Skef, skef, skif, skef: On the relationship between auditory acuity and vowel production variability in L1, L2, and under the influence of code-switches
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2024
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en
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Speech production is linked to speech perception, and phonemes may even be specified in acoustic terms. Several studies have found that speakers with sharper hearing produce vowels with less variability. This has been demonstrated for speakers’ first (L1), but not their second (L2). In this study, participants read texts in Dutch and English. Between blocks, subjects performed tasks measuring auditory acuity, level of executive control functions and language dominance. The production variability of the vowels /α, ο, ε/ and /ɪ/ did not reliably predict auditory acuity in any of the language blocks. The results were not affected by language dominance or local vowel space density differences between Dutch and English. Finally, no L2-to-L1 phonetic transfer was observed in the production of Dutch vowels directly surrounding an English code-switch. The absence of the expected effects is discussed in light of the methodological design of the study, the current discussion about the robustness of the perception-production link, and the importance of natural variability in speech production.
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Faculteit der Letteren