Asymmetrical Equivalence Classification – Cluster Affrication vs. Lenis Stops in the Speech of Polish Learners of English

Given the growing interest in pronunciation and second language (L2) acquisition, it is essential to align how L2 sounds are addressed in classroom practice. This article examines how the postulates and hypotheses of the Speech Learning Model (SLM; Flege, 1995) can inspire pedagogical practices with very young children in bilingual education contexts. We discuss how Flege’s concepts can help teachers mediate L2 sound acquisition by guiding learners’ formation of L2 phonetic categories through effective practices. In addition, we highlight the importance of both the quantity and quality of phonetic input for successful L2 sound acquisition. Finally, we explore the potential and implications of the interconnection between second language acquisition theories and pedagogical practices, for the benefit of teachers and learners, in order to achieve more successful L2 sound acquisition from early childhood.

The quality and quantity of phonetic input are considered the main factors in L2 sound acquisition (cf. Flege 1995; Flege/Bohn 2021; Kuhl 2011). Over the years, many empirical studies have supported the statement that for accurate perception and intelligible pronunciation, learners need to receive robust phonetic input to guide their attention to the acoustic cues used to distinguish L1 sounds from L2 sounds (cf. Flege 1995; Flege/Bohn 2021; Moyer 2009). These works have bolstered the widespread idea that when it comes to L2 acquisition, the more input and the earlier the exposure, the better. However, despite the growing interest in the area, research in classroom settings still needs to be conducted, particularly with very young learners (cf. Munro/Derwing 2015; Levis 2016; Levis 2017; O’Brien et al. 2018). This paper focuses on the work with L2 sounds in classroom settings with very young learners and integrates contributions from sound acquisition theory and pedagogical practice. It also discusses the role of the teacher in fostering phonetic input in bilingual education with very young Brazilian Portuguese L1 speakers acquiring English as an L2. To support this discussion, it presents the results of perceptual tests in a Brazilian bilingual school developed to investigate children's L2 sound perception. A pre-test was applied at the beginning of the school year, and a post-test by the end of the year. In between, playful mediation with L2 sounds took place (cf. Barros 2022). The comparison between the pre-test and the post-test suggests that teachers play a pivotal role in fostering phonetic input to enhance very young learners’ perception of L2 sounds, thus leading to a more successful L2 acquisition. This paper also underscores the importance of linking theory to pedagogical practice so teachers can better scaffold learning.

This study reports the results of two experiments with native speakers of Japanese. In experiment 1, near-monolingual Japanese listeners participated in a cross-language mapping experiment in which they identified English and Japanese consonants in terms of a Japanese category, then rated the identifications for goodness-of-fit to that Japanese category. Experiment 2 used the same set of stimuli in a categorial discrimination test. Three groups of Japanese speakers varying in English-language experience, and one group of native English speakers participated. Contrast pairs composed of two English consonants, two Japanese consonants, and one English and one Japanese consonant were tested. The results indicated that the perceived phonetic distance of second language (L2) consonants from the closest first language (L1) consonant predicted the discrimination of L2 sounds. In addition, this study investigated the role of experience in learning sounds in a second language. Some of the consonant contrasts tested showed evidence of learning (i.e., significantly higher scores for the experienced than the relatively inexperienced Japanese groups). The perceived phonetic distance of L1 and L2 sounds was found to predict learning effects in discrimination of L1 and L2 sounds in some cases. The results are discussed in terms of models of cross-language speech perception and L2 phonetic learning.

Chapter 28 - Auditory and Phonetic Category Formation

This study investigated how L1 and L2 sounds of different degrees of similarity are perceived by L2 speakers. Twenty-six participants were tested with six Mandarin-English C-/i/ syllable pairs varying in degrees of similarity in the initial consonant. Two competing models were examined, the speech learning model (Flege, 1995) and the perceptual assimilation model (Best, 1995). The former proposes that the greater the perceived dissimilarity between an L2 sound and its closest L1 counterpart, the easier it is for L2 speakers to discern the difference, while the latter proposes that L2-to-L1 assimilation corresponds to their articulatory distance. As for two L2 sounds corresponding to the same L1 target, perceptual performance may still differ depending on how similar the L2 sounds are to the target. Results showed that perceptual performance was independent of L2 proficiency. The SLM is supported in that the accuracy for discerning individual consonants of ‘‘dissimilar’’ pairs was higher than that for ‘‘similar’’ pairs, which in turn was higher than that for ‘‘identical’’ pairs. However, the accuracy for discerning ‘‘identical’’ pairs was still significantly higher than the chance level, indicating that L2 speakers are still able to tell the difference, which can be better explained by the PAM.

