Effect of phonetic training on the perception of English consonants by Greek speakers in quiet and noise conditions

Abstract

The present study employed high-variability phonetic training (multiple words spoken by multiple talkers) to improve the identification of English consonants by native speakers of Greek. The trainees completed five sessions of identification training with feedback for seven English consonants (contrasting voiced vs. voiceless stops and alveolar vs. postalveolar fricatives) each consisting of 198 trials with a different English speaker in each session. Another group of Greek speakers served as controls, i.e., completed the pre/post test but received no training. Pre/post tests included English consonant identification in quiet and noise. In the noise condition, participants identified consonants in the presence of a competing English speaker at a signal-to-noise ratio of -2dB. The results showed that training significantly improved English consonant perception for the group that received training but not for the control group in both quiet and noise. The results add to the existing evidence that supports the effectiveness of the high-variability approach to second-language segmental training.