Spoken Word Recognition in a Second Language: The Importance of Phonetic Details

Autor/inn/en	Desmeules-Trudel, Félix; Zamuner, Tania S.
Titel	Spoken Word Recognition in a Second Language: The Importance of Phonetic Details
Quelle	In: Second Language Research, 39 (2023) 2, S.333-362 (30 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Desmeules-Trudel, Félix)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0267-6583
DOI	10.1177/02676583211030604
Schlagwörter	Oral Language; Word Recognition; Second Language Learning; Native Language; French; English; Phonetics; Native Speakers; Pronunciation; Speech Communication; Syllables; Eye Movements; Articulation (Speech); Phonology; Language Usage; Language Variation; Vowels; Listening Comprehension; Age Differences; Bilingualism; Cues; French Canadians; Foreign Countries; Canada (Ottawa) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Oral interpretation; Mündlicher Sprachgebrauch; Worterkennung; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Französisch; English language; Englisch; Phonetik; Fonetik; Muttersprachler; Aussprache; Silbe; Augenbewegung; Fonologie; Sprachgebrauch; Sprachenvielfalt; Hörverständnis; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Bilingualismus; Stichwort; Frankokanadier; Ausland
Abstract	Spoken word recognition depends on variations in fine-grained phonetics as listeners decode speech. However, many models of second language (L2) speech perception focus on units such as isolated syllables, and not on words. In two eye-tracking experiments, we investigated how fine-grained phonetic details (i.e. duration of nasalization on contrastive and coarticulatory nasalized vowels in Canadian French) influenced spoken word recognition in an L2, as compared to a group of native (L1) listeners. Results from L2 listeners (English-native speakers) indicated that fine-grained phonetics impacted the recognition of words, i.e. they were able to use nasalization duration variability in a way similar to L1-French listeners, providing evidence that lexical representations can be highly specified in an L2. Specifically, L2 listeners were able to distinguish minimal word pairs (differentiated by the presence of phonological vowel nasalization in French) and were able to use variability in a way approximating L1-French listeners. Furthermore, the robustness of the French "nasal vowel" category in L2 listeners depended on age of exposure. Early bilinguals displayed greater sensitivity to some ambiguity in the stimuli than late bilinguals, suggesting that early bilinguals had greater sensitivity to small variations in the signal and thus better knowledge of the phonetic cue associated with phonological vowel nasalization in French, similarly to L1 listeners. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01