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Interlingual identification and the role of foreign language experience in L2 vowel perception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Ocke-Schwen Bohn  and
James Emil Flege
Ocke-Schwen Bohn*
Affiliation:
University of Alabama, Birmingham
James Emil Flege
Affiliation:
University of Alabama, Birmingham
*
O.-S. Bohn, Englisches Seminar der Universität, Olshausenstr. 40, D-2300 Kiel 1, Federal Republic of Germany
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Abstract

This article examines the perception of four English vowels (/i, i, ε, æ/) by adult native speakers of German. From the standpoint of German, it appears that English /i, i,ε/ are perceptually similar, if not identical, to German /i, i, ε,/ whereas /ε/ is a “new” vowel for German learners of English. The role of foreign language experience in the perception of second language vowels was examined through labeling responses to members of synthetic continua (beat-bit, bet-bat) in which vowel duration and spectrum were varied factorily. The subjects were relatively experienced and inexperienced second language (L2) learners and a monolingual English control group. The results suggest that L2 experience did not affect perception for the continuum with the two “similar” vowels /i/ and /I/. However, for the continuum involving the “new” vowel /æ/, the experienced Germans more closely resembled the native English speakers than the inexperienced Germans. The predominant use of duration cues in differentiating the English /ε/–/æ/ contrast by the inexperienced Germans suggested that when spectral cues are insufficient to differentiate an L2 vowel contrast, duration will be used.

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Type
Articles
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Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 1990 , pp. 303 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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