Exploring the onset of phonetic drift in voice onset time perception (original) (raw)
Related papers
A novelty effect in phonetic drift of the native language
Journal of Phonetics (vol. 41, iss. 6, pp. 520–533), 2013
Previous findings on adult second-language (L2) learners showed systematic phonetic changes in their production of the native language (L1) starting in the first weeks of L2 learning [Chang, C. B. (2012). Rapid and multifaceted effects of second-language learning on first-language speech production. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 249–268]. This "phonetic drift" of L1 production in novice L2 learners was consistent with reports of phonetic drift in advanced L2 learners; however, the fact that novice learners showed relatively pronounced drift was unexpected. To explore the hypothesis that this pattern is due to a novelty effect boosting the encoding and retrieval of elementary L2 experience, the current study compared the inexperienced learners analyzed previously (learners with no prior knowledge of the L2) to experienced learners enrolled in the same language program. In accordance with the hypothesis, experienced learners manifested less phonetic drift in their production of L1 stops and vowels than inexperienced learners, suggesting that progressive familiarization with an L2 leads to reduced phonetic drift at later stages of L2 experience. These findings contradict the assumption that L2 influence on the L1 is weakest at early stages of L2 learning and argue in favor of viewing the L1 and L2 both as dynamic systems undergoing continuous change.
Phonetics and Speech Sciences
This study examines the voice onset times (VOTs) of Korean stops produced by Korean learners of English with high language proficiency and long L2 exposure (i.e., Korean-English bilinguals) to assess whether the VOTs of their lax and aspirated stops are merging and, if so, which types of stops are being changed. Thirteen Korean speakers (six female and seven male) who had studied in the USA for more than three to ten years participated. The results show that the speakers in this study with long L2 exposure are participating in the VOT merger, in which VOTs for aspirated stops are reduced while those for lax stops are increased. In other words, change in VOT affects not only aspirated stops but also lax stops. The results indicate that L1 phonetic drift may not be primarily affected by the amount of L2 exposure, and language contact may not be the primary factor triggering a sound change in the Korean stop system. Further study is necessary focusing on the phonetic shift of the "lax" category because it may play a pivotal role in a tonogenetic-like sound change in present-day Korean.
First language phonetic drift during second language acquisition
Ph.D. dissertation, 2010
Despite abundant evidence of malleability in speech production, previous studies of the effects of late second-language learning on first-language production have been limited to advanced learners. This dissertation examines these effects in novice learners, finding that experience in a second language rapidly, and possibly inexorably, affects production of the native language. In a longitudinal study of Korean acquisition, native English-speaking adult learners (n = 19) produced the same English words at weekly intervals over the course of intensive elementary Korean classes. Results of two acoustic case studies indicate that experience with Korean rapidly influences the production of English, and that the effect is one of assimilation to phonetic properties of Korean. In case study 1, experience with Korean stop types is found to influence the production of English stop types (in terms of voice onset time and/or fundamental frequency onset) as early as the second week of Korean classes, resulting in the lengthening of VOT in English voiceless stops (in approximation to the longer VOT of the perceptually similar Korean aspirated stops) and the raising of F0 onset following English voiced and voiceless stops (in approximation to the higher F0 levels of Korean). Similarly, in case study 2, experience with the Korean vowel space is found to have a significant effect on production of the English vowel space, resulting in a general raising of females' English vowels in approximation to the overall higher Korean vowel space. These rapid effects of second-language experience on first-language production suggest that cross-language linkages are established from the onset of second-language learning, that they occur at multiple levels, and that they are based not on orthographic equivalence, but on phonetic and/or phonological proximity between languages. The findings are discussed with respect to current notions of cross-linguistic similarity, exemplar models of phonology, and language teaching and research practices.
Phonological categories of voice onset time and phonetic compromise in L2 acquisition
This paper investigates the degree of improvement that L2 learners of English achieve in their production of voice onset time (VOT) as a result of receiving training in phonetics and English pronunciation. Two sets of comparative data were collected, one at the beginning of the period of training (June 2013) and another at the end (November 2013). The participants were seven lower-intermediate-level students of English at a Japanese university. It was found that, after the training period, the mean VOT value for English p had become longer, i.e. it had moved significantly closer to the realisation of p produced by native English speakers; meanwhile, the values for t and k showed more modest improvements. The findings suggest that the overt teaching of general phonetics, and of English VOT production in particular, are to a certain extent effective in helping L2 English learners to develop a more accurate L2 pronunciation. One question arising from our data is that, even though our L2 learners received training in the production of English stops, which helped increase their awareness of the differences in the VOT values of voiceless stops between English and Japanese, they were still unable to produce any English voiceless stops with a completely native English-like VOT value. We found that the range of positive VOT that could be produced by our Japanese L2 learners of English is between 50 and 70ms, which falls short of the VOT value required for a native-like aspirated stop. We therefore address the question of why there appears to be an upper limit on the degree of improvement (lengthening) in VOT production. We argue that L1 interference is at least partly responsible. The participants' pronunciation of Japanese (L1) and English (L2) indicates that they are aware that both languages have a VOT difference between so-called 'voiced' and 'voiceless' stops, and moreover, that they also detect different VOT values operating in the two systems. Our data suggest that learners overcome the difficulties presented by these different VOT values by using a compromise phone (Williams 1980). This allows them to express the laryngeal (aspirated versus unaspirated) contrasts of English, and at the same time, to differentiate them from the laryngeal (voiceless versus voiced) contrasts of Japanese.
