1887
Volume 5, Issue 3
  • ISSN 2215-1931
  • E-ISSN: 2215-194X
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Reduced vowels between obstruents and rhotics are durationally variable and phonologically invisible in Spanish, e.g. ə ‘field’ as /pɾ/. The present study compares L1-Spanish speakers, English monolinguals, and L2-Spanish learners’ perceptual boundaries for reduced vowels in Spanish. A native speaker produced 70 Spanish nonce words with word-initial obstruent + vowel + flap sequences, and the duration of each vowel was manipulated from 100% to 75%, 50%, and 25% of its original duration. To determine whether these groups perceive variably reduced vowels as phonologically visible, 78 listeners counted the number of syllables perceived in 280 target audio files. Linear regression models fitted to 21,436 responses indicate that English monolinguals apply an L1 perceptual strategy, but L2-Spanish learners have shifted their perceptual boundaries. The study concludes that the perception of highly variable acoustic information becomes more native-like with greater L2 proficiency, while age of acquisition is less predictive of native-like perception.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jslp.17034.cha
2019-05-06
2024-10-08
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Barr, D. J., Levy, R., Scheepers, C., & Tily, H. J.
    (2013) Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language, 68(3), 255–278. 10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S.
    (2014) lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using eigen and S4. R package version 1.1-7. Retrieved on15 November 2016, fromcran.r-project.org/web/packages/lme4/index.html
  3. Best, C. T.
    (1994) The emergence of native-language phonological influences in infants: A perceptual assimilation model. InH. C. Nusbaum (Ed.), The development of speech perception: The transition from speech sounds to spoken words (pp.233–277). Cambridge: MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. (1995) A direct realist perspective on cross-language speech perception. InW. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Theoretical and methodological issues in cross-language speech research (pp.171–204). Timonium: York Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. (2003) Cross-language perception of nonnative vowels: Phonological and phonetic effects of listeners’ native languages. InM. J. Sole, D. Recansens & J. Romero (Eds.), Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp.2889–2892). Barcelona: Causal Productions.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. D.
    (2007) Nonnative and second-language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. InM. J. Munro & O. S. Bohn (Eds.), Second language speech learning: The role of language experience in speech perception and production (pp.13–34). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/lllt.17.07bes
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.17.07bes [Google Scholar]
  7. Blecua, B.
    (2001) Las vibrantes del español: Manifestaciones acústicas y procesos fonéticos. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
  8. Bradley, T. G., & Schmeiser, B.
    (2003) On the phonetic reality of /r/ in Spanish complex onsets. InP. M. Kempchinsky, J. Liskin-Gasparro, & C. E. Piñeros (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the Sixth Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp.1–20). Somerville: Cascadilla Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Carter, P. M.
    (2005) Quantifying rhythmic differences between Spanish, English, and Hispanic English. Theoretical and Experimental Approaches to Romance Linguistics: Selected Papers from the 34th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (pp.63–75). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/cilt.272.05car
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.272.05car [Google Scholar]
  10. (2007) Phonetic variation and speaker agency: Mexicana identity in a North Carolina Middle School. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 13(2), 1–14.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Chládková, K., & Podlipský, V. J.
    (2011) Native dialect matters: Perceptual assimilation of Dutch vowels by Czech listeners. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 130(4), 186–192. 10.1121/1.3629135
    https://doi.org/10.1121/1.3629135 [Google Scholar]
  12. Chappell, W.
    (2016) Bilingualism and aspiration: Coda /s/ reduction on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. InS. Sessarego & F. Tejado-Herrero (Eds.), Spanish language and sociolinguistic analysis (pp.261–282). Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/ihll.8.11cha
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.8.11cha [Google Scholar]
  13. Colantoni, L., & Steele, J.
    (2005) Phonetically-driven epenthesis asymmetries in French and Spanish obstruent-liquid clusters. InR. Gess & E. Rubin (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 34th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (pp.77–96). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Escudero, P.
    (2000) The perception of English vowel contrasts: Acoustic cue reliance in the development of new contrasts. InA. James & J. Leather (Eds.), New sounds 2000: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech (pp.122–131). Klagenfurt: University of Klagenfurt.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. (2005) Linguistic perception and second language acquisition. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Utrecht University.
