The perception of word boundaries in a second language
Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Adult Spanish second language (L2) learners of English and native speakers of English participated in an English perception task designed to investigate their ability to use L2 acoustic-phonetic cues, e.g., aspiration, to segment the stream of speech into words. Subjects listened to a phrase and indicated whether they heard, e.g., keep sparking or keeps parking. The results indicate that learners are significantly worse than native speakers at using acoustic-phonetic cues, and that some types of stimuli are easier for learners to segment than others. The findings suggest that various factors, including transfer and markedness, may be relevant to success in L2 segmentation.
Source: Second language Research
Author: Evelyn P. Altenberg
Institution: Hofstra University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2133100655