This study assessed the performances of a group of speakers of L2 English when perceiving and producing the English vowel Schwa. It evaluated the hypotheses proposed by the Speech Learning Model (SML), developed by Flege and colleagues (1988, 1992, 1999, and 2002), which suggest that L2 speakers are capable of creating phonetic categories for new L2 sounds. The effect of orthography was chosen as a variable that could affect L2 speakers’ abilities. The study was carried out in three stages: the first one evaluated initial L2 speakers’ perceptual and productive abilities; stage two consisted of pronunciation training in vowel reduction processes; and stage three evaluated performances after training. Results suggest that Second Language (L2) speakers were influenced by the orthography; therefore, they perceived and produced Schwas as instances of their native vowels.

Input-related factors are fundamental for the acquisition of new second language (L2) phones (e.g., Flege et al., 1995). Nonetheless, evidence from instructional settings suggests that, in foreign language contexts, input alone may not be sufficient for the formation of new phonetic categories. In the present study, we investigated to what extent the acquisition of a novel L2 phone (/ð/) is associated with input-related variables and phonological awareness. First language (L1) Brazilian Portuguese speakers of English answered a language background, a phonological self-awareness questionnaire, and completed a paragraph reading task and a phonological awareness test. The recordings were submitted to acoustic analysis and accuracy assessment by Brazilian teachers of English. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that perceived accuracy was predicted by input quality and phonological self-awareness, suggesting that greater interaction with L1 speakers of the target language and heightened phonological self-awareness play an important role in the acquisition of the tested L2 phone.

Chapter 22 - Acquiring Auditory and Phonetic Categories

This paper explores whether Korean EFL listeners perception of English vowels and their English vowel category development can be estimated from cross-language labelling between English and Korean. The paper also investigates whether cross-language labelling makes different predictions for General American English (GAE) vowels and British English (Received Pronunciation, RP) vowels, given that vowel category variation exists between the two accents. Thirty-six university students in Seoul completed cross-language labelling and English vowel identification. Fit indices were calculated based on cross-language labelling for both GAE and RP vowels in order to answer the questions posed. Specifically, the paper tested the assumption of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) that L2 category development is closely related to the perceived phonetic distance between L1 and L2 sounds by calculating fit indices. The results reveal that the fit indices computed had limitations in accounting for the identification accuracy of L2 vowels. The fit indices also made similar predictions for GAE and RP vowels, but there were accent and vowel category variations between GAE and RP. Thus, the overall results suggest that L2 vowel perception or L2 vowel category learning depends on factors such as L2 learners’ target language accent and their overall interlanguage phonological system, as well as the perceived phonetic distance between an L2 sound and its closest L1 counterpart.

Much is known about perceptual category formation in both first and second languages. For example, researchers have demonstrated that in the laboratory listeners are able to form novel perceptual categories after a short period of exposure [e.g., Hayes (2003); Maye & Gerken (2000); Maye & Gerken (2001)]. However, little research has examined how perceptual category formation proceeds in production or how training in one modality affects learning in the other modality. This study systematically manipulates training modality while testing participants in both perception and production. Participants were trained on a novel phonetic category contrast using an implicit learning paradigm [Maye & Gerken (2000); Maye & Gerken (2001)]. Across participants, training either consisted of perception‐only, in which participants did not explicitly produce tokens, or perception+production, in which participants were instructed to explicitly repeat tokens. Participants were tested on their ability to perceive and produce the new contrast before and after training. Perception results demonstrate that the perception‐only training group learns to discriminate the trained contrast. The perception+production training group discriminates less well, suggesting that production training can disrupt perceptual learning. Results of this study will increase understanding of how category formation occurs in both modalities and give insight into the relationship between perception and production.

