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ERIC Number: EJ982782
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0267-6583
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Asymmetries in the Perception of Non-Native Consonantal and Vocalic Length Contrasts
Altmann, Heidi; Berger, Irena; Braun, Bettina
Second Language Research, v28 n4 p387-413 Oct 2012
How well can non-native length contrasts for vowels and for consonants be perceived and is one type more difficult than the other? Three listener groups (native Italian and German as well as advanced German learners of Italian) performed a speeded same-different task involving vocalic and consonantal length contrasts as well as segmental contrasts as controls. Phonologically, Italian, but not German, has a consonantal length contrast, while German, but not Italian, has a vocalic length contrast. Analysis of responses yielded a clear asymmetry: A non-native vowel length contrast was perceived just as well as the native consonantal length contrast. A non-native consonantal length contrast, however, was perceived poorly compared to the native vocalic length contrast: Italians showed higher sensitivity for consonantal length than German learners of Italian, who in turn were better than German non-learners. Reaction time analyses indicated that, despite displaying higher accuracy, the decision was just as difficult for learners as for non-learners, suggesting different types of difficulty for listeners with and without experience with a consonantal length contrast. (Contains 17 notes, 4 tables, and 3 figures.)
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A