Vowel‐inherent spectral change and the second‐language learner.

Abstract

Because vowel inherent spectral change (VISC) is necessary for optimal identification of vowels by native English speakers, learners of English as a second language must acquire relevant information about VISC in order to achieve native-like levels of performance in both perception and production of vowels in English. This chapter reviews studies of both perception and production of VISC by learners of English as a second language, whose first language is Spanish, with either an earlier or later age of immersion in an English speaking environment. In perception, later learners of English appeared to rely more heavily on duration cues than monolinguals and early learners and, in some cases, to be less able to use VISC to discriminate near neighbors in the vowel space. In production, acoustic analyses were performed for American English vowels produced by participants in each group. The data are examined in terms of the degree of separation achieved by each talker group across the course of the vowel, as represented by three time points (20, 50 and 80 % of vowel duration). Additional analyses of productions by the most and least intelligible talkers in each group were used to explore individual talkers’ strategies for using VISC to distinguish neighbor vowels from one another.