Download or read book The Effect of Auditory and Articulatory Phonetic Training on the Perception and Production of L2 Vowels by Catalan Spanish Learners of English written by Cristina Aliaga-Garcia and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adult second language learners often experience major difficulties in perceiving and producing non-native speech sounds. Several perception training studies (Iverson & Evans, 2007; Nishi, & Kewley-Port, 2007; Carlet & Cebrian, 2014) have shown that second- language (L2) learners can improve their L2 perception, also demonstrating significant gains in L2 production (Bradlow, Pisoni, Akahane-Yamada, & Tohkura, 1997; Kartushina et al., 2016). However, research on the assessment of methods other than perceptual training for non-native vowels is still scarce, and none of the previous vowel studies has compared the impact of auditory vs. production-based training on a full set of vowels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two training methods that might be used to improve learners' identification and articulation of the 11 English RP monophthongal vowels (/i: ɪ e ɜ: æ ʌ ɑ: P N9 ʊ u:/). A total of 84 bilingual Catalan/Spanish learners of English were divided into two experimental groups and a control group, and all were tested on vowel identification, identification of synthesized vowels (with manipulated duration), vowel discrimination and vowel production based on a delayed repetition task. Two groups of bilingual Catalan/Spanish learners of English (N=64) were assigned to different types of audiovisual High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) based on natural CVC words from multiple talkers, either identification (ID) or articulatory (ART) training. Both training procedures comprised 10 one-hour computer-based sessions over 5 weeks, which guaranteed exposure to a minimum of 132 trials/ session. Whereas the ID training required learners to focus on the critical audiovisual cues to recognize the vowel category within a vowel subset, ART training learners were expected to focus on the relevant audiovisual cues for more accurate vowel articulation. Auditory feedback provided assistance to correct identification, or to change erroneous articulations. This paper compares some remarkable effects of perceptual and production-based audiovisual HVPT on the perception and production of the fullset of English vowels. The two HVPT groups showed higher accuracy in vowel perception, as well generalization to new words, talkers and contexts. HVPT not only improved vowel identification and discrimination, but also reduced the learners' heavy reliance on vowel duration and improved their use of spectral cues in English vowel perception. However, a clear advantage of the ID group was seen in a better identification of trained words and a lesser degree of error dispersion per vowel. Both HVPT methods were effective in leading to significant formant movement for some vowels, with less spectral overlap, but differences in the amount of spectral shift after each training method suggest that ART training was more effective in vowel production. Training was effective in making the production of contrastive vowels more distinct and revealed a conscious attempt of learners to produce acoustically distinct vowel quality targets, with a great deal less spectral overlapping. Pedagogical implications will be discussed. -- TDX.

Download or read book L2 Phonology Meets L2 Pronunciation written by John Archibald and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-01-24 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Second Language Pronunciation written by Ubiratã Kickhöfel Alves and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-12-19 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the field of second language (L2) acquisition, the number of studies focusing on L2 pronunciation instruction and perceptual/production training has increased as new classroom methodologies have been proposed and new goals for L2 pronunciation have been set. This book brings together different approaches to L2 pronunciation research in the classroom or in the language laboratory. 13 chapters, written by well-known researchers focusing on a variety of first and target languages, are divided into four parts: Pronunciation development and intelligibility: implications for teaching and training studies; L2 pronunciation teaching; L2 pronunciation training: implications for the classroom; and Pronunciation in the laboratory: High Variability Phonetic Training. Intended for researchers in the fields of second language acquisition, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, speech therapies, speech technology, as well as second language teaching, this book not only summarizes the current research questions on L2 pronunciation teaching and training, but also predicts future scenarios for both researchers and practitioners in the field.

