English Vowels Research Articles

L2 English Learners Perception of English Diphthong /u/ and Chinese Pinyin (wo) /uo/ (nest) in Phonetic Contexts

Abstract: In English phonetics instruction, vowels often present challenges for second language learners. The articulation of vowel is complex and can be difficult for learners to be accurately grasped, making it hard for them to perceive the precise where English vowels are produced. Additionally, the vowel systems of English and Chinese differ significantly. Native Chinese speakers have internalized the Chinese vowel system, leading to pronunciation patterns that do not easily align with those of English. This paper examines the differences between the vowel systems of the two languages and the extent to which second language learners perceive specific vowels through a literature review. The findings suggest that the collected research on English and Chinese vowel system differences will serve as a valuable foundation for the upcoming experiment on the comparison and perception of the diphthongs /u/ and /uo/. Furthermore, the review finds that conducting experiments on the perception of diphthongs with native Chinese speakers can provide valuable insights for further development in bilingual classrooms of second language learning.

Vowel qualities in monosyllabic words in Namibian English

This study investigated how Namibian English speakers produce vowel qualities in controlled speech. Participants were 14 proficient Namibian English speakers, who produced monosyllabic English CVC words, presented in orthographic form. The first and second formant values were extracted from the speakers’ productions to determine the vowel qualities in each word. The formant values produced by the Namibian English speakers were then compared to those produced by nine British English speakers, obtained from a previous study, in order to examine how Namibian English vowel qualities relate to British English vowel categories. The results showed a great deal of variation and overlap in the Namibian vowel categories, particularly in the close front vowels and open and close back vowels. This resulted in the formation of five to six clusters of vowel qualities. This is likely an effect of the varied linguistic backgrounds of the participants. Furthermore, the Namibian English vowels differed significantly from most British English vowels, especially in the F2 formant. Some commonalities with earlier research into Namibian English vowel qualities was found in the fronting, backing and mergers of some vowel categories.

The role of L1-dialect in L2 production

Abstract This study compared the productions of American English (AE) vowels /i/, /u/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, /ɪ/, /æ/, /ʊ/, /ʌ/, and /ɑ/ between speakers of two Chinese dialects, the Leshan dialect (LSd) and the Xining dialect (XNd). The participants were native speakers of XNd (n = 120) and LSd (n = 120) with advanced English proficiency. Their vowel productions were compared with those of 22 native AE speakers. The results showed that (1) XNd and LSd participants significantly differed in F1 and/or F2 from AE participants when producing /ɪ/, /æ/, /ʌ/, and /ʊ/ and /ɪ/, /ɑ/, /ɔ/, and /ʌ/, respectively; (2) compared with AE participants, XNd participants had significantly longer durations of /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /ʌ/, /ɛ/, and /æ/, and LSd participants had significantly longer durations of /ɪ/, /ʌ/, and /ɛ/. Overall, the vowels that differed in production from that of native speakers were absent in both the L1 dialects and L1 of participants.

Dynamic acoustic vowel distances within and across dialects.

Vowels vary in their acoustic similarity across regional dialects of American English, such that some vowels are more similar to one another in some dialects than others. Acoustic vowel distance measures typically evaluate vowel similarity at a discrete time point, resulting in distance estimates that may not fully capture vowel similarity in formant trajectory dynamics. In the current study, language and accent distance measures, which evaluate acoustic distances between talkers over time, were applied to the evaluation of vowel category similarity within talkers. These vowel category distances were then compared across dialects, and their utility in capturing predicted patterns of regional dialect variation in American English was examined. Dynamic time warping of mel-frequency cepstral coefficients was used to assess acoustic distance across the frequency spectrum and captured predicted Southern American English vowel similarity. Root-mean-square distance and generalized additive mixed models were used to assess acoustic distance for selected formant trajectories and captured predicted Southern, New England, and Northern American English vowel similarity. Generalized additive mixed models captured the most predicted variation, but, unlike the other measures, do not return a single acoustic distance value. All three measures are potentially useful for understanding variation in vowel category similarity across dialects.

