Academic Paper |
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| Title: | Explaining individual variation in L2 perception: Rounded vowels in English learners of German |
| Author: | Robert Alexander Mayr |
| Email: | click here to access email |
| Homepage: | http://www3.uwic.ac.uk/english/health/slt/people/pages/rmayr.aspx |
| Institution: | University of Wales Institute, Cardiff |
| Author: | Paola Escudero |
| Email: | click here to access email |
| Homepage: | http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/ |
| Institution: | University of Amsterdam |
| Linguistic Field: | Language Acquisition |
| Abstract: | Most empirical research in L2 vowel perception focuses on the development of groups of learners. However, recent studies indicate that individual learners' developmental paths in L2 vowel perception may not be uniform (e.g., Escudero, 2001; Escudero and Boersma, 2004; Morrison, 2009). The aim of the present study is to add to this line of research by investigating (1) whether individual English learners of German follow different paths in their perceptual development of six rounded German vowels, and (2) whether the observed patterns are explicable on the basis of Escudero's (2005) (L2LP) model. A cross-language perceptual assimilation experiment revealed that learners’ assimilation of L2 sounds to native categories is indeed highly diverse, yet systematic. Importantly, these cross-language mapping patterns largely predict the learners’ further development in L2 vowel perception, as assessed in a forced-choice identification task. Implications for explanatory frameworks in second-language speech research are discussed. |
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This article appears in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition Vol. 13, Issue 3, which you can read on Cambridge's site or on LINGUIST . |
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