Explicit phonetics instruction can help second language (L2) learners to moderately improve their pronunciation, but less is known about how the instruction affects learners’ perception, even though there is evidence that perception and pronunciation are related. This study provided phonetics instruction to students (n = 46) studying Spanish as a foreign language and measured the resulting change in their perception of eight target phones as compared with a control group (n = 41). Perception was assessed with discrimination tests immediately following instruction and three weeks later. Results indicated that the instruction conferred a small advantage in the delayed posttest and that course level was not a significant factor, suggesting that phonetics instruction was effective for attuning the perception of learners at multiple stages of development.
AkerbergM. (2005). La percepción auditiva como factor en la adquisición de sonidos de L2 [Auditory perception as a factor in the acquisition of L2 sounds]. In AkerbergM. (Ed.), Adquisición de segundas lenguas: Estudios y perspectivas [Second language acquisition: Studies and perspectives] (pp. 45–72). México, DF: UNAM.
2.
Aliaga-GarcíaC.MoraJ.C.Cerviño-PovedanoE. (2011). L2 speech learning in adulthood and phonological short-term memory. Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 47, 1–14.
3.
Archila-SuerteP.ZevinJ.BuntaF.HernandezA.E. (2011). Age of acquisition and proficiency in a second language independently influence the perception of non-native speech. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15, 190–201.
4.
AusínA.SuttonM. (2010). An L2 pronunciation judgment task. In BorgonovoC.Español-EchevarríaM.PrévostP. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the twelfth Hispanic linguistics symposium (pp. 234–245). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
5.
Barrera-PardoD.B. (2004). Can pronunciation be taught?: A review of research and implications for teaching. Revista Alicantina De Estudios Ingleses, 17, 6–38.
6.
BoomershineA.HallK.C.HumeE.JohnsonK. (2008). The impact of allophony versus contrast on speech perception. In AveryP.DresherE.RiceK. (Eds.), Contrast in phonology (pp. 143–172). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
7.
BradlowA.R.YamadaR.A.PisoniD.B.TohkuraY. (1999). Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: Long-term retention of learning in perception and production. Perception and Psychophysics, 61, 977–985.
8.
CarrollJ.B. (1962). The prediction of success in foreign language training. In GlaserR. (Ed.), Training research and education (pp. 87–136). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
9.
CastinoJ. (1996). Impact of a phonetics course on FL learners’ acquisition of Spanish phonology. Selecta. Journal of the Pacific Northwest Council on Foreign Languages, 17, 55–58.
10.
Champagne-MuzarC.ScheneidermanE.BourdagesJ. (1996). Second language accent: The role of the pedagogical environment. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 143–160.
11.
ChastainK. (1976). Developing second language skills: Theory to practice. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.
12.
ColantoniL.SteeleJ. (2008). Integrating articulatory constraints into models of second language phonological acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 489–534.
13.
de JongK.HaoY.C.ParkH. (2009). Evidence for featural units in the acquisition of speech production skills: Linguistic structure in foreign accent. Journal of Phonetics, 37, 357–373.
14.
Dehaene-LambertzG.PallierC.SerniclaesW.Sprenger-CharollesL.JobertA.DehaeneS. (2005). Neural correlates of switching from auditory to speech mode. Neuroimage, 24, 21–33.
15.
DerwingT.M.RossiterM. (2003). The effects of pronunciation instruction on the accuracy, fluency, and complexity of L2 accented speech. Applied Language Learning, 13, 1–17.
16.
DerwingT.M.MunroM.J.WiebeG.E. (1997). Pronunciation instruction for ‘fossilized’ learners: Can it help?Applied Language Learning, 8, 217–235.
17.
DerwingT.M. (2003). What do ESL students say about their accents?Canadian Modern Language Review, 59, 547–566.
18.
EckmanF.R.IversonG.K.FoxR.A.JacewiczE.LeeS. (2011). Explicit training and implicit learning of L2 phonemic contrasts. In SanzC.LeowR.P. (Eds.), Implicit and explicit conditions, processes, and knowledge in SLA and bilingualism (pp. 159–174). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
19.
