L2 Vowel Research Articles

Modified Input Training and Cue Reweighting in Second Language Vowel Perception

Many studies have shown that the High Variability Phonetic Training method can help L2 learners acquire nonnative phoneme contrasts. However, few studies have explored how this paradigm can work using modified input. We investigate L1 Mandarin learners of English as a foreign language and their perception of the tense/lax [i]/[ɪ] contrast. Mandarin learners rely on durational (rather than spectral) cues to distinguish these L2 vowels. In an ABX discrimination task, the experimental group was trained using both natural and synthesized stimuli whose vowels had been systematically lengthened or shortened thus removing the reliability of the durational cue. The control group was trained using natural stimuli only. The pre- and post-tests were identification tasks. An ANCOVA comparing the pre- and post-test identification accuracy revealed that the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group. The modified durational input allows participants to re-weight their processing cues and attend to spectral differences.

Effects of L1 Inventory Size and L2 Experience on L2 Speech Perception: Evidence From Canadian English and Mandarin Learners of Korean

ABSTRACT This article examines the effects of native language (L1) phoneme inventory size and second language (L2) learning experience on adult learners’ perception of L2 sounds. Perception experiments compared the Korean vowel and coda identification accuracy of 28 English- and 28 Mandarin-speaking learners differing in their amount of university-level Korean language experience. The results showed that the English-speaking learners, whose L1 has a rich vowel and coda inventory, were better at identifying both Korean vowels and coda consonants compared to the Mandarin-speaking learners, who have a relatively small L1 vowel and coda inventory. These findings suggest that learners with a larger phoneme inventory have an advantage in the perception of L2 segments. In the case of L2 experience, results from segment identification tasks were less conclusive. Learners who had more L2 experience (i.e., more experience with the Korean language at a university level) performed better only in the vowel identification task compared to learners with less L2 experience. Results also showed no significant difference between more experienced versus less experienced learners in the case of coda identification. These outcomes indicate that learners’ L2 identification accuracy is influenced by the amount of their L2 experience but the presence and degree of this effect can differ depending on the type of L2 segment regardless of L1.

Real-time visual acoustic feedback in computer-assisted pronunciation training

Previous research on visualization of speech segments for pronunciation training suggests that such learning results in improved segmental production (e.g., Katrushina et al., 2015; Olson, 2014; Patten & Edmonds, 2015). However, investigation into real-time formant visualization for L2 vowel production training has been limited to either training a single or a pair of vowels (Carey, 2004; Sakai, 2016) and to examination of improvement on trained items only (Katrushina et al., 2015). This project investigates the effects of real-time formant visualization on production training for eight L2 vowels in trained and untrained environments as well as spontaneous speech. L2 learners (n = 11) participated in nine 30-minute training sessions, during which they used a formant visualization system to practice their vowel production. A control group (n = 8) was involved in audio-only vowel production training. Pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test design was used, and pronunciation improvement was analyzed acoustically using Mahalanobis distance and mixed-effects modeling. The use of real-time visual acoustic feedback resulted in retained improvement in vowel quality in both trained and untrained items than audio-only training. Spontaneous speech was not improved. The findings suggest that this system could be used as an effective pedagogical tool for L2 learners.

Acoustic influence of L1 Spanish on L2 English vowel production

The strength of influence of the L1 vowel inventory on L2 vowel acquisition is well-documented: learners who identify an L2 phoneme as belonging to an L1 category may fail to establish a distinct category for the new phoneme (Flege, 2002), while those who establish a new category for an L2 vowel may ultimately exhibit more native-like pronunciation (Bohn & Flege, 1992). In learning an L2 with many more vowel categories than the L1, as Spanish-English bilinguals must, speaker-specific category assimilation and discrimination are important contributors to the level of accentedness and intelligibility. This study examines the influence of L1 vowels on L2 production via formants and duration of stressed and unstressed L1 Spanish/L2 English vowels. Ten advanced Spanish-English bilinguals completed a shadowing task in both languages, producing five vowels from each language in various target words. Examined in the aggregate, most vowels remained spectrally distinct along both the F1 and F2 dimensions, with a few categories collapsed across one dimension or the other; unstressed vowels raised in both languages, but raised further in English than Spanish. However, interspeaker differences in the patterns of category assimilation necessitate an individual analysis, highlighting the high level of variation in acquisition across individuals.

