Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception
Listeners identify phonemes of a language via acoustic cues. For instance, the English /i:/-/ɪ/ vowels are distinguished by the vowel length and spectral range between the first (F1) and second (F2) formant frequency of the vowels. The research in this dissertation examined perceptual weighting of t...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1797110991943630848 |
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| author | Zheng, Z |
| author_facet | Zheng, Z |
| author_sort | Zheng, Z |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Listeners identify phonemes of a language via acoustic cues. For instance, the English /i:/-/ɪ/ vowels are distinguished by the vowel length and spectral range between the first (F1) and second (F2) formant frequency of the vowels. The research in this dissertation examined perceptual weighting of two acoustic cues, namely vowel duration and spectra, in the perception of English /i:/-/ɪ/ vowel contrasts by native speakers of British English and Chinese L2 learners of English. First, it asked how native speakers and L2 English learners weighted the cues at the group level. Second, it investigates the individual differences for the native and L2 group and what had caused such variability in the L2 speakers. Third, this research examined instruction’s role on cue weighting of English /i:/-/ɪ/. In Experiment 1, a total of 29 native speakers of British English and 29 Chinese L2 learners of English identified the vowels in synthesized ‘bead-bid’ and ‘steet-stit’ continua which differed in 7 spectral and temporal steps. After the forced-choice task, each participants completed a background questionnaire. Experiment 2 adopted a pre- and post-test design, where a total of 48 L1- Mandarin L2 English learners (23 participants in the control group and 25 in the experimental group) completed similar word identification task as in Experiment 1. The experimental group completed a treatment session where they were explicitly instructed in the differences between English /i:/-/ɪ/, while the control group heard the same minimal pairs of the contrast without the instruction. Participants in Experiment 2 also completed the background questionnaire. The results showed that, at the group level, both the native speakers and L2 learns relied predominantly on vowel duration. Substantial variability of cue weighting behaviors was found at the individual level for both L1 and L2 English speakers, but neither self-perceived English proficiency nor experience of living in English-speaking countries were found to have significant influence on cue weighting at the group level. Regarding the role of instruction, Experiment 1 found previous instruction as a significant predictor of the L2 cue weighting pattern. Experiment 2 found no evidence of such influence of instruction from the correlational perspective, but it did find that, from the causal perspective, intervention of explicitly instructing the participants about the differences between English /i:/-/ɪ/ had led the experimental group to down-weigh the vowel duration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:03:59Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:acdba168-0cf3-4dff-9f1f-8663e79e29cf |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:03:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:acdba168-0cf3-4dff-9f1f-8663e79e29cf2023-10-12T08:48:18ZAcoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perceptionThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdccuuid:acdba168-0cf3-4dff-9f1f-8663e79e29cfsecond language acquisitionlinguisticsapplied linguisticsexperimental phonologyEnglishHyrax Deposit2023Zheng, ZListeners identify phonemes of a language via acoustic cues. For instance, the English /i:/-/ɪ/ vowels are distinguished by the vowel length and spectral range between the first (F1) and second (F2) formant frequency of the vowels. The research in this dissertation examined perceptual weighting of two acoustic cues, namely vowel duration and spectra, in the perception of English /i:/-/ɪ/ vowel contrasts by native speakers of British English and Chinese L2 learners of English. First, it asked how native speakers and L2 English learners weighted the cues at the group level. Second, it investigates the individual differences for the native and L2 group and what had caused such variability in the L2 speakers. Third, this research examined instruction’s role on cue weighting of English /i:/-/ɪ/. In Experiment 1, a total of 29 native speakers of British English and 29 Chinese L2 learners of English identified the vowels in synthesized ‘bead-bid’ and ‘steet-stit’ continua which differed in 7 spectral and temporal steps. After the forced-choice task, each participants completed a background questionnaire. Experiment 2 adopted a pre- and post-test design, where a total of 48 L1- Mandarin L2 English learners (23 participants in the control group and 25 in the experimental group) completed similar word identification task as in Experiment 1. The experimental group completed a treatment session where they were explicitly instructed in the differences between English /i:/-/ɪ/, while the control group heard the same minimal pairs of the contrast without the instruction. Participants in Experiment 2 also completed the background questionnaire. The results showed that, at the group level, both the native speakers and L2 learns relied predominantly on vowel duration. Substantial variability of cue weighting behaviors was found at the individual level for both L1 and L2 English speakers, but neither self-perceived English proficiency nor experience of living in English-speaking countries were found to have significant influence on cue weighting at the group level. Regarding the role of instruction, Experiment 1 found previous instruction as a significant predictor of the L2 cue weighting pattern. Experiment 2 found no evidence of such influence of instruction from the correlational perspective, but it did find that, from the causal perspective, intervention of explicitly instructing the participants about the differences between English /i:/-/ɪ/ had led the experimental group to down-weigh the vowel duration. |
| spellingShingle | second language acquisition linguistics applied linguistics experimental phonology Zheng, Z Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception |
| title | Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception |
| title_full | Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception |
| title_fullStr | Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception |
| title_short | Acoustic cue-weighting in L1 and L2 English vowel perception |
| title_sort | acoustic cue weighting in l1 and l2 english vowel perception |
| topic | second language acquisition linguistics applied linguistics experimental phonology |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhengz acousticcueweightinginl1andl2englishvowelperception |