Perception of non-native consonant length contrast: The role of attention in phonetic processing

Vincent J. Porretta, Benjamin V. Tucker

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present investigation examines English speakers’ ability to identify and discriminate non-native consonant length contrast. Three groups (L1 English No-Instruction, L1 English Instruction, and L1 Finnish control) performed a speeded forced-choice identification task and a speeded AX discrimination task on Finnish non-words (e.g. /hupo/–/huppo/) which were manipulated for intervocalic consonant duration. The results indicate that basic information, focusing the participants’ attention on a particular contrast, assists novice listeners in processing a non-native contrast. We find support for a phonetic level of processing which is intermediate to non-linguistic acoustic processing and phonemic processing at which the phonetic cue of duration becomes significant. We interpret the results in relation to the Speech Learning Model (Flege 1995, 2003).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)239-265
Number of pages27
JournalSecond Language Research
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 20 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • attention
  • consonant length
  • non-native contrast
  • perception
  • second language acquisition

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Linguistics and Language

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