Change in pitch and voice quality of L2 speakers of English as a function of similarity between their L1 and English

Bilingual speakers sometimes change their pitch and voice quality when they switch from one language to the other. For example, when speaking in L2 rather than L1, German learners of French pronounce vowels with less adduction of the vocal folds (Pützer et al., 2016), and Korean learners of English with a lower pitch (Cheng, 2020). Here, I present a corpus study which suggests that the extent to which L2 learners of English change their pitch and voice quality may depend on how similar their L1 is to English. I extracted 68 211 vowels—51 857 in L1 and 16 354 in L2—from 1617 speakers with 21 different L1 backgrounds (including English) in the CSLU: 22 Languages Corpus and measured F0, harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), and H1i–H2 for each vowel. I then computed two cluster distances for each L1 and for each measure: (1) vowels from the native English speakers versus L1 vowels from the learners and (2) L1 vowels versus L2 vowels from the learners. I found strong correlations between (1) and (2): r = 0.416 for F0 (p = 0.068), r = 0.531 for HNR (p = 0.016), and r = 0.374 for H1–H2 (p = 0.105).

L1 phonological effects on L2 (non-)naïve perception: A cross-language investigation of the oral–nasal vowel contrast in Brazilian Portuguese

Feature-based approaches to acquisition principally focus on second language (L2) learners’ ability to perceive non-native consonants when the features required are either contrastively present or entirely absent from the first language (L1) grammar. As features may function contrastively or allophonically in the consonant and/or vowel systems of a language, we expand the scope of this research to address whether features that function contrastively in the L1 vowel system can be recombined to yield new vowels in the L2; whether features that play a contrastive role in the L1 consonant system can be reassigned to build new vowels in the L2; and whether L1 allophonic features can be ‘elevated’ to contrastive status in the L2. We examine perception of the oral–nasal contrast in Brazilian Portuguese listeners from French, English, Caribbean Spanish, and non-Caribbean Spanish backgrounds, languages that differ in the status assigned to [nasal] in their vowel systems. An AXB discrimination task revealed that, although all language groups succeeded in perceiving the non-naïve contrast /e/–/ẽ/ due to their previous exposure to Québec French while living in Montréal, Canada, only French and Caribbean Spanish speakers succeeded in discriminating the naïve contrast /i/–/ĩ/. These findings suggest that feature redeployment at first exposure is only possible if the feature is contrastive in the L1 vowel system (French) or if the feature is allophonic but variably occurs in contrastive contexts in the L1 vowel system (Caribbean Spanish). With more exposure to a non-native contrast, however, feature redeployment from consonant to vowel systems was also supported, as was the possibility that allophonic features may be elevated to contrastive status in the L2.

The Pronunciation of English Low Vowels by Iraqi EFL Learners: An Intralingual Analysis

Iraqi EFL learners of English are reported to show accented pronunciation on the segmental level, which might affect their speech intelligibility. This study aimed to identify problems encountered by Iraqi EFL learners in the production of English low vowels and account for them from an intralingual perspective. The study also aimed to identify the effect of Iraqis' English language proficiency level on their pronunciation of English low vowels. Thus, learners were divided into beginners and advanced groups to determine differences between them based on their proficiency level in English. A production test was conducted to identify error patterns of twenty Iraqi EFL learners in producing low vowels. Learners’ recordings were acoustically analysed to validate the difficulties identified via the production test. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to identify any significant differences in performance for the two groups. The results showed that learners encountered problems in the production of low vowels, especially /ɒ/, /æ/ and /ʌ/. The study concluded that these problems are probably ascribed to the complexities of the L2 vowel space, where vowels are close to each other and thus difficult to produce. Significant differences were identified between the two groups in terms of error means. Nonetheless, the comparison between the vowel chart obtained in this study and the charts offered in previous studies revealed that Iraqi EFL learners are still far from attaining approximant pronunciation. This requires reconsidering current texts, methodologies, and techniques used in teaching English pronunciation to allocate more attention to spectral differences among vowels. Keywords Low vowels production; Iraqi EFL learners; intralingual analysis; error patterns; acoustic analysis

