A Longitudinal Investigation of Explicit and Implicit Auditory Processing in L2 Segmental and Suprasegmental Acquisition

Abstract

Precise auditory perception at a subcortical level (neural representation and encoding of sound) has been suggested as a form of implicit L2 aptitude in naturalistic settings. Emerging evidence suggests that such implicit aptitude explains some variance in L2 speech perception and production among adult learners with different first language backgrounds and immersion experience. By examining 46 Chinese learners of English, the current study longitudinally investigated the extent to which explicit and implicit auditory processing ability could predict L2 segmental and prosody acquisition over a 5-month early immersion. According to the results, participants’ L2 gains were associated with more explicit and integrative auditory processing ability (remembering and reproducing music sequences), while the role of implicit, preconscious perception appeared to be negligible at the initial stage of postpubertal L2 speech learning.

Does domain-general auditory processing uniquely explain the outcomes of second language speech acquisition, even once cognitive and demographic variables are accounted for?

“…An emerging paradigm suggests that individual differences in auditory processing play a key role in determining the rate and ultimate attainment of post-pubertal L2 speech learning (Kachlicka et al, 2019; Saito & Tierney, forthcoming; Sun et al, 2021). Examining 70 college-level Japanese speakers of English with varied experience and proficiency levels, the current investigation explores whether auditory processing overlaps or differs from other cognitive abilities (working, declarative, and procedural memory); and the extent to which degree auditory processing can uniquely explain the outcomes of L2 speech learning when participants’ memory and experience profiles are factored out.…”

“…Auditory processing is defined as one's capacity to precisely represent, discriminate, and categorize acoustic information. While the relationship between auditory processing and L1 acquisition remains open to discussion, growing evidence suggests that the effects of auditory processing could be relatively strong in the context of L2 acquisition in adulthood, especially in immersion contexts (e.g., Kachlicka, Saito & Tierney, 2019; Saito & Tierney, forthcoming; Sun, Saito & Tierney, 2021).…”

“…The emerging findings in support of the relatively strong connection between auditory processing and post-pubertal L2 speech acquisition have been replicated with other groups of L2 learners with diverse L1 backgrounds (e.g., Chinese, Polish, Spanish; Saito, Sun, Kachlicka, Robert, Nakata & Tierney, 2021b) across different dimensions of L2 learning (e.g., Kachlicka et al, 2019 and Saito, Macmillan, Kroeger, Magne, Takizawa, Kachlicka & Tierney, 2022 for lexicogrammar learning; Saito, Sun & Tierney, 2019; Saito, Kachlicka, Sun & Tierney, 2020a; Saito, Suzukida, Tran & Tierney, 2021a for speech production) from both cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives (Saito et al, 2020b; Sun et al, 2021). On the whole, it seems that the outcomes of L2 speech learning could be equally affected by factors related to auditory processing and biographical backgrounds.…”

Roles of domain-general auditory processing in spoken second-language vocabulary attainment in adulthood

“…To further examine the causal relationship between auditory processing, experience, and L2 speech learning, it is necessary to conduct a longitudinal investigation. For example, future studies should explore the variance in phonological and lexical aspects of L2 proficiency in participants with various auditory processing profiles over a certain period of training (Chandrasekaran et al, 2010) and immersion (Sun et al, 2021).…”

How Does Having a Good Ear Promote Instructed Second Language Pronunciation Development? Roles of Domain‐General Auditory Processing in Choral Repetition Training

“…Auditory-motor integration (rhythm, melody). Based on the procedure and materials developed by Tierney, White-Schwoch, MacLean, and Kraus (2017), Saito, Suzuki, et al (2021), andSun et al (2021), two different audio-motor integration tasks were implementedrhythm and melody reproduction.…”