ElliottA.R. (1995). Foreign language phonology: Field independence, attitude, and the success of formal instruction in Spanish pronunciation. The Modern Language Journal, 79, 530–542.
20.
ElliottA.R. (1997). On the teaching and acquisition of pronunciation within a communicative approach. Hispania, 80, 95–108.
21.
FaceT.L. (2006). Intervocalic rhotic pronunciation by adult learners of Spanish as a second language. In KleeC.A.FaceT.L. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the seventh conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages (pp. 47–58). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
22.
FaceT.L.MenkeM.R. (2010). Acquisition of the Spanish rhotics by L2 learners. Unpublished paper presented at Current approaches to Spanish and Portuguese L2 phonology, Gainesville, FL, USA.
23.
FlegeJ.E. (1988). The production and perception of speech sounds in a foreign language. In WinitzH. (Ed.), Human communication and its disorders: A review (pp. 224–401). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
24.
FlegeJ.E. (1995). Second-language speech learning: Theory, findings and problems. In StrangeW. (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Theoretical and methodological issues in cross-language speech research (pp. 229–273). Timonium, MD: York Press Inc.
25.
FlegeJ.E.MacKayI. (2011). What accounts for ‘age’ effects on overall degree of foreign accent? In WrembelM.KulM.Dziubalska-KołaczykK. (Eds.), Achievements and perspectives in the acquisition of second language speech: New sounds 2010: Volume 2 (pp. 65–82). Bern: Peter Lang.
26.
FullanaN. (2006). The development of English (FL) perception and production skills: Starting age and exposure effects. In MuñozC. (Ed.), Age and the rate of foreign language learning (pp. 41–64). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
27.
García LecumberriM. (1999). Influencia del tratamiento fonético en la percepción de vocales inglesas en una situación de L2 [Influence of phonetic processing in the perception of English vowels in an L2 context]. In CuevasJ.FaslaD. (Eds.), Contribuciones al estudio de la lingüística aplicada [Contributions to the study of applied linguistics] (pp. 181–188). Logroño: Gráficas Ochoa.
28.
GolestaniN.ZatorreR.J. (2009). Individual differences in the acquisition of second language phonology. Brain and Language, 109, 55–67.
29.
González-BuenoM. (1997). Effects of formal instruction on the improvement in the pronunciation of Spanish stops by second language learners: Changes in voice onset time in initial stops /p, t, k/ and /b, d, g/. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
30.
Gómez LacabexE.García LecumberriM.L.CookeM. (2009). Training and generalization effects of English vowel reduction for Spanish listeners. In WatkinsM.A.RauberA.S.BaptistaB.O. (Eds.), Recent research in second language phonetics/phonology: Perception and production (pp. 32–42). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publisher.
31.
GotoH. (1971). Auditory perception by normal Japanese adults of the sounds ‘L’ and ‘R’. Neuropsychologia, 9, 317–323.
32.
Guion-AndersonS. (2013). Speech perception. In ChapelleC.A. (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 5348–5356). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
33.
HualdeJ.I. (2005). The sounds of Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34.
HwangJ. (2011). Non-native perception and production of foreign sequences. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
35.
JamiesonD.G.MorosanD.E. (1989). Training new, nonnative speech contrasts: A comparison of the prototype and perceptual fading techniques. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 43, 88–96.
36.
LadoB. (2008). The role of bilingualism, type of feedback, and cognitive capacity in the acquisition of non-primary languages: A computer-based study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
37.
LiskerL.AbramsonA. (1964). A cross-language study of voicing in initial stops: Acoustical measurements. Word, 20, 384–382.
38.
LoganJ.S.PruitJ.S. (1995). Methodological issues in training listeners to perceive non- native phonemes. In StrangeW. (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Theoretical and methodological issues in cross-language speech research (pp. 351–377). Timonium, MD: York Press.
39.
LordG. (2005). (How) can we teach foreign language pronunciation?: On the effects of a Spanish phonetics course. Hispania, 88, 557–567.
40.
LordG. (2010). The combined effects of immersion and instruction on second language pronunciation. Foreign Language Annals, 43, 488–503.
