Second language (L2) learners often struggle to distinguish sound contrasts that are not present in their native language (L1). Models of non-native and L2 sound perception claim that perceptual similarity between L1 and L2 sound contrasts correctly predicts discrimination by naïve listeners and L2 learners. The present study tested the explanatory power of vowel inventory size versus acoustic properties as predictors of discrimination accuracy when naïve Australian English (AusE) and Iberian Spanish (IS) listeners are presented with six Brazilian Portuguese (BP) vowel contrasts. Our results show that IS listeners outperformed AusE listeners, confirming that cross-linguistic acoustic properties, rather than cross-linguistic vowel inventory sizes, successfully predict non-native discrimination difficulty. Furthermore, acoustic distance between BP vowels and closest L1 vowels successfully predicted differential levels of difficulty among the six BP contrasts, with BP /e-i/ and /o-u/ being the most difficult for both listener groups. We discuss the importance of our findings for the adequacy of models of L2 speech perception.

Monolingual Peruvian Spanish listeners identified natural tokens of the Canadian French (CF) and Canadian English (CE) /ɛ/ and /æ/, produced in five consonantal contexts. The results demonstrate that while the CF vowels were mapped to two different native vowels, /e/ and /a/, in all consonantal contexts, the CE contrast was mapped to the single native vowel /a/ in four out of five contexts. Linear discriminant analysis revealed that acoustic similarity between native and target language vowels was a very good predictor of context-specific perceptual mappings. Predictions are made for Spanish learners of the /ɛ/-/æ/ contrast in CF and CE.

The present study investigates multiple category assimilation in Californian English listeners’ cross-language and L2 perception of Spanish vowels, as produced in Lima and Madrid. In labeling and XAB tasks, monolingual California English listeners as well as beginning and advanced learners of Spanish classified 100 Peruvian and 100 Iberian Spanish tokens in terms of 10 native English vowel categories by choosing from English words containing the vowels. Learners of Spanish also identified the Spanish tokens by choosing from the five Spanish vowels. The stimuli were isolated vowels extracted from nonwords produced by 10 female and 10 male monolingual speakers of Spanish from Lima and Madrid. The vowels were produced in the /fVfe/ context and were embedded in a carrier phrase. The results show that Californian English listeners perceived Spanish vowels from both varieties as more than one native vowel category and that this use of extra L1 categories in L2 perception decreased with experience with Spanish. Furthermore, greater multiple category assimilation to native English categories correlated with lower correct identification of the same vowels in the Spanish task. Therefore, multiple category assimilation may be the cause of the problems that Californian English learners have when perceiving Spanish vowels.

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The present study investigates the perceptual assimilation and auditory categorization of Brazilian Portuguese vowels by monolingual speakers of Californian English. In the perceptual assimilation task, listeners classified 140 vowel tokens in terms of 10 native English vowel categories by choosing from written English words containing the vowels. The stimuli were isolated vowels extracted from nonce words produced by 10 male and 10 female native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. In the auditory categorization task, the same listeners identified six Portuguese vowel contrasts which were presented in an XAB format, where X were a subset of the same natural vowel tokens from the previous task and A and B were synthesized prototypes of the Portuguese vowels. The results of the perceptual assimilation task demonstrate that Californian English listeners assimilate two out of six Portuguese vowel contrasts to more than two native vowel categories, resulting in many instances of multiple category assimilation (MCA). In the auditory categorization task, most of the contrasts with the lowest accuracy were those that showed MCA, which demonstrates that this pattern of assimilation may be the cause of Californian English listeners' perceptual difficulties with Portuguese vowels. Predictions for L2 acquisition are made.