Reference

Eger, N., Mitterer, H., Reinisch, E. (2018). Processing of German /h/ and /ʔ/ by Italian Learners. In Phonetik Und Phonologie Im Deutschsprachigen Raum (P&P) 2018.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{egerProcessingGermanItalian2018,
  title = {Processing of {{German}} /h/ and /ʔ/ by {{Italian}} Learners},
  booktitle = {Phonetik Und {{Phonologie}} Im Deutschsprachigen {{Raum}} ({{P}}\&{{P}}) 2018},
  author = {Eger, Nikola Anna and Mitterer, Holger and Reinisch, Eva},
  year = {2018},
  address = {Vienna},
  abstract = {While most research on second language (L2) sound learning has focused on sounds that are difficult because they are close but not identical to first language (L1) categories [1, 2] relatively less is known about the acquisition of L2 sounds that occur in the L1 only as paralinguistic sounds or in hyperarticulated speech. A case in point are German /h/ and /ʔ/ for Italian learners. Importantly, for Italians German /h/ is a well-known problem. In contrast, the presence of /ʔ/ in words that are spelled with an initial vowel is often not even known to native speakers of German. Yet, both /h/ and /ʔ/ are important for spoken word recognition for native speakers of German [3]. Here we asked whether the different status of awareness of the presence and difficulty of these sounds -- including the orthographic coding of /h/ but not /ʔ/ -- plays a role in L2 word recognition and is reflected in L2 lexical representations. Forty /h/- and 40 /ʔ/- initial picturable German words were recorded by a native speaker of German in three versions: correctly, with the two critical sounds substituted (e.g., /ʔ/andschuh for Handschuh), or the critical sound deleted. To highlight the presence vs. absence of the critical sounds words were embedded in carrier sentences following a nasal, such as `Er gab ihr seinen' Handschuh ``He gave her his glove''. Thirty-six Italian medium-to-good proficiency learners of German were asked to listen to the sentences and choose the target from three pictures on a screen while their eye-movements were monitored. Half of the participants were assigned the correct vs. substituted condition, half the correct vs. deleted condition. Analyses of target fixations revealed that word recognition in the correct vs. substituted condition was not different for either target sound. However, in the deleted vs. correct condition learners fixated on the target less if the initial sound was deleted, but even this effect was subtle. The deletion effect was also larger in size for /h/ than for /ʔ/, but given that the main effect was subtle, the interaction (deletion by target sound) was far from significant. Assuming that eye-tracking reveals the degree of match between acoustic input and lexical representations that are being accessed [4], these results suggest that the Italian learners have established a representation for a fuzzy glottal sound for (otherwise) vowel-initial words, which might be stronger for /h/-initial words. An additional explicit goodness rating task of the targets in the different conditions showed effects of substitutions and deletions for both, /ʔ/ and /h/, suggesting that learners can acoustically differentiate between them, presumably because they are known as paralinguistic sounds in the L1. We conclude that the awareness of a difficult L2 sound may help forming a new category. Yet, the actual representation may not be fine-grained enough to be used in processing small differences.  [1] J. E. Flege, ``Assessing constraints on second-language segmental production and perception.'' In Phonetics and Phonology in Language Comprehension and Production: Differences and Similarities, N. Shiller \& A. Meyer (Hrsg.), Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003, pp. 319--358.  [2] M. Broersma, ``Increased lexical activation and reduced competition in second-language listening``. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27, 1205-1224, 2012.  [3] H. Mitterer \& E. Reinisch, ``Letters don't matter: No effect of orthography on the perception of conversational speech``. Journal of Memory and Language, 85, 116-134, 2015.  [4] D. Dahan, J. Magnuson, \& M. Tanenhaus, ``Time course of frequency effects in spoken-word recognition: Evidence from eye-movements``. Cognitive Psychology, 42, 317-367, 2001.},
  annotation = {Abstract only}
}