41.
MacKayI.R.A.MeadorD.FlegeJ.E. (2001). The identification of English consonants by native speakers of Italian. Phonetica, 58, 103–125.
42.
MarkhamD.J. (1997). Phonetic imitation, accent, and the learner. Lund: Lund University Press.
43.
Martínez-CeldránE. (2004). Problems in the classification of approximants. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34, 201–210.
44.
MatthewsJ. (1997). The influence of pronunciation training on the perception of second language contrasts. In LeatherJ.JamesA. (Eds.), New sounds 97: Proceedings of the third international symposium on the acquisition of second-language speech (pp. 223–229). Klagenfurt: University of Klagenfurt.
45.
McCandlessB.D.FiezJ.A.ProtopapasA.ConwayM.McClellandJ.L. (2002). Success and failure in teaching the r–l contrast to Japanese adults: Predictions of a Hebbian model of plasticity and stabilization in spoken language perception. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 2, 89–108.
46.
McCandlessP.WinitzH. (1986). Test of pronunciation following one year of comprehension instruction in college German. Modern Language Journal, 70, 355–362.
47.
MoyerA. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology: The critical factors of age, motivation and instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 81–108.
48.
MunroM.N. (2008). Aptitude for novel speech sounds and sound sequences: Implications for second-language pronunciation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
49.
NewmanR.S. (1996). Individual differences and the perception-production link. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 99, 2592–2603.
50.
PenningtonM. (1992). Reflecting on teaching and learning: A development focus for the second language classroom. In FlowerdewJ.BrockM.HsiaS. (Eds.), Perspectives on second language classroom teacher education (pp. 47–65). Kowloon: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.
51.
PiskeT.MacKayJ.R.A.FlegeJ.E. (2001). Factors affecting degree of foreign accent in an L2: A review. Journal of Phonetics, 29, 191–215.
52.
PolkaL. (1992). Characterizing the influence of native language experience on adult speech perception. Perception and Psychophysics, 52, 37–52.
53.
RobinsonP. (2002). Individual differences and instructed language learning. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
54.
RochetB.L. (1995). In StrangeW. (Ed.), Perception and production of second-language speech sounds by adults. Baltimore, MD: York Press.
55.
StrangeW.ShaferV.L. (2008). Speech perception in second language learners: The re-education of selective perception. In Hansen EdwardsG.J.ZampiniM.L. (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 153–191). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
56.
TeesR.C.WerkerJ.F. (1984). Perceptual flexibility: Maintenance or recovery of the ability to discriminate non-native speech sounds. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 38, 579–590.
57.
ThompsonI. (1991). Foreign accents revisited: The English pronunciation of Russian immigrants. Language Learning, 41, 177–204.
58.
TimmisI. (2002). Native-speaker norms and international English: A classroom view. English Language Teaching Journal, 56, 240–249.
59.
TrudeA.M.TokowiczN. (2011). Negative transfer from Spanish and English to Portuguese pronunciation: The roles of inhibition and working memory. Language Learning, 61,259–280.
60.
VenkatagiriH.S.LevisJ.M. (2007). Phonological awareness and speech comprehensibility: An exploratory study. Language Awareness, 16, 263–277.
61.
WalzJ. (1980). An empirical study of pronunciation errors in French. The French Review, 53, 424–432.
62.
WerkerJ.F.LoganJ.S. (1985). Cross-language evidence for three factors in the perception of non-native speech sounds. Perception and Psychophysics, 37, 35–44.
63.
WerkerJ.F.TeesR.C. (1984). Phonemic and phonetic factors in adult cross language speech perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 75, 1866–1878.
64.
WodeH. (1981). Learning a second language: An integrated view of language acquisition. Tübingen: Narr.
65.
YuleG.HoffmanP.DamicoJ. (1987). Paying attention to pronunciation: The role of self-monitoring in perception. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 765–768.
66.
ZampiniM.L. (1993). Spanish and English voiced stop phonemes and spirantization: A study in second language acquisition. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
67.
ZampiniM.L. (1998). The relationship between the production and perception of L2 Spanish stops. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 3, 85–100.