Training Child Learners on Nonnative Vowel Contrasts With Phonetic Training: The Role of Task and Variability

AbstractSubstantial research suggests that high variability (multitalker) phonetic training helps second language (L2) adults improve differentiation of challenging nonnative speech sounds. Is such training also useful for L2 children? Existing studies have mixed findings and important limitations. We investigate the potential benefits of computerized phonetic training for 50 Dutch 7‐year‐olds and 39 11‐year‐olds trained on English vowel contrasts in a 2‐week study in a classroom setting. Half received multitalker, and half received single‐talker input (i.e., high variability vs. low variability; HV vs. LV), with learning evaluated by a battery of tests. Both groups improved in training; however, 11‐year‐olds improved more. Moreover, 11‐year‐olds showed generalization to novel talkers, and 7‐year‐olds did not, with Bayes factor analyses providing evidence for the null. Generalisation in 11‐year‐olds was no greater following HV than LV input, with evidence for the null on one of two tasks where generalization was found. Results are discussed in terms of the interplay between age, task demands, and talker variability.

English Vowel Perception in Spanish-English Bilingual Preschoolers: Multiple-Talker Input Is Only Beneficial for Children With High Language Exposure Levels.

This study examines English vowel perception in Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers, comparing bilinguals' perception patterns to those of monolinguals and examining how child internal (age) and external variables (input quantity and input diversity) predict perceptual performance. Sixty children between 3;6 and 5;6 (years;months) of age participated in the study, 28 of whom were Spanish-English bilinguals and 32 English monolinguals. Perception was assessed through a forced-choice minimal-pair identification task in which children heard synthesized audio stimuli (i.e., "sheep" and "ship") that varied systematically along the /i-ɪ/ continuum and were asked to match them with one of two pictures. The data were analyzed with Bayesian mixed-effects logistic regression analyses, modeling responses as a function of continuum step, language background (monolingual or bilingual), age, English exposure (i.e., input quantity), and number of English input providers (i.e., input diversity). The results indicate that, despite displaying nonnative English stop voicing perception in a previous study, the same bilingual children showed English /i-ɪ/ perception patterns that did not differ from those of monolinguals. While age did not predict vowel perception, input quantity and diversity jointly interacted to moderate how well children perceived the /i-ɪ/ contrast. Specifically, diverse input promoted perceptual performance in children who received high levels of English exposure-and who presumably had more advanced English language skills, whereas it limited perceptual performance in children with more limited English exposure and skills. This study shows that bilingual children can show monolingual-like perception patterns for some sounds while displaying nontarget perception for others. This is the first study to demonstrate that language exposure mediates the role of input diversity on speech sound development, suggesting that varied input can be more or less beneficial for speech sound development based on the learner's language learning stage.

Production of English vowel duration by multilingual speakers of Namibian English

Production of English vowel duration by multilingual speakers of Namibian English

Greek-Cypriot learners’ perception and production of L2 English vowels

Acquiring L2 segments is particularly challenging for L2 learners, especially when the L1 and L2 inventories involve different contrasts and acoustic cues. The present research investigated the perception and production of L2 English vowels by adult Greek-Cypriot learners and examined the effects of orthographic cues and consonantal context in their performance. Perceptual performance was assessed through a forced-choice identification task and production performance through a wordlist-reading and an elicitation task, both analyzed acoustically and through intelligibility ratings. The findings showed the influence of the L1 on both the perception and production of L2 segments, supporting the assumptions of current models of speech perception and production. Learners faced challenges in perceiving the members of L2 contrasts and mostly used their L1 articulatory routines in their productions of L2 vowels. Orthographic cues or consonantal context did not significantly affect learners’ productions or overall perception, although strong contextual effects were observed in individual target vowels. This study is the first to provide an in-depth comparison of CYG and English vowels as well as an examination of the acquisition of L2 English vowels by this population, which can guide EFL teachers and course developers in developing appropriate EFL curricula that incorporate pronunciation instruction.