Download or read book L2 Perception and Production of English Consonants and Vowels by Catalan Speakers written by Angélica Foresti Carlet and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Este estudio compara el efecto de dos métodos de entrenamiento de alta variabilidad fonética o ‘high variability phonetic training' (HVPT) sobre sonidos específicamente entrenados y sobre sonidos no entrenados pero implícitamente presentados. Con este fin, se implementan diversos regímenes de entrenamiento fonético cuyo objetivo es mejorar la percepción y la producción de 5 vocales del inglés británico (/i ɪ æ ʌ ɜː/) y de las consonantes oclusivas en posición inicial y final de palabra por hablantes bilingües de catalán y castellano. Así, este estudio investiga: (a) si el entrenamiento fonético recibido puede mejorar la percepción y la producción de segmentos entrenados y no entrenados, (b) si la mejora se generaliza a nuevos estímulos y hablantes, (c) si la mejora se mantiene un tiempo después, (d) qué método de entrenamiento, identificación (ID) o discriminación categórica (DIS) es más eficaz, y (e) cuáles son las impresiones de los participantes sobre el entrenamiento fonético como una herramienta de instrucción fonética. Cien estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera fueron divididos en cuatro grupos experimentales y un grupo de control. Los grupos entrenados diferían tanto en método de entrenamiento (ID, DIS) como en el enfoque del entrenamiento (consonantes, vocales) dando lugar a cuatro grupos diferentes. Crucialmente, los cuatro grupos fueron entrenados con los mismos estímulos CVC (por ejemplo, zat, zut, zad, zud), exponiendo a los participantes a los contrastes fonéticos entrenados y a los contrastes fonéticos no entrenados. Los resultados revelan que todos los grupos experimentales superaron significativamente al grupo de control en su identificación de sonidos entrenados (vocales y consonantes oclusivas en posición inicial), mostrando la eficacia de ambas metodologías de entrenamiento fonético (ID y AX DIS). Sin embargo, mientras que ambos grupos experimentales mejoran su percepción de las oclusivas iniciales de manera similar, los aprendices de ID superan a los aprendices de DIS en la percepción de vocales específicamente entrenadas después del entrenamiento fonético. Estos resultados sugieren que la modificación de la percepción de los diferentes tipos de segmentos (vocales, consonantes) puede requerir diferentes procedimientos y duraciones de entrenamiento distintas. Curiosamente, sólo los aprendices de DIS mostraron una mejora significativa en la percepción de los sonidos no específicamente entrenados, lo que indica que este método de entrenamiento puede proporcionar mejoras en la percepción de sonidos entrenados y sonidos no entrenados pero implícitamente presentados. En cuanto a la generalización y a la retención de los efectos del entrenamiento, los resultados con sonidos vocálicos apuntan a la superioridad de la tarea de ID sobre la tarea categórica de DIS. Además, ambos métodos son adecuados para entrenar consonantes iniciales de manera similar. Con respecto a la producción, sólo los aprendices de ID entrenados en vocales fueron capaces de mejorar significativamente su producción de los sonidos vocálicos. Por último, las opiniones de los estudiantes acerca del entrenamiento fonético como una herramienta de enseñanza de L2 fueron en general positivas, e ID fue más valorado que DIS como un método de formación. Globalmente, estos resultados sugieren que ambos métodos son efectivos para entrenar la percepción de una L2. Sin embargo, los métodos pueden promover mejoras, generalización y retención de los distintos segmentos en diferentes grados. Los mejores resultados obtenidos con el método ID, en particular con las vocales, y el hecho de que sólo el método DIS proporcione la mejora de sonidos no entrenados pueden estar relacionados con la naturaleza y el fin de cada metodología y/o con las propiedades acústicas de cada segmento. Las consecuencias teóricas y prácticas de estos resultados pueden ser de utilidad para futuros trabajos de investigación y aplicaciones prácticas de aprendizaje de la pronunciación.

Download or read book Second Language Speech Learning written by Ratree Wayland and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-02-04 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Including contributions from a team of world-renowned international scholars, this volume is a state-of-the-art survey of second language speech research, showcasing new empirical studies alongside critical reviews of existing influential speech learning models. It presents a revised version of Flege's Speech Learning Model (SLM-r) for the first time, an update on a cornerstone of second language research. Chapters are grouped into five thematic areas: theoretical progress, segmental acquisition, acquiring suprasegmental features, accentedness and acoustic features, and cognitive and psychological variables. Every chapter provides new empirical evidence, offering new insights as well as challenges on aspects of the second language speech acquisition process. Comprehensive in its coverage, this book summarises the state of current research in second language phonology, and aims to shape and inspire future research in the field. It is an essential resource for academic researchers and students of second language acquisition, applied linguistics and phonetics and phonology.

Download or read book Audiovisual Training Effects on L2 Speech Perception and Production written by Ying LI and published by . This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research on L2 speech perception and production indicate that adult language learners are able to acquire L2 speech sounds that they initially have difficulty with (Best, 1994). Moreover, use of the audiovisual modality, which provides language learners with articulatory information for speech sounds, has been illustrated to be effective in L2 speech perception training (Hazan et al., 2005). Since auditory and visual skills are integrated with each other in speech perception, audiovisual perception training may enhance language learners' auditory perception of L2 speech sounds (Bernstein, Auer Jr, Ebehardt, and Jiang, 2013). However, little research has been conducted on L1 Mandarin learners of English. Based on these hypotheses, this study investigated whether audiovisual perception training can improve learners' auditory perception and production of L2 speech sounds.