How Do Speakers of a Language with a Transparent Orthographic System Perceive the L2 Vowels of a Language with an Opaque Orthographic System? An Analysis through a Battery of Behavioral Tests

Background: The present study aims to investigate the effect of the first language (L1) orthography on the perception of the second language (L2) vowel contrasts and whether orthographic effects occur at the sublexical level. Methods: Fourteen adult Greek learners of English participated in two AXB discrimination tests: one auditory and one orthography test. In the auditory test, participants listened to triads of auditory stimuli that targeted specific English vowel contrasts embedded in nonsense words and were asked to decide if the middle vowel was the same as the first or the third vowel by clicking on the corresponding labels. The orthography test followed the same procedure as the auditory test, but instead, the two labels contained grapheme representations of the target vowel contrasts. Results: All but one vowel contrast could be more accurately discriminated in the auditory than in the orthography test. The use of nonsense words in the elicitation task eradicated the possibility of a lexical effect of orthography on auditory processing, leaving space for the interpretation of this effect on a sublexical basis, primarily prelexical and secondarily postlexical. Conclusions: L2 auditory processing is subject to L1 orthography influence. Speakers of languages with transparent orthographies such as Greek may rely on the grapheme–phoneme correspondence to decode orthographic representations of sounds coming from languages with an opaque orthographic system such as English.

Interplay between perceived cross-linguistic similarity and L2 production

Abstract The present study aims to investigate the relationship between perceived cross-linguistic similarity and second language (L2) production. To this purpose, Egyptian Arabic learners of Greek in Cyprus who took part in a previous cross-linguistic perceptual study, completed a production test with respect to the Cypriot Greek vowels. The findings showed that perceived cross-linguistic similarity was linked with L2 production since along with the consideration of first language (L1)-L2 acoustic differences, it predicted most of the L2 vowel productions. Also, many L2 vowels were considerably longer than the corresponding L1 vowels. This can be interpreted as an L1 transfer since Egyptian Arabic vowels are longer in duration than the Cypriot Greek vowels. An interesting finding was that the production of the L2 vowels had only partial overlap with the productions of the L1 vowels, a finding that provides support for the hypotheses of the Speech Learning Model.

Musical Hearing and Musical Experience in Second Language English Vowel Acquisition.

Purpose Former studies suggested that music perception can help produce certain accentual features in the first and second language (L2), such as intonational contours. What was missing in many of these studies was the identification of the exact relationship between specific music perception skills and the production of different accentual features in a foreign language. Our aim was to verify whether empirically tested musical hearing skills can be related to the acquisition of English vowels by learners of English as an L2 before and after a formal accent training course. Method Fifty adult Polish speakers of L2 English were tested before and after a two-semester accent training in order to observe the effect of musical hearing on the acquisition of English vowels. Their L2 English vowel formant contours produced in consonant-vowel-consonant context were compared with the target General British vowels produced by their pronunciation teachers. We juxtaposed these results with their musical hearing test scores and self-reported musical experience to observe a possible relationship between successful L2 vowel acquisition and musical aptitude. Results Preexisting rhythmic memory was reported as a significant predictor before training, while musical experience was reported as a significant factor in the production of more native-like L2 vowels after training. We also observed that not all vowels were equally acquired or affected by musical hearing or musical experience. The strongest estimate we observed was the closeness to model before training, suggesting that learners who already managed to acquire some features of a native-like accent were also more successful after training. Conclusions Our results are revealing in two aspects. First, the learners' former proficiency in L2 pronunciation is the most robust predictor in acquiring a native-like accent. Second, there is a potential relationship between rhythmic memory and L2 vowel acquisition before training, as well as years of musical experience after training, suggesting that specific musical skills and music practice can be an asset in learning a foreign language accent.

