Individual differences in the perception of vowels in a second language.

Abstract

Individuals may differ in their ability to learn the sounds of a second language (L2), but the origin of this variability remains uncertain. The present study examined whether individual differences in L2 vowel processing are related to individual differences in L1 vowel and/or nonspeech processing. Greek learners of English were given a large battery of perceptual tests examining their (1) identification of natural Greek vowels in noise, (2) identification and discrimination of synthetic Greek vowels in quiet, (3) identification of natural English vowels in quiet and in noise, (4) identification and discrimination of synthetic English vowels in quiet, and (5) discrimination of a nonspeech (F2 only) continuum in quiet. Preliminary results show a large degree of variability between individuals not only in L2 but also in L1 and nonspeech tasks. However, despite this variability, the participants were consistent in their performance across speech and nonspeech tasks, a finding that supports an auditory acuity rather than a speech‐specific explanation for the individual differences in performance found in the data.