Dutch vowel production by Spanish learners: duration and spectral features (original) (raw)
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Recordings of extemporaneous speech produced by twenty-three Spanish learners of Dutch L2 were analyzed to get insight into their pronunciation difficulties. The ultimate aim of this research is to obtain information that can be used to develop advanced computer-based pronunciation training programs for this fixed language pair (Spanish L1, Dutch L2). Our research has produced a detailed overview of vowel and consonant errors. From this overview we have identified the most frequent errors and their possible sources. The results indicate that among Spanish learners of Dutch L2, vowel errors are more frequent, persistent and variable than consonant mispronunciations. Spanish learners appear to have problems with contrasts in vowel length and vowel height, and in producing front rounded vowels. Consonant mispronunciations are found primarily in clusters, which are responsible for a considerable number of insertions, substitutions and deletions. Mispronunciations due to orthographic interference are observed for both vowels and consonants.
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2003
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In this paper we report on a study on pronunciation errors by Spanish learners of Dutch, which was aimed at obtaining information to develop a dedicated Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) program for this fixed language pair (Spanish L1, Dutch L2). The results of our study indicate, that, first, vowel errors are more frequent and variable than consonant mispronunciations. Second, Spanish natives appear to have problems with vowel length, vowel height, and front rounded vowels. Third, they tend to fall back on the pronunciation of their L1 vowels.
2014
Cross-language Perception and Production of English vowels by Portuguese Learners: The Effects of Perceptual Training Several studies have demonstrated that second/foreign language (L2/FL) speech learning is a challenge to late learners (i.e., adolescents or adults) in terms of perception and production of certain non-native phonemic and phonetic contrasts (Moyer, 2013). The interaction of different factors might explain learners' difficulties, namely age of onset of learning (AOL), amount of native (L1) and non-native language (NNL) use over time, quantity and quality of NNL input, and the interference from the L1 phonological system (Piske, 2007). The Speech Learning Model (SLM), proposed by Flege (1995), hypothesizes that difficulties in perceiving and, consequently, in producing non-native contrasts are due to the (dis)similarities between the L1 and the NNL phonological systems. The L1 sound system is likely to hinder the formation of new non-native (L2/FL) phonological categories. However, a considerable number of cross-language studies has revealed that phonological learning is attainable for late learners, and their abilities in perceiving and producing segmental and suprasegmental non-native contrasts can improve, since the mechanisms used in the acquisition of the L1 sound system remain intact over the lifespan and can be applied to L2/FL learning (Flege, 1995). Experimental studies that investigated the effects of perceptual training on non-native speech sound perception and production reported its success not only in the modification of adult learners' perceptual patterns, but also in the improvement of their pronunciation accuracy, confirming, thereby, the plasticity of L2/FL learners' mature perceptual system (e.g.,
In this paper we report on a study on pronunciation errors by Spanish learners of Dutch, which was aimed at obtaining information to develop a dedicated Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) program for this fixed language pair (Spanish L1, Dutch L2). The results of our study indicate, that, first, vowel errors are more frequent and variable than consonant mispronunciations. Second, Spanish natives appear to have problems with vowel length, vowel height, and front rounded vowels. Third, they tend to fall back on the pronunciation of their L1 vowels.
This study investigated the short- and long-term effects of a high variability perceptual training on the production of three English vowel contrasts (/i/- /ɪ/; /ɛ/-/æ/; /u/-/ʊ/) by Portuguese learners. The perceptual training consisted of five sessions divided into two blocks that included both discrimination and identification tasks followed by immediate feedback with natural stimuli produced by multiple native talkers in different phonetic contexts. Vowel production data were collected three times, namely before training (pretest), immediately after (posttest), and two months later (delayed posttest) with a sentence-reading task. Both duration and the first two vowel formants were measured to calculate the Euclidian distance (Hz) and duration ratios (ms) between the vowels of the target contrasts. The acoustic analyses revealed that perceptual training had a significant effect on pronunciation accuracy of the target vowels, specifically in terms of vowel quality.
Perceptual assimilation of Dutch vowels by Peruvian Spanish listeners
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2011
Many cross-language and L2 speech perception studies have been conducted on English sounds and a limited number of speakers or synthetic tokens have been used for auditory stimuli. The Spanish listeners of the present study were presented with natural tokens of Dutch vowels produced by males and females selected from the corpus reported in Adank et al. [(2004). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 1729–1738]. The results show that single category assimilations are common and that certain Dutch vowels frequently assimilate to Spanish diphthongs. Predictions are made for Spanish learners’ initial stage in the acquisition of the Dutch vowel system.
Spanish Vowel Acquisition by Native Speakers of English
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A perception task was presented to measure the accuracy of /e/ /ei/ differentiation by native speakers of English that are beginner or intermediate level Spanish speakers. It was also given to native speakers of Spanish to compare their accuracy in relation to their results. The distinction between these two sounds tends to be one of the obstacles for native speakers of English to acquire the phonemic inventory of Spanish. This is due to how /a/ tends to be diphthongized as /ei/ in English depending on its location, while in Spanish /e/ and /ei/ are minimal pairs . This sound distinction was studied to confute the irregular unexpected patterns previously observed in other studies. The patterns found in this study indeed differ from those, in that Spanish native speakers and English native speakers that are intermediate level speakers of Spanish have higher accuracy in their perception of /e/ and /ei/ sounds. However, there’s a tendency for both groups of Spanish native speakers and English native speakers with beginner level proficiency in Spanish having a more accurate perception of vowel and diphthong sounds overall in comparison to those English native speakers that are intermediate level Spanish speakers. This might suggest there’s more to learn about phonemic inventory acquisition in the intermediate level proficiency of an L2 than what is known so far, or that what common sense dictates in our expectations of phonemic inventory acquisition of other languages might be wrong, seen that none of these results were statistically insignificant.