Longitudinal Developments in Bilingual Second Language Acquisition and First Language Attrition of Speech: The Case of Arnold Schwarzenegger

The purpose of this investigation was to trace first (L1) and second language (L2) segmental speech development in the Austrian German–English late bilingual Arnold Schwarzenegger over a period of 40 years, which makes it the first study to examine a bilingual’s speech development over several decades in both their languages. To this end, acoustic measurements of voice onset time (VOT) durations of word-initial plosives (Study 1) and formant frequencies of the first and second formant of Austrian German and English monophthongs (Study 2) were conducted using speech samples collected from broadcast interviews. The results of Study 1 showed a merging of Schwarzenegger’s German and English voiceless plosives in his late productions as manifested in a significant lengthening of VOT duration in his German plosives, and a shortening of VOT duration in his English plosives, closer to L1 production norms. Similar findings were evidenced in Study 2, revealing that some of Schwarzenegger’s L1 and L2 vowel categories had moved closer together in the course of L2 immersion. These findings suggest that both a bilingual’s first and second language accent is likely to develop and reorganize over time due to dynamic interactions between the first and second language system.

English vowel perception by non-native speakers: impact of audio and visual training modalities

Perception of sounds of a second language (L2) presents difficulties for non-native speakers which can be improved with training (Bradlow, Pisoni, Akahane-Yamada & Tohkura, 1997; Logan, Lively & Pisoni, 1991; Iverson & Evans, 2009). The aim of this study was to compare three different English vowel perceptual training programmes using audio (A), audiovisual (AV) and video (V) modes in non-native speakers with Spanish as native language (L1). 47 learners of English with Spanish as L1 were allocated to three different vowel training groups (AT, AVT, VT) and were given five training sessions to assess their improvement in English vowel perception. Additionally, participants were recorded before and after training to measure their improvement in the production of English vowels. Results showed that participants improved their perception and production of English vowels regardless of their training modality with no evidence of a benefit of visual information. These results also suggest that there is a lot of individual differences in perception and production of L2 vowels which may be related to a complex relation between speech perceptual and production mechanisms.

Identification of English vowels by non-native listeners: Effects of listeners’ experience of the target dialect and talkers’ language background

This study investigates how second language (L2) listeners’ perception is affected by two factors: the listeners’ experience with the target dialect – North American English (NAE) vs. Standard Southern British English (SSBE) – and talkers’ language background: native vs. non-native talkers; i.e. interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit (ISIB) talker effects. Two groups of native-Korean-speaking listeners with different target English dialects – L1-Korean listeners of English as a second language (ESL) in the USA and L1-Korean ESL listeners in the UK – were tested on the identification of 12 English vowels spoken by native and non-native (L1-Korean) talkers of NAE and SSBE. The results show that the L2 listeners’ experience with the target dialect had a significant impact on the accuracy of their identification of the L2 vowels. However, no ISIB-talker effects were observed for the L1-Korean listener groups regardless of the listeners’ differences in experience with the two varieties of English. The study adds to the L2 sound acquisition literature and the ISIB literature by looking into L2 learners’ identification of L2 vowels, taking into account the learners’ differences in experience with two standard varieties of English (NAE and SSBE) and the interaction between the learners’ experience with the two varieties and ISIB-talker effects. It also sheds some light on the issue of adult L2 learners’ ability to learn the vowels of a new target variety.

Phonetic interaction between late Japanese-English bilinguals' L1 and L2 vowels—A longitudinal study

We investigated late bilinguals' (N = 31) change in their production and perception of the L1 Japanese vowel /i/ and its phonetically associated L2 vowel /i/ and /I/ over one year. The perceptual boundaries between both English /i/-/I/ and Japanese /i/-/e/ were examined through identification tasks. Participants' production of the high front vowels was also analyzed. More than half of the participants exhibited evidence of separating English and Japanese high front vowels from each other in production. Participants who seemed to use similar F1-F2 values for these vowels still tended to separate them. The perception task results showed a perceptual boundary shift in bilinguals' L1 Japanese after one year. That is, they identified more tokens as /i/ than /e/ in /i/-/e/ continuum. This phenomenon was also observed when comparing bilinguals to Japanese monolingual controls. We argue that this change in L1 perception stems from learning a new L2 phonetic category /I/ and associating it with a similar L1 /i/. Individual differences in bilinguals' relative language use and exposure were also examined as potential factors driving changes in perception and production of Japanese/English high front vowels.

