Abstract
One of the major tenets of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) is that “if two L2 sounds differ in perceived dissimilarity from the closest sound in the L1 inventory, the more dissimilar of the L2 sounds will manifest the greater amount of learning” (Aoyama et al. 2004:248). Given that certain studies have provided “evidence of greater learning for [®] than [l] by N[ative]J[apanese] learners of English” (2004:246), the SLM hypothesis can only be upheld if English [l] is more similar to Japanese [R] than English [®] is. However, this is clearly counterintuitive since, by most accounts, [R] represents a central flap, [l] a lateral approximant, and [®] a central approximant. In this study, it will be argued that English laterals cannot be more similar to Japanese /r/ than English rhotics are, as the SLM would have it, unless the Japanese sound contains a lateral component such as that which is found in the flap [‰]. As it happens, a number of phoneticians and phonologists have argued that this is indeed the case with Japanese /r/, as will be shown, and this is something that the proponents of the SLM would need to acknowledge if their theoretical stance is to be maintained.
Highlights
One of the major tenets of the Speech Learning Model (SLM) is that ―if two L2 sounds differ in perceived dissimilarity from the closest sound in the L1 inventory, the more dissimilar of the L2 sounds will manifest the greater amount of learning‖ (Aoyama et al 2004:248)
It will be argued that English laterals cannot be more similar to Japanese /r/ than English rhotics are, as the SLM would have it, unless the Japanese sound contains a lateral component such as that which is found in the flap [ɺ]
The widespread use of the symbol [ɾ] in cross-linguistic studies to represent the Japanese rhotic consonant gives a vastly oversimplified view of the actual phonetics of this segment,1 one that has the potential of altering some of the predictions that have been put forth regarding its influence on the perception of the English approximants [l] and [ɹ] by Japanese L2 learners of English
Summary
The widespread use of the symbol [ɾ] in cross-linguistic studies to represent the Japanese rhotic consonant gives a vastly oversimplified view of the actual phonetics of this segment, one that has the potential of altering some of the predictions that have been put forth regarding its influence on the perception of the English approximants [l] and [ɹ] by Japanese L2 learners of English. Even though [ɹ] and and [ɾ] are normally considered to be rhotics to the exclusion of [l], they propose that [l] and [ɾ] can be viewed as more similar than [ɹ] and [ɾ] They cite the three following experiments as evidence for this claim: In a study by Takagi (1993), Japanese speakers rated English [l] and [ɹ] tokens in terms of goodness of fit as an instance of Japanese [ɾ] using a scale ranging from 0 ( ̳ ̳not like [ɾ] at all‘‘) to 7 ( ̳ ̳perfect [ɾ]‘‘). The latest IPA consonant chart clearly identifies [ɹ] as an alveolar approximant, which makes this consonant and [ɾ] identical from that viewpoint.3 It is not obvious on what articulatory basis English [l] and Japanese [ɾ] would be more similar than English [ɹ] and Japanese [ɾ] since two phonetic properties separate the first pair while the second pair differs by only one, as shown below: SEGMENT. There is one crucial articulatory commonality not present in [ɾ] that these analyses uniformly agree all speakers share, as will be shown
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