scholarly journals Non-Native Dialect Matters: The Perception of European and Brazilian Portuguese Vowels by Californian English Monolinguals and Spanish–English Bilinguals

Languages ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Jaydene Elvin ◽  
Alba Tuninetti ◽  
Paola Escudero
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Categorization Task ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Vowel Perception ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
Native Dialect

Studies show that second language (L2) learners’ perceptual patterns differ depending on their native dialect (e.g., Chládková and Podlipský 2011; Escudero and Williams 2012). Likewise, speakers from the same native language background show different perceptual patterns depending on the dialect to which they are exposed (e.g., Escudero and Boersma 2004; Escudero and Chládková 2010). The Second Language Linguistic Perception model (L2LP; Escudero 2005) accounts for these differences, explicitly stating that the acoustic similarity between the native and target dialect affects L2 perception. This study investigated whether Californian English monolingual and Spanish–English bilingual listeners differ in their perception of European Portuguese (EP) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowels. Escudero et al. (2009a) showed that there were differences in the acoustic realization of vowels in BP and EP. Stressed vowels were longer in BP than in EP, with differences in vowel height observed for some vowels (e.g., /ɛ/ is higher in EP than in BP). According to the L2LP model, these acoustic differences between dialects will affect vowel perception; therefore, we predicted that there would be differences in the listeners’ perception of certain vowel contrasts in BP and EP. Participants completed a non-native categorization task and a discrimination task presented in the XAB format. The results from the non-native categorization task predicted differential vowel perception depending on both the dialect and vowel contrast that listeners heard, which were mostly confirmed with an interaction between dialect and contrast in the discrimination results. We contextualize these results with respect to models of L2 speech perception, highlighting that dialectal differences impact language perception and may influence later language learning.

scholarly journals Can Google Translate Rewire Your L2 English Processing?

Digital ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-85
Author(s):  
Natália Resende ◽  
Andy Way
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Web Based ◽  
English Syntax

In this article, we address the question of whether exposure to the translated output of MT systems could result in changes in the cognitive processing of English as a second language (L2 English). To answer this question, we first conducted a survey with 90 Brazilian Portuguese L2 English speakers with the aim of understanding how and for what purposes they use web-based MT systems. To investigate whether MT systems are capable of influencing L2 English cognitive processing, we carried out a syntactic priming experiment with 32 Brazilian Portuguese speakers. We wanted to test whether speakers re-use in their subsequent speech in English the same syntactic alternative previously seen in the MT output, when using the popular Google Translate system to translate sentences from Portuguese into English. The results of the survey show that Brazilian Portuguese L2 English speakers use Google Translate as a tool supporting their speech in English as well as a source of English vocabulary learning. The results of the syntactic priming experiment show that exposure to an English syntactic alternative through GT can lead to the re-use of the same syntactic alternative in subsequent speech even if it is not the speaker’s preferred syntactic alternative in English. These findings suggest that GT is being used as a tool for language learning purposes and so is indeed capable of rewiring the processing of L2 English syntax.

Native dialect influences second-language vowel perception: Peruvian versus Iberian Spanish learners of Dutch

2012 ◽  
Vol 131 (5) ◽  
pp. EL406-EL412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Escudero ◽  
Daniel Williams
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Vowel Perception ◽  
Native Dialect

The L2 perception of initial English /h/ and /ɹ/ by Brazilian Portuguese learners of English

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-180
Author(s):  
Denise Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Discrimination Test ◽  
Identification Test ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Language Assimilation

This study investigates how speakers who speak Brazilian Portuguese as their first language and English as their second language perceive the English phonemes /h/ and /ɹ/, and how they and monolingual Brazilian Portuguese speakers map these phonemes onto Portuguese sound categories. Participants took part in three experiments: an AXB discrimination test, an identification test, and a cross-language assimilation test, which was also taken by monolinguals. Lower and higher proficiency groups were able to hear the distinction acoustically, but only the higher proficiency group used the distinction to identify English words. Monolingual Brazilian Portuguese speakers and the higher proficiency group assimilated English /h/ primarily to Portuguese /h/. However, the phonological environment had an effect for monolinguals, but not for the higher proficiency group. The lower proficiency group, which one might expect to fall in between these two groups, showed a failure to assimilate English sounds to the Portuguese categories.

scholarly journals The Role of Acoustic Similarity and Non-Native Categorisation in Predicting Non-Native Discrimination: Brazilian Portuguese Vowels by English vs. Spanish Listeners

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Jaydene Elvin ◽  
Daniel Williams ◽  
Jason A. Shaw ◽  
Catherine T. Best ◽  
Paola Escudero
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Vowel Perception ◽  
Comparable Performance ◽  
Learning Scenarios ◽  
Australian English ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Better Than

This study tests whether Australian English (AusE) and European Spanish (ES) listeners differ in their categorisation and discrimination of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowels. In particular, we investigate two theoretically relevant measures of vowel category overlap (acoustic vs. perceptual categorisation) as predictors of non-native discrimination difficulty. We also investigate whether the individual listener’s own native vowel productions predict non-native vowel perception better than group averages. The results showed comparable performance for AusE and ES participants in their perception of the BP vowels. In particular, discrimination patterns were largely dependent on contrast-specific learning scenarios, which were similar across AusE and ES. We also found that acoustic similarity between individuals’ own native productions and the BP stimuli were largely consistent with the participants’ patterns of non-native categorisation. Furthermore, the results indicated that both acoustic and perceptual overlap successfully predict discrimination performance. However, accuracy in discrimination was better explained by perceptual similarity for ES listeners and by acoustic similarity for AusE listeners. Interestingly, we also found that for ES listeners, the group averages explained discrimination accuracy better than predictions based on individual production data, but that the AusE group showed no difference.