The relation between category compactness and L2 VOT learning

L1 and L2 category compactness have been reported to correlate with L2 vowel pronunciation accuracy in advanced intermediate learners (Kartushina and Frauenfelder, 2014). However, it is not clear whether category compactness is an effect of L2 learning, or whether it is an individual characteristic that might predict aspects of L2 learning. Holliday (2015) suggests that more variable VOT categories early in L2 learning may facilitate acquisition of new L2 VOT patterns. We tested relationships between L1 and L2 category compactness and L2 pronunciation progress for voiceless stops, in ten L1 English-L2 Spanish learners over the course of one semester of early Spanish courses. We found that lower L2 Spanish VOT correlated with higher voiceless VOT standard deviation at the end of the semester for all but the absolute beginners (R2 = 0.6256, F(1,5) = 37.75, p = 0.004). Thus, for early learners, as production improves, L2 categories may expand. In addition, L1 English voiceless stop VOT category compactness at beginning of term correlated with L2 Spanish VOT accuracy at end of term for all learners (R2 = 0.6798, F(1,9) = 17.0, p = 0.003), suggesting that L1 category compactness may reflect individual properties that influence progress in L2 learning.

Real-time visual acoustic feedback for non-native vowel production training

Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) software which include visual feedback have shown potential for second language (L2) learning (Mehta & Katz, 2018). However, real-time formant visualization has yet to be used for L2 learners' production of speech sounds. This project investigates the effects of real-time formant visualization on L2 vowel production training. First, a vowel visualization system is presented. In contrast with other similar tools which use a regression approach (Frostel et al., 2011), this real-time formant (F1 and F2) extraction is performed using the Parselmouth library (Jadoul et al., 2018), which then uses Praat's formant extraction algorithm (Gray & Wong, 1980) to ensure accuracy. Then, the results from a preliminary user study are reported. L2 learners (n = 5) participated in six 30-min training sessions, during which they used the system to practice their production of eight vowels. Pronunciation accuracy was analyzed by calculating Mahalanobis distances between participants' productions (produced in pre-test and post-test) and native exemplars. The analysis of this preliminary dataset showed that the use of real-time visual acoustic feedback resulted in L2 vowel production improvement, which suggests that this system could, therefore, be used as a pedagogical tool for L2 learners.

Vocabulary Size Leads to Better Attunement to L2 Phonetic Differences: Clues from Russian Learners of English

ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that an increased second language (L2) vocabulary size leads to better attunement to the cues required to distinguish L2 contrastive phones. This has been the central tenet of the vocabulary-tuning model (vocab) on the basis of evidence by Japanese learners of English in Australia. We aim to test the validity of the aforementioned hypothesis by extending the research for learners with a different first language (L1) background and learners who do not have naturalistic access to the L2 input (i.e., learn the L2 through a controlled foreign classroom setting). To this purpose, 28 Russian speakers, who were learning English in Russia at the time, participated in two psychoacoustic tests in which they were asked to assimilate L2 vowels to their L1 phonological system and discriminate vowel contrasts respectively. The participants were divided into two groups according to their vocabulary size in English; comprising the small vocabulary (SV) and the high vocabulary (HV) groups. The results showed that the HV group demonstrated similar assimilation scores to the SV group. However, the HV group was able to perceive within-category differences and more accurately discriminate specific pairs of English vowel contrasts in comparison to the SV group. The findings are partially consistent with the central hypothesis of the Perceptual Assimilation Model-L2 and the vocab model as the expansion of L2 vocabulary was linked with better attunement to phonetic differences in the L2. Another important finding is that a more developed vocabulary results in fine-tuning to L2 phonetic differences, even in a restricted L2 learning setting [work supported by the “RUDN University Program 5–100”].

