L1-Spanish L2-English listeners' perception of a Canadian-English /bIt/-/bId/-/bit/-/bid/ continuum was investigated. Results were largely consistent with the developmental stages for L1-Spanish listeners' acquisition of English /i/ and /I/ hypothesized by Escudero (2000): Stage 0, inability to distinguish. Stage 1, duration based. Stage 2,…

This study evaluated whether age effects on second language (L2) speech learning derive from changes in how the native language (L1) and L2 sound systems interact. According to the "interaction hypothesis" (IH), the older the L2 learner, the less likely the learner is able to establish new vowel categories needed for accurate L2 vowel production…

Study looked at abilities of 5-to 15-year-old monolingual English schoolchildren to replicate foreign pronunciation and intonation. Results show ability to replicate pronunciation declined fairly steadily over the whole age range studied. (Author/BK)

Addresses the issue of using a continuous speech recognition tool to obtain phonetic or phonological representations of speech. Two experiments were carried out in which the performance of a continuous speech recognizer was compared to the performance of expert listeners in a task of judging whether a number of prespecified phones had been…

A descriptive model elaborated to account for the rhythmic organization of French and English is applied to the speech of French learners of English to identify the particular type of cross-linguistic influence operating therein. Evidence is presented for the existence of transitional rhythmic groups, perceived in the interlanguage vowel reduction…

Measured the first two vowel-tract resonances of a sample of native-French speakers for the non-nasalized vowels of that language. Values measured for native speakers for a particular vowel were used as target parameters for subjects who used a visual display of an impedance spectrum of their own vocal tracts as real time feedback to realize the…

Examines predictors of accent transfer from L1 to L2 in a group whose acquisition of English as a second language had begun at ages ranging from 6 to 15 plus. Discusses effects of age on L2 acquisition, adding that the only other strong factor was whether L2 was used in the home. (Author/MES)

This study tested the issue of whether extended length of residence (LOR) in adulthood can provide sufficient input to overcome age effects. The study replicates Flege, Takagi, and Mann (1995), which found that 10 out of 12 Japanese learners of English with extensive residence (12 years or more) produced liquids as accurately as native speakers of…