Semantic and perceptual cues in the acquisition of second language vocabulary

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Michael ◽  
Judith Kroll ◽  
Aruna Sanicaranarayanan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Perceptual Cues

Articulatory and perceptual cues to non-native phoneme perception: Cross-modal training for early learners

2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832092121
Author(s):  
Emily Cibelli
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Auditory Discrimination ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Perceptual Training ◽  
Early Learners ◽  
Phoneme Perception

Non-native phoneme perception can be challenging for adult learners. This article explores two routes to strengthening early representations of non-native targets: perceptual training, which focuses on auditory discrimination of novel contrasts, and articulatory training, which highlights the articulatory gestures of non-native categories. Of particular interest is whether cross-modal transfer from production to perception is beneficial to improving discrimination. A longitudinal experiment integrating both training types found that articulatory training did not improve discrimination once perceptual learning had taken place. However, a follow-up experiment found an equivalent benefit for perceptual and articulatory training when each was presented as the only learning style to separate groups of learners. These findings suggest that articulatory learning can ‘cross over’ to assist acquisition in the perceptual domain, and may play a key role for second language (L2) learners struggling with both perception and production of novel phoneme categories.

Tone-induced split in stop category mapping by Korean learners of Mandarin Chinese

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-79
Author(s):  
Sang-Im Lee-Kim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Categorical Perception ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Phonetic Cues ◽  
Korean Learners

Abstract The present study reports a novel case where a simple one-to-one category mapping may develop into a systematic one-to-two mapping over the course of second language acquisition. We examined the split in category mapping of the Mandarin unaspirated stops conditioned by tone by Korean-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese (e.g. Mandarin /ta35/ to Korean lenis [ta] vs. Mandarin /ta55/ to Korean fortis [t’a]). Korean L2 learners and naïve listeners participated in identification tasks in which f0 contours of Mandarin words containing unaspirated stops with short-lag VOTs were digitally manipulated. In word-initial position, learners showed a near-categorical perception from lenis to fortis as f0 increased, while most stimuli were identified as fortis by naïve listeners. The effect of f0 was much smaller in word-medial position, but the group difference remained the same, confirming the two groups’ differential use of phonetic cues for stop identification. Taken together, a substantial reorganization of perceptual cues, namely the promotion of f0 concurrent with significant underweighting of VOT cues, seems to have taken place during L2 acquisition. The findings were discussed with reference to PAM-L2 whereby the knowledge of the L2 phonological system along with particular phonetic properties of the L2 sounds may have driven a perceptual regrouping of the L2 stop categories.

Distinctiveness and Assimilation in Vowel Perception in a Second Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4534-4543
Author(s):  
Wei Hu ◽  
Sha Tao ◽  
Mingshuang Li ◽  
Chang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Vowel Identification ◽  
Vowel Perception ◽  
Perceptual Distance ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Chinese Counterpart ◽  
Vowel Categories

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate how the distinctive establishment of 2nd language (L2) vowel categories (e.g., how distinctively an L2 vowel is established from nearby L2 vowels and from the native language counterpart in the 1st formant [F1] × 2nd formant [F2] vowel space) affected L2 vowel perception. Method Identification of 12 natural English monophthongs, and categorization and rating of synthetic English vowels /i/ and /ɪ/ in the F1 × F2 space were measured for Chinese-native (CN) and English-native (EN) listeners. CN listeners were also examined with categorization and rating of Chinese vowels in the F1 × F2 space. Results As expected, EN listeners significantly outperformed CN listeners in English vowel identification. Whereas EN listeners showed distinctive establishment of 2 English vowels, CN listeners had multiple patterns of L2 vowel establishment: both, 1, or neither established. Moreover, CN listeners' English vowel perception was significantly related to the perceptual distance between the English vowel and its Chinese counterpart, and the perceptual distance between the adjacent English vowels. Conclusions L2 vowel perception relied on listeners' capacity to distinctively establish L2 vowel categories that were distant from the nearby L2 vowels.

Age-Related Differences in Processing Dynamic Information to Identify Vowel Quality

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 892-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Allen Fox ◽  
Lida G. Wall ◽  
Jeanne Gokcen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Dynamic Information ◽  
Process Dynamic ◽  
Center Condition ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Control Version ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Whole Word

This study examined age-related differences in the use of dynamic acoustic information (in the form of formant transitions) to identify vowel quality in CVCs. Two versions of 61 naturally produced, commonly occurring, monosyllabic English words were created: a control version (the unmodified whole word) and a silent-center version (in which approximately 62% of the medial vowel was replaced by silence). A group of normal-hearing young adults (19–25 years old) and older adults (61–75 years old) identified these tokens. The older subjects were found to be significantly worse than the younger subjects at identifying the medial vowel and the initial and final consonants in the silent-center condition. These results support the hypothesis of an age-related decrement in the ability to process dynamic perceptual cues in the perception of vowel quality.

Second Language Speech Fluency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvaneh Tavakoli ◽  
Clare Wright
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Fluency
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