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17 - The Speech Perception of Bilingual Adults

from Part IV - The Phonetics and Phonology of the Bilingual Adult

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2024

By
Mark Antoniou
Edited by
Mark Amengual
Mark Amengual
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz
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Summary

This chapter outlines studies within the domain of speech perception by bilingual adult listeners. I first discuss studies that have examined bilinguals’ perception of L1 and/or L2 speech segments, as well as those that have tested perception of unfamiliar, non-native speech segments. In turn, I examine each of the factors that are known to affect bilinguals’ perception of speech, which include age of L2 acquisition, effects of L1:L2 usage as they pertain to language dominance and proficiency, and short-term contextual effects on speech perception. I also provide an overview of the literature on bilinguals’ perception of suprasegmentals. Finally, I explore what I think are some of the crucial questions facing the field of bilingual speech perception.

Keywords

bilingualismadultsnativenon-nativespeech perceptionphoneticsphonologysuprasegmentals
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingual Phonetics and Phonology , pp. 385 - 406
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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