Phonetics and Speech Sciences (말소리와 음성과학)

Korean Society of Speech Sciences (한국음성학회)
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Attentional modulation on multiple acoustic cues in phonological processing of L2 sounds

  • Hyunjung Lee (Department of English Language Education, Incheon National University) ;
  • Eun Jong Kong (School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Korea Aerospace University)
  • Received : 2023.11.23
  • Accepted : 2023.12.12
  • Published : 2023.12.31
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Abstract

The present study examines how a cognitive attention affects Korean learners of English (L2) in perceiving the English stop voicing distinction (/d/-/t/). This study tested the effect of attentional distractor on primary and non-primary acoustic cues, focusing on the role of Voice Onset Time (VOT) and fundamental frequency (F0). Using the dual-task paradigm, 28 Korean adult learners of English participated in the stop identification task carried with (distractor) and without (no-distractor) arithmetic calculation. Results showed that when distracted, Korean learners' sensitivity to VOT decreased as priorly reported with native English speakers. Furthermore, as F0 is a primary cue for a L1 Korean stop laryngeal contrast, its role in L2 English voicing distinction was also affected by a distractor, without compensating for the reduced VOT sensitivity. These findings suggest that flexible use of multiple cues in L1 is not necessarily beneficial for L2 phonological processing when coping with a adverse listening condition.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Incheon National University Research Grant in 2020.

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