“…The new perspective also offers a testable approach for further verification of L2 speech learning models and the study of various contributors to the dynamic process of perceptual warping of acoustic and phonological information in the time course of L2 speech acquisition. The present study builds on previous studies on L2 learners (e.g., Hao, ; Wayland & Guion, ), native speakers (e.g., Wang et al, ; Xi et al, ; K. Yu et al, ; L. Yu et al, ), and nonnative listeners (e.g., Gandour et al, ; Klein, Zatorre, Milner, & Zhao, ; Wong, Parsons, Martinez, & Diehl, ), and we argue that L2 speech acquisition can be conceptualized as a dynamic process of fine‐tuning perceptual sensitivities to the acoustic and phonological information in the target L2 sound system. For the beginning stages, L2 learners may primarily process the L2 speech contrasts in an “acoustic” mode.…”