Factors influencing vowel adaptation in English loanwords in Korean

Abstract This study explores the extent to which perceptual and other factors (i.e., orthography and standardization) affect vowel adaptation in English loanwords in Korean. It also examines whether perceptual variability gives rise to adaptation variability, and it further addresses whether the degree of perceptual influence in vowel adaptation is different from that in consonant adaptation. Data on Korean listeners’ perceptual mapping patterns for English vowels were collected in an English-to-Korean vowel category mapping experiment and compared to the patterns in a loanword database. The results indicate that perceptual factors have a great impact on the adaptation of English vowels into Korean, in line with de Jong and Cho’s (de Jong, Kenneth & Mi-Hui Cho. 2012. Loanword phonology and perceptual mapping: Comparing two corpora of Korean contact with English. Language 88. 341–368) findings for the adaptation of English consonants into Korean. Consequently, factors such as orthography and standardization are viewed as deviations from these perceptual influences. The impact of perceptual adaptation is, however, rather limited because the correlation between perceptual mappings and loanword mappings is less robust for English vowel adaptation than for English consonant adaptation possibly due to the less categorical nature of vowels relative to consonants. Additionally, the results show that increased strength of modal perceptual mappings is related to less loanword variability in vowel adaptation.

Phonetic Transfer of Mandarin and English Vowels: Advantages and Challenges for Second-Language Learners

This paper discusses the phonological migration of the Mandarin vowel system to the American vowel system during second language acquisition. To this end, six Mandarin-speaking Chinese students who received English certificates are selected for analysis in this paper. In addition, experimental results from previous studies are utilized for further phonological comparisons, and a perception task and an articulation task are used to compare similar vowel combinations in the Chinese and English vowel systems. The perception task is designed to assess the participants' ability to distinguish similar vowels in different vowel systems, while the articulation task utilized Praat software to acoustically analyze the participants' vowel and word pronunciation, standard English pronunciation, and Chinese vowel pronunciation. The pronunciation values are compared with the standard pronunciation values, and the relationship between similarity and learning difficulty is established to test the hypotheses. The results shows that Chinese students are influenced by the Chinese vowel system and are unable to distinguish similar vowel combinations. Therefore, the higher the similarity between English vowels and Chinese vowels, the better the acquisition effect.

Phonetic Transfer of Mandarin and English Vowels: Advantages and Challenges for Second-Language Learners

This paper discusses the phonological migration of the Mandarin vowel system to the American vowel system during second language acquisition. To this end, six Mandarin-speaking Chinese students who received English certificates are selected for analysis in this paper. In addition, experimental results from previous studies are utilized for further phonological comparisons, and a perception task and an articulation task are used to compare similar vowel combinations in the Chinese and English vowel systems. The perception task is designed to assess the participants' ability to distinguish similar vowels in different vowel systems, while the articulation task utilized Praat software to acoustically analyze the participants' vowel and word pronunciation, standard English pronunciation, and Chinese vowel pronunciation. The pronunciation values are compared with the standard pronunciation values, and the relationship between similarity and learning difficulty is established to test the hypotheses. The results shows that Chinese students are influenced by the Chinese vowel system and are unable to distinguish similar vowel combinations. Therefore, the higher the similarity between English vowels and Chinese vowels, the better the acquisition effect.

The Negative Transfer of Shanghai Dialect on English Vowel Phonology Acquisition of Shanghai High School Students

With the accerleration of globalisation, the importance of English as an international common language has become more and more prominent. This study investigated the negative transfer effect of Shanghai dialect on English vowel acquisition in Shanghai high school students. Through the analysis of formant data of English vowel pronunciation in 49 Shanghai high school students, it is found that there is no significant change in tongue position when students pronounce some long and short vowels, the overall tongue position is low, and the distinction between long and short vowels is not obvious. The results show that the specific vowel phonemes in Shanghai dialect have a negative transfer effect on English pronunciation, which affects the accuracy of students' English pronunciation. Based on this, this study puts forward a variety of methods to improve English pronunciation teaching, including strengthening tongue position and oral shape training, using multimedia technology to assist teaching and providing personalized tutoring to help students overcome pronunciation barriers caused by dialects.

