English vowel training with different first-language vowel systems

Abstract

This study examined whether native speakers of Spanish and German learn differently when given auditory training for English vowels. Spanish has fewer vowels (5) than does German (18). Spanish speakers thus need to acquire more vowel categories when learning English than do Germans, but the relative sparseness of the Spanish vowel space may actually facilitate learning (i.e., there is more room for new categories). Prior to training, the Spanish and German speakers were matched between groups in terms of their English vowel identification accuracy. Each subject completed a battery of pre/post-training tests (e.g., English vowel identification in quiet and noise; perceptual mapping of best exemplars) and were given five sessions of high-variability vowel identification training. The results demonstrated that the German subjects improved more in their English vowel identification accuracy (average 20 percentage-point improvement) than did the Spanish subjects (average ten percentage-point improvement). It appears that, rather than interfering with new learning, the relatively dense German vowel space facilitated the formation of new vowel categories, perhaps by making German speakers more sensitive overall to categorical distinctions.