Download or read book Linguistic Perception and Second Language Acquisition written by Paola Rocío Escudero Neyra and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Phonology in the Bilingual and Bidialectal Lexicon written by Isabelle Darcy and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2017-07-06 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A conversation between two people can only take place if the words intended by each speaker are successfully recognized. Spoken word recognition is at the heart of language comprehension. This automatic and smooth process remains a challenge for models of spoken word recognition. Both the process of mapping the speech signal onto stored representations for words, and the format of the representation themselves are subject to debate. So far, existing research on the nature of spoken word representations has focused mainly on native speakers. The picture becomes even more complex when looking at spoken word recognition in a second language. Given that most of the world’s speakers know and use more than one language, it is crucial to reach a more precise understanding of how bilingual and multilingual individuals encode spoken words in the mental lexicon, and why spoken word recognition is more difficult in a second language than in the native language. Current models of native spoken word recognition operate under two assumptions: (i) that listeners’ perception of the incoming speech signal is optimal; and (ii) that listeners’ lexical representations are accurate. As a result, lexical representations are easily activated, and intended words are successfully recognized. However, these assumptions are compromised when applied to a later-learned second language. For a variety of reasons (e.g., phonetic/phonological, orthographic), second language users may not perceive the speech signal optimally, and they may still be refining the motor routines needed for articulation. Accordingly, their lexical representations may differ from those of native speakers, which may in turn inhibit their selection of the intended word forms. Second language users also have to solve a larger selection challenge—having words in more than one language to choose from. Thus, for second language users, the links between perception, lexical representations, orthography, and production are all but clear. Even for simultaneous bilinguals, important questions remain about the specificity and interdependence of their lexical representations and the factors influencing cross-language word activation. This Frontiers Research Topic seeks to further our understanding of the factors that determine how multilinguals recognize and encode spoken words in the mental lexicon, with a focus on the mapping between the input and lexical representations, and on the quality of lexical representations.

Download or read book Training Spanish Speakers to Perceive and Pronounce English Vowels written by Grisel Maria Garcia-Perez and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study investigates the effects of training native speakers of Spanish in the perception and production of English vowels in a regular classroom setting.

Download or read book The Acquisition of Vowels in Spanish and English as a Second Language written by Mariche García de las Bayonas and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Effect of Phonetics Instruction on Adult Learners Perception and Production of L2 Sounds written by Elizabeth Maria Kissling and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional pronunciation instruction and instruction in second language (L2) phonetics have been shown to improve learners' L2 accent in some, though certainly not all, cases. Learners in intermediate and advanced Spanish FL courses have shown modest improvement in the pronunciation of some L2 phones after receiving such instruction. However, relatively less is known about how Spanish learners perceive L2 phones or how their perception changes over time and in response to instruction. Yet instruction might improve learners' ability to perceive, not just produce, L2 phones in more target-like ways. Furthermore, target-like perception may be a necessary precursor to target-like L2 production, as is suggested by several models of L2 phonological acquisition, most notably Flege's Speech Learning Model.

Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Spanish Linguistics written by Kimberly L. Geeslin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-23 with total page 1098 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written for both researchers and advanced students, this Handbook provides a state-of-the-art survey of the field of Spanish linguistics. Balancing different theoretical perspectives among expert scholars, it provides an in-depth examination of all sub-fields of research in Hispanic linguistics, with a focus on recent advances.

Download or read book Effect of L2 Phonetic Learning on L1 Vowels written by Haisheng Jiang and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This research examines the effect of L2 phonetic learning on L1 vowel production. Mandarin-English bilinguals differing in amount of L1 use produced Mandarin and English vowels. An acoustic analysis showed that both the Mandarin-English bilinguals of high L1 use and those of low L1 use deviated from the norm of Mandarin vowel /i/. The Mandarin-English bilinguals of low L1 use who successfully acquired English vowel /aj/ deviated from the norm of Mandarin vowel /aj/, indicating a carry-over effect of L2 vowel on L1 vowel production. In a perception test, Mandarin vowel production by the Mandarin-English bilinguals was presented to Mandarin as well as English listeners for goodness rating. The results showed that both Mandarin-English bilinguals of high L1 use and those of low L1 use differed significantly from Mandarin monolinguals in the production of /y/, a vowel with no counterpart in English. An analysis of inter-speaker variability indicated that some individual Mandarin-English bilinguals, including both speakers of high L1 use and low L1 use, were accented in the production of /y/, /aj/ and /aU/. Possible acoustic properties contributing to their accentedness included lower second formant frequency, larger first or second formant frequency movement, extremely short or long duration, and tone deviation. L2 English learning led to some Mandarin-English bilinguals carrying some English characteristics in their L1 Mandarin vowel production. In a follow-up perception test, the correlation between the ratings assigned to the Mandarin-English bilinguals' production of Mandarin vowel /y/ and the ratings assigned to their production of English vowel /I/ and /E/ was examined. No inverse correlation was revealed, indicating that good L2 vowel production does not necessarily lead to poor L1 vowel production, and vice versa. This research suggests that the L1 phonetic system established in childhood does not remain static; instead, it may undergo reorganization when the L1 and L2 phonetic systems coexisting in a common phonological space interact.