  16. (2009) The linguistic perception of similar L2 sounds. InP. Boersma & S. Hamann (Eds.), Phonology in perception (pp.152–190). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Escudero, P., & Boersma, P.
    (2003) Modelling the perceptual development of phonological contrasts with Optimality Theory and the Gradual Learning Algorithm. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, 8, 71–85.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Escudero, P., & Polka, L.
    (2003) A cross-language study of vowel categorization and vowel acoustics. InM. J. Sole, D. Recansens, & J. Romero (Eds.), Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp.861–864). Barcelona: Causal Productions.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Flege, J. E.
    (1988) The production and perception of foreign language speech sounds. InH. Winitz (Ed.), Human communication and its disorders: A review (pp.224–401). Norwood: Ablex.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. (1991) Perception and production: The relevance of phonetic input to L2 language learning. InC. Ferguson & T. Heubner (Eds.), Crosscurrents in second language acquisition and linguistic theories (pp.249–290). Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/lald.2.15fle
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.2.15fle [Google Scholar]
  21. (1995) Second language speech learning: Theory, findings and problems. InW. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language speech research (pp.233–27). Timonium: York Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Flemming, E., & Johnson, S.
    (2007) Rosa’s roses: Reduced vowels in American English. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37(1), 83–96. 10.1017/S0025100306002817
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025100306002817 [Google Scholar]
  23. Fought, C.
    (2003) Chicano English in context. London: Anthony Rowe Ltd. 10.1057/9780230510012
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230510012 [Google Scholar]
  24. Grieser, D., & Kuhl, P. K.
    (1989) Categorization of speech by infants: Support for speech-sound prototypes. Developmental Psychology, 25(4), 577–588. 10.1037/0012‑1649.25.4.577
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.4.577 [Google Scholar]
  25. Guion, S. G.
    (2003) The vowel systems of Quichua-Spanish bilinguals: An investigation into age of acquisition effects on the mutual influence of the first and second languages. Phonetica, 60, 98–128. 10.1159/000071449
    https://doi.org/10.1159/000071449 [Google Scholar]
  26. Johnson, J., & Newport, E.
    (1989) Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 60–99. 10.1016/0010‑0285(89)90003‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0 [Google Scholar]
  27. Kazanina, N., Phillips, C., & Idsardi, W. J.
    (2006) The influence of meaning on the perception of speech sounds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(30), 11381–11386. 10.1073/pnas.0604821103
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0604821103 [Google Scholar]
  28. Keys, K. J.
    (2002) Interlanguage phonology: Theoretical questions and empirical data. Linguagem & Ensino, 5(1), 75–91.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Kuhl, P. K.
    (2000) A new view of language acquisition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 11850–11857. 10.1073/pnas.97.22.11850
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.22.11850 [Google Scholar]
  30. Kuhl, P. K., Conboy, B. T., Coffey-Corina, S., Padden, D., Rivera-Gaxiola, M., & Nelson, T.
    (2008) Phonetic learning as a pathway to language: New data and native language magnet theory expanded (NLM-e). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 363, 979–1000. 10.1098/rstb.2007.2154
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2154 [Google Scholar]
  31. Kuhl, P. K., Williams, K. A., Lacerda, F., Stevens, K. N., Lindblom, B.
    (1992) Linguistic experience alters phonetic perception in infants by 6 months of age. Science, 255(5044), 606–608. 10.1126/science.1736364
    https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1736364 [Google Scholar]
  32. Ladefoged, P.
    (2005) Vowels and consonants: An introduction to the sounds of languages, 2nd edition. Malden: Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Lipski, J.
    (1994) Latin American Spanish. New York: Longman Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Major, R. C.
    (1998) Interlanguage phonetics and phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 131–137. 10.1017/S0272263198002010
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263198002010 [Google Scholar]
  35. Malmberg, B.
    (1965) Estudios de fonética hispánica. Madrid: Instituto Miguel de Cervantes.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Massone, M.
