Abstract
AbstractThe acquisition of a second language (L2) may be challenging in adulthood, as the phonological system of the native language (L1) can sometimes limit the perception of phonological contrasts in L2. The present study aimed to (a) examine the influence of an L1 (Hebrew) that lacks a phonemic contrast for vowel length on the ability to discriminate between short and long vowels in L2 (Arabic); and (b) assess the effect of a short training on the participants’ discrimination performance. A total of 60 participants, 20 native Arabic speakers and 40 native Hebrew speakers, were tested using the ABX procedure in two sessions that were 10 days apart. A single training session was provided for half of the Hebrew speakers (n = 20) approximately 2–3 days after the first (pretraining) testing session. The results indicated that the trained Hebrew participants’ discrimination levels (measured by accuracy and reaction times) were above chance level but were nevertheless lower in comparison to the Arabic speakers. However, a short training session was sufficient to yield a nativelike performance that generalized to untrained nonwords. These findings support the theoretical models that predict a reserved ability to acquire new phonetic/phonological cues in L2 and have important practical implications for the process of learning a new phonological system in adulthood.
Highlights
The ability to speak several languages is becoming ever more important in the modern global community
The participants were divided to three groups: (a) the “Hebrew training” group, which included 20 native Hebrew speakers (M = 26.6 ± 2.96 years); (b) the “Hebrew control” group, which comprised a separate set of 20 native Hebrew speakers (M = 26.15 ± 2.37 years); and (c) the “Arabic control” group, which included 20 native Arabic speakers (M = 23.8 ± 1.46 years)
Performance of the Hebrew speakers was lower in comparison to the native Arabic speakers (M = 81.8 SD = 4.5)
Summary
The ability to speak several languages is becoming ever more important in the modern global community. Adults are required to learn a second language after their native language has already molded their phonetic/phonological perceptual abilities. Research on the perception of nonnative contrasts suggests that the phonological system of the native language affects the nonnative perception of consonants (Escudero & Williams, 2011; Tyler et al, 2014). The purpose of the present study was to examine native Hebrew speakers’ discrimination of short and long vowel contrasts of spoken Arabic before and after a single training session. Their vowel contrast discrimination was compared to that of native Arabic speakers
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