Flege’s Speech Learning Model posits that adult second language learners retain the abilities of child learners for the perception and formation of novel phonetic categories. For novel categories to be formed, learners must discern at least some of the phonetic differences between the novel L2 and the closest L1 sound. However the model does not fully specify the mechanisms by which learners may come to discern relevant phonetic differences. This paper presents two studies investigating learners’ abilities to attend to novel perceptual dimensions and the effect of attention on discerning phonetic differences. In one study, English, Mandarin, Japanese, and advanced late-learners of Mandarin gave similarity judgments of synthesized tones. Mandarin listeners judged on the basis of both average F0 and F0 slope. English and Japanese listeners did not use slope, whereas advanced Mandarin learners did. This suggests that late-learners can learn to attend to novel perceptual dimensions. In the other study, English monolinguals were grouped into those instructed to attend to Hindi phonetic contrasts and those instructed to attend to sound-meaning correspondences of the same stimuli. For the novel [???-??] contrast, the sound-attending group showed better discrimination post-training. This suggests that with explicit directing of attention, adult learners can better discern novel phonetic contrasts.

Research on the acquisition of L2 phonology in sequential language learners has stressed the importance of language use and input as a means to accurate production and perception; however, the two constructs are difficult to evaluate and control. This study focuses on the role of language use during the initial stages of development of phonetic categories related to stop voicing and analyzes the relationship between production and perception. Native English-speaking late learners of Spanish provided production/perception data on a weekly basis throughout the course of a seven-week immersion program in which L1 use was prohibited. The production/perception data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed effects models. Generalized additive mixed models were used to analyze and compare the learning trajectories of each modality. The analyses revealed phonetic learning in both production and perception over the course of the program. Perception gains paralleled those of native bilinguals by the conclusion of the program and preceded production gains. This study is novel in that it provides production/perception data in a semi-longitudinal design. Moreover, the beginning adult learners are examined in a learning context in which L1 use was minimal and L2 input was maximized. Taken together, the experiments suggest that L2 phonetic category formation can occur abruptly, at an early stage of development, is perceptually driven, and appears to be particularly fragile during the initial stages of learning.

This study examined the role that short-term memory capacity plays in the relationship between novel stimuli (e.g., non-native speech sounds, native nonsense words) and phonetic categories in long-term memory. Thirty native speakers of American English were administered five tests: categorial AXB discrimination using nasal consonants from Malayalam; categorial identification, also using Malayalam nasals, which measured the influence of phonetic categories in long-term memory; digit span; nonword span, a short-term memory measure mediated by phonetic categories in long-term memory; and paired-associate word learning (word–word and word–nonword pairs). The results showed that almost all measures were significantly correlated with one another. The strongest predictor for the discrimination and word–nonword learning results was nonword (r=+0.62) and digit span (r=+0.51), respectively. When the identification test results were partialed out, only nonword span significantly correlated with discrimination. The results show a strong influence of short-term memory capacity on the encoding of phonetic detail within phonetic categories and suggest that long-term memory representations regulate the capacity of short-term memory to preserve information for subsequent encoding. The results of this study will also be discussed with regards to resolving the tension between episodic and abstract models of phonetic category structure.

One of the major tenets of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) is that “if two L2 sounds differ in perceived dissimilarity from the closest sound in the L1 inventory, the more dissimilar of the L2 sounds will manifest the greater amount of learning” (Aoyama et al. 2004:248). Given that certain studies have provided “evidence of greater learning for [®] than [l] by N[ative]J[apanese] learners of English” (2004:246), the SLM hypothesis can only be upheld if English [l] is more similar to Japanese [R] than English [®] is. However, this is clearly counterintuitive since, by most accounts, [R] represents a central flap, [l] a lateral approximant, and [®] a central approximant. In this study, it will be argued that English laterals cannot be more similar to Japanese /r/ than English rhotics are, as the SLM would have it, unless the Japanese sound contains a lateral component such as that which is found in the flap [‰]. As it happens, a number of phoneticians and phonologists have argued that this is indeed the case with Japanese /r/, as will be shown, and this is something that the proponents of the SLM would need to acknowledge if their theoretical stance is to be maintained.

Instruction Type and Online Tasks in the Acquisition of L2 Phonology: Preliminary Findings Christopher G. Botero Abstract This study examines which type of instruction (explicit/implicit) yields target-like second language (L2) phonology. With the incorporation of speech perception exercises outside the classroom and explicit instruction in class, the production of target-like L2 phones is expected. Participants were students of ‘Intermediate Spanish Conversation’ at Penn State University. Tasks targeting coda [l] were completed by all subject groups. Comparative analysis of phonetic data from experimental groups receiving both explicit instruction and online perceptual input shows significant increase in target-like production of less velarized [l] in their L2 Spanish, apart from more accurate discrimination between L1 and L2 sounds. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v3n2a1