Download or read book The Role of Cognitive Ability in the Acquisition of Second Language Perceptual Phonological Competence written by Elena Safronova and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many second language (L2) learners find L2 pronunciation difficult and experience perception and production problems leading to accented speech. There exists a great inter-learner variation in L2 phonological acquisition even among learners who have been exposed to the L2 since childhood. Such individual differences have been the focus of much second language acquisition (SLA) research. Relatively little attention has been paid to the role of learners' cognitive ability in the acquisition of L2 perceptual phonological competence. This dissertation seeks to fill this gap by addressing the following question: To what extent does cognitive ability contribute to learners' acquisition of L2 sounds? We hypothesized that phonological short-term memory, acoustic short- term memory and attention control facilitate L2 learners' acquisition of perceptual phonological competence. A group of 45 adult Catalan-Spanish bilingual learners of English were asked to participate in a battery of L2 perception tests measuring their L2 vowel perception and cognitive tests assessing their attention control ability and short-term memory capacity for speech sounds. The target L2 sounds were those comprised in the English vowel contrasts /i/-/ɪ/, /ɪ/-/ɛ/, /ɑ/-/ʌ/, /ɑ/-/æ/ and /ʌ/-/æ/. The learners' ability to perceive a cross-language phonetic distance between these L2 vowels and those in their native language (L1) and their success in establishing new phonetic categories for L2 vowels were assessed by means of a perceptual assimilation task and a categorical vowel discrimination task, respectively. The contribution of phonological short-term memory, acoustic short-term memory and attention control was examined by relating the outcome measures of cognitive tests to those of learners' L2 vowel perception. Overall, the results obtained partly confirmed the hypothesis. Short-term memory capacity for phonological and acoustic information and attention control ability significantly contributed to explaining the variance in learners' perception of L2 sounds. Attention control and acoustic short- term memory were related to learners' perception of cross-language phonetic distance. Contrary to our predictions, larger phonological short-term memory and acoustic short-term memory capacities were associated with lower degree of perceived phonetic distance between L2 and L1 sounds. In addition, lower attention control was related to faster and more accurate discrimination of L2 sounds. Taken together, our findings indicate that cognitive ability plays a role in L2 learners' acquisition of perceptual phonological competence.

Download or read book Production and Perception of the Epenthetic Vowel in Obstruent Liquid Clusters in Spanish written by Carlos Julio Ramírez Vera and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Second Language Pronunciation written by Ubiratã Kickhöfel Alves and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-12-19 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the field of second language (L2) acquisition, the number of studies focusing on L2 pronunciation instruction and perceptual/production training has increased as new classroom methodologies have been proposed and new goals for L2 pronunciation have been set. This book brings together different approaches to L2 pronunciation research in the classroom or in the language laboratory. 13 chapters, written by well-known researchers focusing on a variety of first and target languages, are divided into four parts: Pronunciation development and intelligibility: implications for teaching and training studies; L2 pronunciation teaching; L2 pronunciation training: implications for the classroom; and Pronunciation in the laboratory: High Variability Phonetic Training. Intended for researchers in the fields of second language acquisition, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, speech therapies, speech technology, as well as second language teaching, this book not only summarizes the current research questions on L2 pronunciation teaching and training, but also predicts future scenarios for both researchers and practitioners in the field.

Download or read book How Stressful is L2 Stress written by Anna Kijak and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation addresses the second language (L2) acquisition of word stress in production and perception, from both a phonological-theoretical and psycholinguistic angle. It investigates how cross-linguistic differences in the (types of) metrical systems of native speakers of a variety of first (native) languages (L1) affect the L2 acquisition of word stress. This includes the differences in the formal properties of L1 and L2 stress and the functional properties of L1 stress, and their implications for the representation of stress in the mental lexicon established during the L1 acquisition process. To this end, native speakers of several languages were tested experimentally for their L2 perception and production of Polish word stress. These languages were Russian (lexical accent system, all positions in a word possible), German, English, Spanish, Italian (in all, stress within a three-syllable window at the right edge of the word), Czech (fixed word-initial stress), French (phrase-final stress) and Chinese (tone language). The L2 Polish has fixed pre-final stress. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of adult L2 acquisition of stress, the relationship between L2 perception and production, and the effects of L1 properties on the acquisition of L2 stress. As one of its most important features, this dissertation addresses the complexity of the (L2) stress perception process, suggesting that the function of L1 stress (in terms of facilitating word recognition or word segmentation) should be included in the properties affecting speakers#x2019%x; stress perception. This dissertation will be of interest to those working in the area of phonology, second language acquisition and psycholinguistics.