ISCA Archive ISAPh 2024
ISCA Archive ISAPh 2024

Examining L2 Vowel Contrast Perception in the EFL Classroom – A Study on Spanish/Catalan Speaker Acquisition of English Tense and Lax Vowels

Adrián Salcedo, Joaquín Romero

This study assessed the cue weighting of vowel duration and spectra in non-native vowel perception among Spanish/Catalan EFL learners of 13-14 years of age and the effect of training in vowel perception and production. A two-alternative forced-choice test was administered, which contained 50 resynthesized beat-bit tokens manipulated in five steps in quantity and quality. Productions of minimal pairs /i/-/ɪ/, /u/-/ʊ/ were also recorded from subjects. The subjects (N=43) were divided into pronunciation trainings. The first group was taught explicitly (N=10), with tense and lax categories; the second group learnt pronunciation implicitly (N=15); the third group learnt length-based vowel categories (N=18). Linear Mixed Models were run to analyze the perception and the production data. The perception analysis revealed a significant reliance on vowel duration at some steps of the continuum, and on vowel quality to a lesser extent. The analysis of the production data found an incipient categorization of /i/ and /ɪ/ albeit differing in native F1-F2 values, and of /u/-/ʊ/ to a lesser extent.