Wendy Baker

Child-adult differences in second-language phonological learning: the role of cross-language similarity.

This study evaluated whether age effects on second language (L2) speech learning derive from changes in how the native language (L1) and L2 sound systems interact. According to the “interaction hypothesis” (IH), the older the L2 learner, the less likely the learner is able to establish new vowel categories needed for accurate L2 vowel production and perception because, with age, L1 vowel categories become more likely to perceptually encompass neighboring L2 vowels. These IH predictions were evaluated in two experiments involving 64 native Korean- and English-speaking children and adults. Experiment 1 determined, as predicted, that the Korean children were less likely than the Korean adults to perceive L2 vowels as instances of a single L1 vowel category. Experiment 2 showed that the Korean children surpassed the Korean adults in production of certain vowels but equaled them in vowel perception. These findings, which partially support the IH, are discussed in relation to L2 speech learning.

Learning prosody and fluency characteristics of second language speech: The effect of experience on child learners' acquisition of five suprasegmentals

This study examined second language (L2) experience effects on childrens acquisition of fluency-(speech rate, frequency, and duration of pausing) and prosody-based (stress timing, peak alignment) suprasegmentals. Twenty Korean children (age of arrival in the United States = 7–11 years, length of US residence = 1 vs. 11 years) and 20 age-matched English monolinguals produced six English sentences in a sentence repetition task. Acoustic analyses and listener judgments were used to determine how accurately the suprasegmentals were produced and to what extent they contributed to foreign accent. Results indicated that the children with 11 years of US residence, unlike those with 1 year of US residence, produced all but one (speech rate) suprasegmentals natively. Overall, findings revealed similarities between L2 segmental and suprasegmental learning.

DIALECT IDENTIFICATION: THE EFFECTS OF REGION OF ORIGIN AND AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE

This study examines whether two factors, region of origin (i.e., being from either Utah, Western states, or non-Western states) and amount of experience for those not native to Utah (having less than one, more than one but less than five, or over five years living in Utah), influence how well listeners are able to distinguish between Utah and non-Utah speakers and what phonetic characteristics they use to do so. The results suggest that the more similar the listeners dialect is to Utah English, the better his or her ability to identify Utah speakers. Moreover, it was found that listeners from Utah use less stereotypical characteristics of Utah English for identifying Utahns from non-Utahns; those from the Western United States and other locations use more. This study demonstrates that listeners with more experience with Utah English are better able to identify Utah speakers than those with less experience. These findings are also examined in light of stereotypical perceptions of both Utah English and the phonetic characteristics examined in this study.

L2 dialect acquisition of German vowels: The case of Northern German and Austrian dialects

Abstract This study examines how the dialect of a second language (L2) affects how accurately the L2 is perceived and produced. Specifically, we examined differences between the production and perception of German vowels /i:/, /y:/, and /u:/ by learners of either Austrian German (AG) or Northern German (NG). Vowels across these dialects differ due to how salient the /i:/–/y:/–/u:/ contrast is marked: there is (more) derounding of /y:/ in AG than in NG. This derounding in AG leads to the loss of an acoustic cue marking /i:/–/y:/, but a potentially enhanced acoustic cue for the /y:/–/u:/ contrast. As a result of these differences, both dialects have opposing cues by which to contrast /i:/, /u:/ and /y:/. Results indicate that AG learners are at times more accurate than NG learners in their perception and production of these German vowels. These results may have occurred because AG learners had a greater exposure to many dialects, and a greater desire to speak (high) German accurately than did the NG learners.

Learning stop‐consonant voicing in English: The effect of perceived cross‐language similarity

Previous research has demonstrated that perceived similarity between native‐ (L1) and second‐language (L2) sounds overall influences how accurately L2 sounds are produced. No study, however, has examined whether certain phonetic cues to an accurate production of L2 sounds are susceptible to the influence of perceived similarity between L1 and L2 sounds more than others. In English, vowel duration is the primary cue to distinguishing word‐final voiced and voiceless stops (e.g., bad versus bat). A secondary cue to stop‐consonant voicing is the duration of the stop‐gap closure of word‐final voiced and voiceless stops. In this study we examined how perceived similarity between L1 and L2 sounds influences adult L2 learners’ production of these two cues to stop‐consonant voicing. Thus specifically examined were vowel and stop‐gap closure duration in beginning, intermediate, and advanced native Korean adult learners’ productions of six English vowels in 18 CVt and CVd words. The results of these acoustic analyse...

Investigating the nature of cross‐language perceptual comparisons: Evidence from production

In cross‐language speech perception research, a metric of perceived phonetic similarity between native and non‐native sounds both predicts and describes non‐native listeners’ perceptual accuracy [Guion et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 2711–2724 (2000)]. By hypothesis, judgments of perceived phonetic similarity reflect the match between a non‐native sound and the sound category used to process it. Whereas measures of perceptual accuracy often mask the nature of the perceptual categories used to process non‐native sounds, the acoustics of non‐native segment articulations may unambiguously indicate whether non‐native sounds are processed in terms of perceptually similar native or newly established non‐native sound categories. This study examines the relationship between judgments of phonetic similarity between Korean sounds and six English vowels in bVd and bVt words and productions of the same vowels by 40 Korean listeners who differed in age and amount of exposure to English. A metric of perceived phonetic...