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Chapter 18 - Auditory Priming Effects on the Pronunciation of Second Language Speech Sounds

from Part V - Cognitive and Psychological Variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2021

By
Lindsay Leong ,
Trude Heift  and
Yue Wang
Edited by
Ratree Wayland
Ratree Wayland
Affiliation:
University of Florida
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Summary

This study examines the effects of auditory priming on second-language (L2) speech production. Mandarin learners of English were presented with an English vowel as an auditory prime followed by an English target word containing either a tenseness congruent (e.g., prime: /i/ – target: “peach”) or incongruent (e.g. prime: /i/ – target: “pitch”) vowel. Pronunciation of the target vowel was measured in terms of duration and formant frequency, as well as intelligibility by native English listeners. Results show a more English-like formant frequency distribution and an increase in intelligibility of the /i/ and /ɪ/ productions in the congruent relative to incongruent condition, suggesting that auditory speech information can positively affect the pronunciation of difficult L2 speech contrasts.

Keywords

AuditoryPrimingSecondLanguagePerceptionProductionMandarinEnglishIntelligibility
Type
Chapter
Information
Second Language Speech Learning
Theoretical and Empirical Progress
 , pp. 439 - 462
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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