    (1988) Estudio acústico y perceptivo de las consonantes nasales y líquidas del español. Estudios de Fonética Experimental, 3, 15–34.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Matuschek, H., Kliegl, R., Vasishth, S., Baayen, H., & Bates, D.
    (2017) Balancing Type I error and power in linear mixed models. Journal of Memory and Language, 94, 305–315. 10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.001 [Google Scholar]
  38. Mayr, R., & Escudero, P.
    (2010) Explaining individual variation in L2 perception: Rounded vowels in English learners of German. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(3), 279–297. 10.1017/S1366728909990022
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728909990022 [Google Scholar]
  39. Montrul, S.
    (2012) Bilingual background questionnaire for Spanish/English speakers. Retrieved on25 January 2015, fromwww.nhlrc.ucla.edu/data/questionnaires.asp
  40. Morgan, T. A.
    (2010) Sonidos en contexto: Una introducción a la fonética del español con especial referencia a la vida real. New Haven: Yale University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Navarro, T.
    (1963) Manual de pronunciación española. New York: Hafner Publishing Co.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Nimz, Katharina
    (2016) Sound perception and production in a foreign language: Does orthography matter?Potsdamn: Potsdam University.
  43. Quilis, A.
    (1970) El elemento esvarabático en los grupos [pr, br, tr]. Phonetique et linguistique romaines: Melanges offerts a M. Georges Straka (pp.99–104). Lyon-Strasbourg: Societe de Linguistique Roman.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. (1993) Tratado de fonología y fonética españolas. Madrid: Editorial Gredos.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. R Core Team
    R Core Team (2014) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Ramírez, C. J.
    (2002) Characterization of the epenthetic vowel between the clusters formed by stops/fricatives + flap in Spanish. InB. Spreng (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Niagara Linguistic Society 19 (pp.67–74). Toronto: University of Toronto, Linguistic Graduate Course Union.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Rastle, K., McCormick, S. F., Bayliss, L., & Davis, C. J.
    (2011) Orthography influences the perception and production of speech. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37(6), 1588–1594.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Robinson, P., & Ellis, N.
    (2008) Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203938560
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203938560 [Google Scholar]
  49. Schmeiser, B.
    (2006) On the durational variability of svarabhakti vowels in Spanish consonant clusters. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Davis.
  50. (2009) On the current state of vowel intrusion analysis in Spanish within Optimality Theory. InJ. Collentine, M. García, B. Lafford, & F. Marcos Marín (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 11th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp.207–218). Somerville, Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Schmidt, L. B.
    (2011) Acquisition of dialectal variation in a second language: L2 perception of aspiration of Spanish /s/. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.
  52. Strange, W.
    (1995) Cross-language study of speech perception: A historical review. InW. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp.3–45). Timonium: York Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. van Leussen, J.-W., & Escudero, P.
    (2015) Learning to perceive and recognize a second language: The L2LP model revised. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1000. 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01000
    https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01000 [Google Scholar]
  54. Vanek, C., & McDaniel, S.
    (2006) Surveygizmo. Boulder, Widgix.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Vasiliev, P., & Escudero, P.
    (2014) Speech perception in second language Spanish. InK. L. Geeslin (Ed.), The handbook of Spanish second language acquisition (pp.130–145). Somerset: John Wiley & Sons.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Widdison, K.
    (2004) Perceptual awareness of vowel fragments appearing in Spanish Cr and CC environments. Paper presented atLaboratory Approaches to Spanish Phonology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Sep. 17–18.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Zampini, M.
    (1998) The relationship between the production and perception of L2 Spanish stops. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 3, 85–100.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Zampini, M., & Green, K.
    (2001) The voicing contrast in English and Spanish: The relationship between perception and production. InJ. Nicol (Ed.), One mind, two languages: Bilingual language processing (pp.23–48). London: Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Ziegler, J. C., & Ferrand, L.
    (1998) Orthography shapes the perception of speech: The consistency effect in auditory word recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 5(4), 683–689. 10.3758/BF03208845
    https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208845 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jslp.17034.cha
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jslp.17034.cha
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): intrusive vowels; L2 Spanish; reduced vowels; speech perception; svarabhakti vowels
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error