Discrimination of native and non-native vowel contrasts in bilingual Turkish–German and monolingual German children: Insight from the Mismatch Negativity ERP component

Abstract

The development of native-like memory traces for foreign phonemes can be measured by using the Mismatch Negativity (MMN), a component of the auditory event-related potential. Previous studies have shown that the MMN is sensitive to changes in neural organization depending on language experience. Here we measured the MMN response in 5–6 year-old monolingual German and bilingual Turkish–German kindergarten children growing up in Germany. MMN was investigated to a German vowel contrast and to a vowel contrast that exists in Turkish and in German. The results show that compared to a German control group, the MMN response is less robust in Turkish–German children to the German vowel contrast. The response to the contrast that exists in both languages does not differ between groups. Overall, the results suggest that the Turkish–German children have not yet fully acquired the German phonetic inventory despite living in Germany since birth and being immersed in a German-speaking environment.