Reaction time of Japanese listeners to retroflex and bunched /r/pronunciation by native English speakers

Abstract

In this study, we focus on Japanese learners’ reaction time (RT) to retroflex and bunched pronunciation of /r/ in English words spoken by native English speakers. In junior high school, Japanese students generally learn only retroflex pronunciation of /r/. If there is a strong link between production and perception, we would expect those students to be able to perceive retroflex /r/ faster than bunched /r/. We carried out a forced-choice RT experiment for 30 native Japanese listeners and 4 native English controls. This experiment used 2 speakers’ voices (both Canadian English) and 9 minimal pairs of /r/ and /l/ words. Stimuli were spoken words and picture-pairs (two simultaneously presented in each trial). Listeners had to identify the spoken word by choosing the left or right picture. As a result, we could measure whether it is easier to perceive sounds pronounced the same way you speak or not. From the results, we found that the RTs for retroflex and bunched pronunciation of English words spoken by nati...