Age and Gender Effect in Phonetic Perception and Production

Abstract

The aim of this study was primarily to find the relationship between age and the perception and production of English speech sounds by Persian speakers. The researcher also tried to find out the relationship between gender and the discrimination and production of English speech sounds. Sixty subjects took part in this study. They were divided in two groups of thirty children and adults, including fifteen males and fifteen females each. Both groups participated in tests of discrimination and production of English sounds. Two ANOVAs were administered, the results of which supported the idea that children and adults have equal aptitude for perception and production of the English sounds, which implies that there is still room for an innate faculty to continue its work in adulthood. Moreover, gender was not found to be an influential factor regarding perception and production of English sounds. The performance of both groups was significantly superior in production rather than discrimination. This result shows that perception of sounds does not necessarily precede their production.