Language Teaching Optimization: Enhancing the Distinction Between /i:/ and // for Second Language Learners

One of the biggest challenges encountered by second language learners is to accurately differentiate between the two vowels in English: /i:/ and //, which play an important role in everyday communication and are crucial for clear transmission of information and effective communication due to their high functional load (FL). Therefore, the paper aims to gain a more profound understanding of the difficulties learners encounter in distinguishing these vowels, with the hope of providing them with more effective learning strategies and methods. In this paper, seven English majors and seven non-English majors were selected as the study participants using an empirical research method, and audio data on the participants' pronunciation of words containing /i:/ and // were collected using a recording device and analyzed using Praat. The results indicates that both groups frequently lacked an understanding of the distinctive pronunciation characteristics of these vowels, which resulted in instances of pronunciation confusion or inaccuracy. Moreover, it proposes suggestions for enhancing teaching strategies: the integration of audio and visual teaching resources and the implementation of targeted pronunciation exercises can facilitate the acquisition of English pronunciation, thereby enhancing the accuracy and fluency of their spoken English and their performance in English communication.

Language Teaching Optimization: Enhancing the Distinction Between /i:/ and // for Second Language Learners

One of the biggest challenges encountered by second language learners is to accurately differentiate between the two vowels in English: /i:/ and //, which play an important role in everyday communication and are crucial for clear transmission of information and effective communication due to their high functional load (FL). Therefore, the paper aims to gain a more profound understanding of the difficulties learners encounter in distinguishing these vowels, with the hope of providing them with more effective learning strategies and methods. In this paper, seven English majors and seven non-English majors were selected as the study participants using an empirical research method, and audio data on the participants' pronunciation of words containing /i:/ and // were collected using a recording device and analyzed using Praat. The results indicates that both groups frequently lacked an understanding of the distinctive pronunciation characteristics of these vowels, which resulted in instances of pronunciation confusion or inaccuracy. Moreover, it proposes suggestions for enhancing teaching strategies: the integration of audio and visual teaching resources and the implementation of targeted pronunciation exercises can facilitate the acquisition of English pronunciation, thereby enhancing the accuracy and fluency of their spoken English and their performance in English communication.

The Articulatory and Acoustic Representation of Second-Language French Vowels.

This study examines how L1 English-L2 French learners use L1 articulatory and acoustic categories to produce L2 vowels that are both similar to and different from their L1 vowels. Previous studies examining the relationship between L1 and L2 sound inventories have found that learners reuse L1 phone categories to produce L2 phones that are perceived as similar, but importantly, there is a lack of articulatory data included in these types of studies, which has reinforced the assumption that vowel categories can be solely represented by their acoustic properties. The present study uses ultrasound tongue imaging data and videos of lip rounding in addition to acoustic data to examine how L1 English-L2 French learners produce the French vowels /i y u e ø o/ compared with their English vowels /i u e o/. The results focus on individual paths to category formation to show how learners articulate L2 vowels, and reveal that they tend to reuse L1 tongue body gestures to produce the French vowels /i u e o/, and lip rounding gestures to produce the round vowels /y u o/. This study demonstrates that transfer of articulatory gestures depends on vowel quality and emphasizes the importance of using articulatory data to inform theories of L2 category formation.

Perception of second language phonetic contrasts by monolinguals and bidialectals: A comparison of competencies.

