Abstract
Experiment 1 investigates to what degree the phonetic category established in childhood for an L1 sound may evolve gradually [Flege, Speech Learning Model (1995)]. VOT is assessed in two groups of five bilingual (English and Japanese) speakers, one L1 English and the other L1 Japanese, ages 35–60 with little or no L2 exposure before age 15, but working in the L2 regularly for 15–35 years in adulthood. Both groups read lists of English and Japanese words containing word initial /p/, /t/, and /k/; 880 tokens (10 speakers × 2 languages × 44 tokens per language) were examined. The findings for both groups were that (a) the L1 VOT values did not change much over time and (b) the L2 VOT values were halfway between the L1 and target language values. Experiment 2 investigates the relationship between individual VOT and accent. The ten speakers were asked to read five Japanese sentences, now digitized. Ten additional L1 Japanese participants will rate these sentences for accent in March 2004. The prediction is that the American speakers who have the most Japanese accents will also have VOT values that are closest to L1 Japanese values.
Published Version
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