict their discrimination patterns
Summary
Perception of sound categories in a second language (L2) is broadly thought to occur through the lens of the native language (L1). Native speakers of German and Norwegian—two languages that have a larger and more complex vowel system than English—identified English vowels more accurately than French and Spanish native speakers, whose L1 vowel inventories are smaller than that of English (Iverson and Evans, 2007, 2009) In this case, native speakers of all four languages relied on primary acoustic cues, such as F1/F2 formant frequencies, formant movement and duration in their perception of the English vowels, despite formant movement and duration not being present in Spanish and French, suggesting that in addition L1 vowel inventory size affecting perceptual accuracy, other acoustic-phonetic properties are at play (Iverson and Evans, 2007, 2009). These findings further suggest that while the scope of a learner’s L1 vowel inventory may affect their L2 perceptual patterns, inventory size alone is not enough to accurately predict complexities of L2 perceptual patterns
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