This study aims to examine the perception of English vowels by Greek monolingual and bidialectal speakers of English as a second language (L2) and assess the predictions of the Universal Perceptual Model (UPM). Adult Cypriot Greek (CG) bidialectal speakers and Standard Modern Greek (SMG) monolingual speakers participated in classification and discrimination tests. The two groups were matched for various linguistic, sociolinguistic, and cognitive factors. Another group of adult English speakers served as controls. Data analysis has been conducted with the use of Bayesian regression models. The results of the discrimination test were predicted by acoustic similarity only to some extent, whereas perceptual similarity predicted most contrasts, confirming the hypotheses of UPM. A crucial finding was that bidialectals outperformed monolinguals in the discrimination of L2 contrasts. The advantage observed in bidialectals could be attributed to the greater flexibility of their speech categories, stemming from exposure to more diverse linguistic input.

Comparative Formants Analysis of English Vowels Using PRAAT

This research focuses on the comparative formant analysis of English vowels between native and non-native speakers using PRAAT software. The study aims to investigate the comparison of the acoustic properties of English vowels to understand the pronunciation differences encountered by non-native speakers. By analyzing the formant frequencies of monophthongs in English vowels, specifically the first formant (F1), this research seeks to identify any significant differences between English native speaker and five non-native speakers, whose first language is Indonesia. The data collected from speech samples will be descriptively analyzed to determine variations in formant patterns. The finding shows that the F1 values of the vowels show variations among the non-native speakers compared to the native speaker. There are still monophthongs that these participants mispronounce, indicating that the learner's understanding is an obstacle to their fluency in speaking and pronouncing the sounds correctly. The research findings imply that these mispronunciations are linked to differences in tongue height, vowel backness, and vowel quality between native and non-native speakers. The results underscore the analysis of F1 values for 12 words containing vowel monophthongs, highlighting these variations. This suggests that the learner's understanding of these phonetic aspects is crucial for achieving fluency in vowel production and pronunciation.

Learning English vowels: The effects of different phonetic training modes on Arabic learners' production and perceptiona).

This study investigated the effect of different types of phonetic training on potential changes in the production and perception of English vowels by Arabic learners of English. Forty-six Arabic learners of English were randomly assigned to one of three high variability vowel training programs: Perception training (High Variability Phonetic Training), Production training, and a Hybrid Training program (production and perception training). Pre- and post-tests (vowel identification, category discrimination, speech recognition in noise, and vowel production) showed that all training types led to improvements in perception and production. There was some evidence that improvements were linked to training type: learners in the Perception Training condition improved in vowel identification but not vowel production, while those in the Production Training condition showed only small improvements in performance on perceptual tasks, but greater improvement in production. However, the effects of training modality were complicated by proficiency, with high proficiency learners benefitting more from different types of training regardless of training mode than lower proficiency learners.

Comparing human and machine's use of coarticulatory vowel nasalization for linguistic classificationa).

Anticipatory coarticulation is a highly informative cue to upcoming linguistic information: listeners can identify that the word is ben and not bed by hearing the vowel alone. The present study compares the relative performances of human listeners and a self-supervised pre-trained speech model (wav2vec 2.0) in the use of nasal coarticulation to classify vowels. Stimuli consisted of nasalized (from CVN words) and non-nasalized (from CVCs) American English vowels produced by 60 humans and generated in 36 TTS voices. wav2vec 2.0 performance is similar to human listener performance, in aggregate. Broken down by vowel type: both wav2vec 2.0 and listeners perform higher for non-nasalized vowels produced naturally by humans. However, wav2vec 2.0 shows higher correct classification performance for nasalized vowels, than for non-nasalized vowels, for TTS voices. Speaker-level patterns reveal that listeners' use of coarticulation is highly variable across talkers. wav2vec 2.0 also shows cross-talker variability in performance. Analyses also reveal differences in the use of multiple acoustic cues in nasalized vowel classifications across listeners and the wav2vec 2.0. Findings have implications for understanding how coarticulatory variation is used in speech perception. Results also can provide insight into how neural systems learn to attend to the unique acoustic features of coarticulation.

An Acoustic Study on English Vowels Produced by Indonesian Speakers: Exploring Determining Factors and Contact Situations

An Acoustic Study on English Vowels Produced by Indonesian Speakers: Exploring Determining Factors and Contact Situations