Predicting L2 vowel identification accuracy from cross-language mappings between L2 English and L1 Korean

This study also explores whether the extent to which pairs of Korean and English vowels are judged to be variants (or else an English vowel is judged to be “new”) predicts English vowel identification. Korean listeners participated in English vowel identification and cross-language mapping tasks. Results indicated that the L1 mapping model very closely predicted identification of English vowels analogous to Korean vowels (e.g., /ɛ/, /oʊ/, and /u/). This phenomenon was also observed when the listeners' goodness ratings were incorporated. However, it was found that the predictive power of the L1 mapping model for vowels, which was based on the new and similar distinction, was reduced relative to that for consonants due to the less categorical nature of vowels. Thus, the new-similar distinction in the Speech Learning Model (Flege, 1995) may not be so crucial to understanding the impact of vowel mapping in cross-language perception. Nonetheless, the results showed that Korean listeners may be developing new vowel categories for English vowels that are considered to be similar as well as new to Korean vowels.
Source: Language Sciences - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research