Factors affecting second language achievement in primary school

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriko Iwashita ◽  
Irene Liem
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Chinese Study

Abstract This study investigates achievement in second language learning (Chinese) in primary school in relation to learner variables such as amount and duration of instruction and home language background.1 Currently in the State of Victoria it is recommended that all students learn a second language from the beginning of primary school to the end of Year 10. As the majority of students in some LOTE (Languages Other Than English) classes such as Chinese are background speakers, some parents and teachers are concerned that non-background learners can be disadvantaged compared with classmates who have some exposure to the LOTE outside school. In order to examine whether home language use has any impact on achievement, we developed a test of four skills and administered it to Year 6 students in two primary schools in Melbourne. The results showed that Chinese background students scored much higher than non-Chinese background students in all four areas. However a close examination of the data revealed that other variables such as Chinese study outside school and the number of years of study at school also influenced the test scores. This research has strong implications for developing a LOTE curriculum for both background and non-background speakers.

scholarly journals Explaining individual variation in L2 perception: Rounded vowels in English learners of German

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT MAYR ◽  
PAOLA ESCUDERO
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Language Mapping ◽  
Perceptual Development ◽  
Vowel Perception ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Speech Research ◽  
Further Development

Most empirical research in L2 vowel perception focuses on the development of groups of learners. However, recent studies indicate that individual learners' developmental paths in L2 vowel perception may not be uniform (e.g., Escudero, 2001; Escudero and Boersma, 2004; Morrison, 2009). The aim of the present study is to add to this line of research by investigating (1) whether individual English learners of German follow different paths in their perceptual development of six rounded German vowels, and (2) whether the observed patterns are explicable on the basis of Escudero's (2005)Second-Language Linguistic Perception(L2LP) model. A cross-language perceptual assimilation experiment revealed that learners’ assimilation of L2 sounds to native categories is indeed highly diverse, yet systematic. Importantly, these cross-language mapping patterns largely predict the learners’ further development in L2 vowel perception, as assessed in a forced-choice identification task. Implications for explanatory frameworks in second-language speech research are discussed.

scholarly journals Does Studying in a Music-oriented Education Program Affect Non-native Sound Learning? — Effects of Passive Auditory Training on Children’s Vowel Production

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 678-687
Author(s):  
Katja Immonen ◽  
Jemina Kilpeläinen ◽  
Paavo Alku ◽  
Maija S. Peltola
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Auditory Training ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Musical Background ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Vowel Contrast

Earlier studies have shown that children are efficient second language learners. Research has also shown that musical background might affect second language learning. A two-day auditory training paradigm was used to investigate whether studying in a music-oriented education program affects children’s sensitivity to acquire a non-native vowel contrast. Training effects were measured with listen-and-repeat production tests. Two groups of monolingual Finnish children (9–11 years, N=23) attending music-oriented and regular fourth grades were tested. The stimuli were two semisynthetic pseudo words /ty:ti/ and /tʉ:ti/ with the native vowel /y/ and the non-native vowel /ʉ/ embedded. Both groups changed their pronunciation after the first training. The change was reflected in the second formant values of /ʉ/, which lowered significantly after three trainings. The results show that 9–11-year-old children benefit from passive auditory training in second language production learning regardless of whether or not they attend a music-oriented education program.

Interlingual identification and the role of foreign language experience in L2 vowel perception

1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ocke-Schwen Bohn ◽  
James Emil Flege
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Vowel Perception ◽  
Spectral Cues ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
The Continuum

ABSTRACTThis article examines the perception of four English vowels (/i, i, ε, æ/) by adult native speakers of German. From the standpoint of German, it appears that English /i, i,ε/ are perceptually similar, if not identical, to German /i, i, ε,/ whereas /ε/ is a “new” vowel for German learners of English. The role of foreign language experience in the perception of second language vowels was examined through labeling responses to members of synthetic continua (beat-bit, bet-bat) in which vowel duration and spectrum were varied factorily. The subjects were relatively experienced and inexperienced second language (L2) learners and a monolingual English control group. The results suggest that L2 experience did not affect perception for the continuum with the two “similar” vowels /i/ and /I/. However, for the continuum involving the “new” vowel /æ/, the experienced Germans more closely resembled the native English speakers than the inexperienced Germans. The predominant use of duration cues in differentiating the English /ε/–/æ/ contrast by the inexperienced Germans suggested that when spectral cues are insufficient to differentiate an L2 vowel contrast, duration will be used.

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