Vowel Dynamics for Polish Learners of English

Abstract

Vowels in most native varieties of English are characterized by dynamic changes in formant frequencies, an acoustic feature that has been found to be crucial for L1 listeners in vowel identification. By contrast, the acoustic realization of vowels in Polish is characterized by more stable formant patters. This paper presents an acoustic and perceptual study investigating the consequences of these differences for Polish learners of English. Acoustic data reveal that learners at a higher level of proficiency produce more robust formant dynamics. A listening test with L1 English listeners revealed that more dynamic vowel realizations are associated with higher ratings on a scale of foreign accentedness. The cross-language differences may be explained from the perspective of the Onset Prominence model, a theory of phonological representation in which certain ‘phonetic details’ may be attributed to phonological parameter settings.