Vowel learning in diglossic settings: Evidence from Arabic-Greek learners

Aim and questions:Second language learners are often acquiring a second language (L2) in multilingual and bidialectal sociolinguistic environments. The competing pronunciations can be challenging to language learners. This study aims to determine the effects of language variety—standard variety versus local variety—on L2 vowel learning.Methodology:Vowel productions from 55 speakers were analyzed in the study; 10 speakers of Egyptian Arabic were recorded in a reading task producing Greek vowels and their vowel productions were compared to L1 vowel productions produced by 20 Standard Modern Greek and 25 Cypriot Greek speakers from a study by Themistocleous.Data and analysis:We conducted linear mixed effects models and tested the effects of language variety, vowel, and stress on the first and second formant frequency and on vowel duration.Findings:Egyptian Arabic speakers merge the middle Greek vowels /e/ and /o/ and the high /i/ and /u/ vowels. Also, they did not differentiate phonetically between L2 stressed and unstressed vowels. These findings are arguably an effect of the L1 vowel structure on L2 vowels. The two varieties exercised competing effects on learners’ vowel productions, which suggests that both varieties are influencing vowel learning.Originality:There has been substantial research on L2 vowel learning in monolingual environments but not in diglossic environments; this study fills this gap by offering evidence about vowel learning in diglossic environments.Implications:In modern societies, communication takes place in multilingual environments. The findings highlight the impact of diglossia on L2 vowel learning and, ultimately, they demonstrate the importance of sociolinguistic factors on L2 learning.

The impact of L2-learning experience and target dialect on predicting English vowel identification using Korean vowel categories

Park and de Jong (2008, 2017) reported that their L1-based model predicted the identification of English consonants with Korean analogues quite successfully while error rates for those without Korean analogues were systematically greater than the model predicted, and Lee and Cho (2018) obtained similar results for English vowels. However, Park and de Jong (2008, 2017) and Lee and Cho (2018) examined only L1-Korean inexperienced EFL listeners’ identification of English consonants or vowels. English vowels such as /æ-a/ (bat), /ɝ-ɜ/ (Burt), and /ɑ-ɒ/ (stop) exhibit dialect differences between North American English (NAE) and Standard Southern British English (SSBE), but few researchers have examined Korean second language (L2) listeners’ perceptions of English vowels in regional dialects other than NAE. The current study was an investigation of the degree to which the L1-based model predicts L1-Korean experienced L2 listeners’ identification of NAE and SSBE vowels based on the predictions that experienced L2 listeners are less likely to use L1 (first language) categories in L2 vowel identification than are inexperienced L2 listeners and that even experienced L2 listeners might use L1 categories when identifying L2 vowels in a less familiar English dialect. Korean listeners with different lengths of residence (LOR) in the United States (long: 11.1 years vs. short: 4 years) and with limited experience with British English completed English vowel identification and English-Korean vowel mapping tasks. The results show that the L1-based model predicted only the short-LOR listeners’ identification of NAE and SSBE vowels rather accurately, indicating the effect of L2-learning experience. The model also more accurately predicted the short-LOR listeners’ identification of SSBE vowels relative to NAE vowels, showing that the impact of the amount of L2 learning-experience decreased with a less familiar dialect. When the listeners’ goodness ratings of the category mapping were considered, the predictive power of the model weakened. Further, the new-similar distinction for L2 English vowels vis-à-vis L1-Korean may be gradient, and the new-similar distinction is variable depending on L2-learning experiences.

Pola Sebutan Monoftong Bahasa Jerman oleh Penutur Bahasa Melayu

This study investigates the pronunciation of German monophthongs (L3) by Malay speakers. It also compares the way the L3 monophthongs are produced with the monophthongs produced in Standard Malay (L1) and English (L2) to examine if there are any similarities in the way that equivalent vowels are produced. A total of 10 female Malay speakers who were learning German were recorded reading aloud carrier sentences containing the target vowels in a /bVd/ and a /bVt/ context in all three languages. All these speakers also speak English as a second language. Based on the formant frequency model, the first (L1) and second (L2) formants of the target monophthongs were measured. The duration of the vowels was also measured. Scatter plots of the vowels were also generated to enable comparison among similar sets of vowels within and among the three languages within the context of L3 acquisition. The findings suggest that speakers tend to produce equivalent vowels with similar acoustic properties, whilst tending to collapse “new” ones in the L3 to neighbouring L1 or L2 vowels. The findings from this study contribute to the growing area of L3 acquisition research.