The Oxford Handbook of Language Attrition (pp. 191–203), 2019
This chapter provides an overview of research on the phonetic changes that occur in one's native language (L1) due to recent experience in another language (L2), a phenomenon known as phonetic drift. Through a survey of empirical findings on segmental and suprasegmental acoustic properties, the chapter examines the features of the L1 that are subject to phonetic drift, the cognitive mechanism(s) behind phonetic drift, and the various factors that influence the likelihood of phonetic drift. In short, virtually all aspects of L1 speech are subject to drift, but different aspects do not drift in the same manner, possibly due to multiple routes of L2 influence coexisting at different levels of L1 phonological structure. In addition to the timescale of these changes, the chapter discusses the relationship between phonetic drift and attrition as well as some of the enduring questions in this area.
Systemic drift of L1 vowels in novice L2 learners
Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 428–431), 2011
Studies of proficient second-language (L2) learners have often noted phonetic drift of their native language (L1) vis-à-vis monolingual norms. Such drift has been attributed to perceptual linkage between similar sounds in L1 and L2. This study provides evidence that L1 phonetic drift is limited neither to advanced L2 learners, nor to cross-language influence at a segmental level. During the first weeks of an elementary Korean class, adult native English speakers were found to shift their English vowel space in approximation to the Korean vowel space, suggesting that in adult L2 learners phonetic drift of L1 vowels occurs in a rapid, systemic, and assimilatory fashion.
Phonetic Accommodation after Auditory Exposure to Native and Nonnative Speech
We investigated native English talkers’ phonetic accommodation to a native or nonnative model talker in a passive auditory exposure setting. We performed a phonetic accommodation experiment, following the procedure of Goldinger & Azuma (2004). Specifically, the participants read monosyllabic words, disyllabic words, and sentences before and after perceptual exposure to a model talker with a certain group level linguistic distance, namely, a native model talker with the same dialect, a native model talker with a different dialect, or a nonnative model talker. Additionally, participants’ implicit attitudes towards foreigners were also measured by an implicit association test (IAT). We performed various acoustic measurements on monosyllabic and disyllabic words, and dynamic time warping (DTW) analyses and XAB perception tests on sentences. We found that dialect mismatch and L1 mismatch between participants and their model talkers did not inhibit participants’ phonetic convergence in most acoustic measurements on words and XAB perception test results on sentences. Instead, within each group level linguistic distance, at the item level, the preexisting acoustic distances between model talkers and participants before auditory exposure positively affected their degrees of phonetic convergence, regardless of the direction of the change. That is, the farther the acoustic distance was before the auditory exposure, the larger the degree of phonetic convergence was. However, there were variations in the influence of participants’ implicit attitudes towards foreigners on their phonetic accommodation to nonnative model talkers. Finally, the perceived phonetic convergence patterns by human listeners were predicted by the DTW analyses results. Overall, we found reliable evidence of phonetic convergence to all native and nonnative model talkers from lower-level monosyllabic and disyllabic words to higher-level sentences after passive auditory exposure.
Regional and Foreign Accent Processing in English: Can Listeners Adapt?
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 2009
Recent data suggest that the first presentation of a foreign accent triggers a delay in word identification, followed by a subsequent adaptation. This study examines under what conditions the delay resumes to baseline level. The delay will be experimentally induced by the presentation of sentences spoken to listeners in a foreign or a regional accent as part of a lexical decision task for words placed at the end of sentences. Using a blocked design of accents presentation, Experiment 1 shows that accent changes cause a temporary perturbation in reaction times, followed by a smaller but long-lasting delay. Experiment 2 shows that the initial perturbation is dependent on participants' expectations about the task. Experiment 3 confirms that the subsequent long-lasting delay in word identification does not habituate after repeated exposure to the same accent. Results suggest that comprehensibility of accented speech, as measured by reaction times, does not benefit from accent exposure, contrary to intelligibility.
Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 2004
Using an audiovisual perception task, two groups of native English listeners (monolinguals, and L2 learners of Spanish) were asked to identify which /p,t,k/ tokens had been produced by native English speakers and which ones by foreigners. The experiment found that self-reported criteria for foreign accent detection tended to be consistent with actual perceptual behavior, and that the L2 learners performed better, both at the group and at the individual level. These results suggest that foreign accent detection is cued by Voice Onset Time differences and taps into both our tacit knowledge of the native segmental norm and our implicit awareness of what constitutes a particular deviation from that norm. Moreover, the results suggest that, contrary to what some have assumed, monolinguals are not necessarily more sensitive to foreign accents than second language learners.
Languages (vol. 5, iss. 4, article 49), 2020
Perception of a nonnative language (L2) is known to be affected by crosslinguistic transfer from a listener's native language (L1), but the relative importance of L1 transfer vis-a-vis individual learner differences remains unclear. This study explored the hypothesis that the nature of L1 transfer changes as learners gain experience with the L2, such that individual differences are more influential at earlier stages of learning and L1 transfer is more influential at later stages of learning. To test this hypothesis, novice L2 learners of Korean from diverse L1 backgrounds were examined in a pretest-posttest design with respect to their perceptual acquisition of novel L2 consonant contrasts (the three-way Korean laryngeal contrast among lenis, fortis, and aspirated plosives) and vowel contrasts (/o/-/ʌ/, /u/-/ɨ/). Whereas pretest performance showed little evidence of L1 effects, posttest performance showed significant L1 transfer. Furthermore, pretest performance did not predict posttest performance. These findings support the view that L1 knowledge influences L2 perception dynamically, according to the amount of L2 knowledge available to learners at that time. That is, both individual differences and L1 knowledge play a role in L2 perception, but to different degrees over the course of L2 development.