Quantifying fine-scale details of vowel spaces in German language learners

Abstract

Second language learners may be particularly challenged when the new language makes distinctions between sounds that are phonetically equivalent in the speaker's first language. If the distinction occurs between vowels, native speakers and learners should occupy the relevant vowel spaces in different ways. Native speakers’ vowel spaces should show denser, more acoustically separate regions for each vowel. Learners’ spaces should show less consistent, more overlapping spaces. In contrast, when a pair of vowels are phonetically distinct in both languages, there should be little difference between native and learner acoustic spaces. We use a custom formant tracker to quantify the vowel spaces of two native speakers and 6 German language learners.