Does it have to be correct?: The effect of uninformative feedback on non-native phone discrimination

Abstract

Learning the phonetic inventory of a non-native language requires perceptual adjustment to non-native phones that sometimes belong to a single category in the learner’s native language. For example, English native speakers often struggle to learn the distinction between the Hindi phonemes [ʈ] and [t̪] that are both categorized as [t] in American English (AE). Olmstead and Viswanathan (2017) showed that AE listener’s discrimination of these non-native phones could be improved using short exposure to naturally produced Indian English (IE) words that contained the target contrast. In the current study, we examine how feedback affects this lexical retuning effect. Specifically, we set up feedback schedules that either reinforce the consistent mapping of these consonants onto the AE speaker’s existing [t] and [θ], or that reinforce an inconsistent mapping. If the consistency of this mapping in IE is paramount to improving phonetic discrimination, then reinforcing it should strengthen the effect and providing a variable mapping should weaken it. Results suggest that the feedback given to participants did not change the effect on discrimination—discrimination improved whether or not the feedback was consistent. Implications of these findings are discussed.