Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present ... more Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present in their native language (L1). Models of non-native and L2 sound perception claim that perceptual similarity between L1 and L2 sound contrasts correctly predicts discrimina-tion by naïve listeners and L2 learners. The present study tested the explanatory power of vowel inventory size versus acoustic properties as predictors of discrimination accuracy when naïve Australian English (AusE) and Iberian Spanish (IS) listeners are presented with six Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowel contrasts. Our results show that IS listeners outperformed AusE listeners, confirming that cross-linguistic acoustic properties, rather than cross-linguistic vowel inventory sizes, successfully predict non-native discrimination difficulty. Furthermore, acoustic distance between BP vowels and closest L1 vowels successfully predicted differential levels of difficulty among the six BP contrasts, with BP /e-i / and /o-u ...
Learning to listen to and produce the sounds of a new language is a difficult task for many secon... more Learning to listen to and produce the sounds of a new language is a difficult task for many second-language learners. While there is a large corpus of literature that investigates Spanish and Portuguese learners’ perception and production of an L;2, particularly English, there is relatively little research available for the opposite scenario, namely, how speakers of other languages learn to perceive and produce the sounds of Spanish and Portuguese. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical review of the available literature in this less studied area. First some general facts relating to non-native and L;2 speech perception and production are presented, including the theoretical models that aim at explaining these phenomena. A review follows of the empirical findings currently available for L;2 speech production and perception in Spanish and Portuguese, and how these two abilities relate in the process of acquiring the sounds of these languages.
Second language (L2) learners often struggle with achieving native-like production and perception... more Second language (L2) learners often struggle with achieving native-like production and perception of L2 sounds. While there is ample research on the non-native perception of English vowels by native speakers of languages with smaller vowel inventories, scant research exists up-to-date on the opposite scenario. The aim of the present study is to investigate the initial state for Californian English (CE) listeners' perception of two different smaller vowel inventories, namely Spanish and Portuguese vowels, before any perceptual learning has taken place. The objective is to determine how CE listeners' native vowel inventory of (at least) ten phonemes affects their non-native perception of the five Spanish and seven Portuguese vowel phonemes.Monolingual speakers of English from Southern California (N = 18) completed a perceptual assimilation task, in which they labeled naturally produced tokens of Spanish and Portuguese vowels in terms of ten native English categories, as well a...
Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present ... more Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present in their native language (L1). Models of non-native and L2 sound perception claim that perceptual similarity between L1 and L2 sound contrasts correctly predicts discrimina-tion by naïve listeners and L2 learners. The present study tested the explanatory power of vowel inventory size versus acoustic properties as predictors of discrimination accuracy when naïve Australian English (AusE) and Iberian Spanish (IS) listeners are presented with six Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowel contrasts. Our results show that IS listeners outperformed AusE listeners, confirming that cross-linguistic acoustic properties, rather than cross-linguistic vowel inventory sizes, successfully predict non-native discrimination difficulty. Furthermore, acoustic distance between BP vowels and closest L1 vowels successfully predicted differential levels of difficulty among the six BP contrasts, with BP /e-i/ and /o-u/ being the most difficult for both listener groups. We discuss the importance of our findings for the adequacy of models of L2 speech perception.
Monolingual Peruvian Spanish listeners identified natural tokens of the Canadian French (CF) and ... more Monolingual Peruvian Spanish listeners identified natural tokens of the Canadian French (CF) and Canadian English (CE) /ɛ/ and /æ/, produced in five consonantal contexts. The results demonstrate that while the CF vowels were mapped to two different native vowels, /e/ and /a/, in all consonantal contexts, the CE contrast was mapped to the single native vowel /a/ in four out of five contexts. Linear discriminant analysis revealed that acoustic similarity between native and target language vowels was a very good predictor of context-specific perceptual mappings. Predictions are made for Spanish learners of the /ɛ/-/æ/ contrast in CF and CE.
Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present ... more Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present in their native language (L1). Models of non-native and L2 sound perception claim that perceptual similarity between L1 and L2 sound contrasts correctly predicts discrimina-tion by naïve listeners and L2 learners. The present study tested the explanatory power of vowel inventory size versus acoustic properties as predictors of discrimination accuracy when naïve Australian English (AusE) and Iberian Spanish (IS) listeners are presented with six Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowel contrasts. Our results show that IS listeners outperformed AusE listeners, confirming that cross-linguistic acoustic properties, rather than cross-linguistic vowel inventory sizes, successfully predict non-native discrimination difficulty. Furthermore, acoustic distance between BP vowels and closest L1 vowels successfully predicted differential levels of difficulty among the six BP contrasts, with BP /e-i / and /o-u ...
Learning to listen to and produce the sounds of a new language is a difficult task for many secon... more Learning to listen to and produce the sounds of a new language is a difficult task for many second-language learners. While there is a large corpus of literature that investigates Spanish and Portuguese learners’ perception and production of an L;2, particularly English, there is relatively little research available for the opposite scenario, namely, how speakers of other languages learn to perceive and produce the sounds of Spanish and Portuguese. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical review of the available literature in this less studied area. First some general facts relating to non-native and L;2 speech perception and production are presented, including the theoretical models that aim at explaining these phenomena. A review follows of the empirical findings currently available for L;2 speech production and perception in Spanish and Portuguese, and how these two abilities relate in the process of acquiring the sounds of these languages.
Second language (L2) learners often struggle with achieving native-like production and perception... more Second language (L2) learners often struggle with achieving native-like production and perception of L2 sounds. While there is ample research on the non-native perception of English vowels by native speakers of languages with smaller vowel inventories, scant research exists up-to-date on the opposite scenario. The aim of the present study is to investigate the initial state for Californian English (CE) listeners' perception of two different smaller vowel inventories, namely Spanish and Portuguese vowels, before any perceptual learning has taken place. The objective is to determine how CE listeners' native vowel inventory of (at least) ten phonemes affects their non-native perception of the five Spanish and seven Portuguese vowel phonemes.Monolingual speakers of English from Southern California (N = 18) completed a perceptual assimilation task, in which they labeled naturally produced tokens of Spanish and Portuguese vowels in terms of ten native English categories, as well a...
Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present ... more Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present in their native language (L1). Models of non-native and L2 sound perception claim that perceptual similarity between L1 and L2 sound contrasts correctly predicts discrimina-tion by naïve listeners and L2 learners. The present study tested the explanatory power of vowel inventory size versus acoustic properties as predictors of discrimination accuracy when naïve Australian English (AusE) and Iberian Spanish (IS) listeners are presented with six Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowel contrasts. Our results show that IS listeners outperformed AusE listeners, confirming that cross-linguistic acoustic properties, rather than cross-linguistic vowel inventory sizes, successfully predict non-native discrimination difficulty. Furthermore, acoustic distance between BP vowels and closest L1 vowels successfully predicted differential levels of difficulty among the six BP contrasts, with BP /e-i/ and /o-u/ being the most difficult for both listener groups. We discuss the importance of our findings for the adequacy of models of L2 speech perception.
Monolingual Peruvian Spanish listeners identified natural tokens of the Canadian French (CF) and ... more Monolingual Peruvian Spanish listeners identified natural tokens of the Canadian French (CF) and Canadian English (CE) /ɛ/ and /æ/, produced in five consonantal contexts. The results demonstrate that while the CF vowels were mapped to two different native vowels, /e/ and /a/, in all consonantal contexts, the CE contrast was mapped to the single native vowel /a/ in four out of five contexts. Linear discriminant analysis revealed that acoustic similarity between native and target language vowels was a very good predictor of context-specific perceptual mappings. Predictions are made for Spanish learners of the /ɛ/-/æ/ contrast in CF and CE.
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Papers by Polina Vasiliev