Is segmental foreign accent perceived categorically?

Publication date: Available online 15 January 2020Source: Speech CommunicationAuthor(s): Rubén Pérez-Ramón, Martin Cooke, María Luisa García LecumberriAbstractThe second language learning process involves acquisition of sounds that differ to varying degrees from the sounds of a learner’s native language. Learners’ productions are strongly influenced by their native language particularly for sounds which are similar but non-identical in the two languages. However, foreign accent is typically investigated at the level of utterances and as a consequence the segmental basis of foreign accent and its role in communication remain unclear. The principal issues addressed by the current study are whether accentedness at the segmental level is judged categorically by native listeners, and whether consonantal and vocalic segments are treated similarly. British English listeners judged as native or non-native a series of words in which a single vowel or consonant had been replaced by its Spanish-accented counterpart. The degree of segment accent was varied in equal amounts along a 21-step continuum using a blending technique based on native and non-native segments excised from words spoken by a balanced bilingual talker. Listeners assessed 24 distinct consonant and vowel continua. Across all vowel or consonant continua listeners’ nativeness judgements varied with segment nativeness in a non-categorical fashion. However, most individual consonant continua, as well as those vowe...
Source: Speech Communication - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research