The Acquisition of /ɪ/–/iː/ Is Challenging: Perceptual and Production Evidence from Cypriot Greek Speakers of English

Georgiou, Georgios P.

doi:10.3390/bs12120469

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The author concluded that English /ɪ iː e ʌ æ ɑː ɒ ɔː ʊ uː/ were assimilated to Greek /i i e a a o o o u u/ respectively, similar to Georgiou (2019a). A more recent study examined the perception and production of English vowels /ɪ/ and /iː/ by Cypriot Greek adult speakers of L2 English (Georgiou 2022b), showing that both vowels were classified as Cypriot Greek /i/, supporting the findings of previous studies.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…All reported good knowledge of English at the B2/C1 levels and their self-perceived score of English understanding skills was 4.67/5 ( SD = 0.47). Despite the participants’ advanced knowledge of English, it is expected that their L1 will have a great influence on the perception of L2 vowels (see also Georgiou 2022b) due to the fact that they learnt the language academically rather than naturalistically and that pronunciation teaching is often marginalized in English language classrooms in Cyprus (Georgiou 2019b). All participants had healthy hearing and were free from any language or cognitive problems.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Testing this role using different sets of languages (including under-researched ones such as Cypriot Greek) will help us to better define the contribution of acoustic similarity to L2 speech perception and inform the theories which suggest a link between the acoustic distance between L1 and L2 vowels and the perception of the L2 vowels. Importantly, the predictions are based on methods (i.e., chance scores) employed by a new speech model, the Universal Perceptual Model (UPM), which, like other popular models, aims to account for the difficulties of L2 speakers in the discrimination of L2 sound contrasts (see Georgiou 2021aGeorgiou , 2022b. UPM argues that the degree of overlap between non-native phonetic categories defines their perception.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Classification of English vowels in terms of Cypriot Greek categories: The role of acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds

Georgiou

2024

Can. J. Linguist.

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Previous evidence has suggested that acoustic similarity between first language (L1) and second language (L2) sounds is an accurate indicator of the speakers’ L2 classification patterns. This study investigates this assumption by examining how speakers of an under-researched language, namely Cypriot Greek, classify L2 English vowels in terms of their L1 categories. The experimental protocol relied on a perception and a production study. For the purpose of the production study, two linear discriminant analysis (LDA) models, one with both formants and duration (FD) and one with only formants (F) as input, were used to predict this classification; the models included data from both English and Cypriot Greek speakers. The perception study consisted of a classification task performed by adult Cypriot Greek advanced speakers of English who permanently resided in Cyprus. The results demonstrated that acoustic similarity was a relatively good predictor of speakers’ classification patterns as the majority of L2 vowels classified with the highest proportion were predicted with success by the LDA models. In addition, the F model was better than the FD model in predicting the full range of responses. This shows that duration features were less important than formant features for the prediction of L2 vowel classification.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Classification of English vowels in terms of Cypriot Greek categories: The role of acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds

Georgiou

2024

Can. J. Linguist.

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“…Therefore, crosslinguistic acoustic similarity can somehow be successful in predicting the discrimination accuracy of the L2 contrasts (see Alispahic et al, 2017 ; Elvin et al, 2014 ; Escudero et al, 2012 ; Georgiou, 2024 ). In addition, the overlapping parameters proposed by UPM can be a good metric for the estimation of L2 contrast discrimination accuracy (see Georgiou, 2022b ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrimination of Second Language Vowel Contrasts and the Role of Phonological Short-Term Memory and Nonverbal Intelligence

Georgiou,

Giannakou

2024

J Psycholinguist Res

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Although extensive research has focused on the perceptual abilities of second language (L2) learners, a significant gap persists in understanding how cognitive functions like phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and nonverbal intelligence (IQ) impact L2 speech perception. This study sets out to investigate the discrimination of L2 English monophthongal vowel contrasts and to assess the effect of PSTM and nonverbal IQ on L2 speech perception. The participants consisted of adult monolingually-raised Greek speakers, who completed an AX discrimination test, a digit span test, and a nonverbal intelligence test. A control group of English speakers also completed the AX test. Data were analyzed using Bayesian regression models. The results revealed that Greek speakers exhibited below chance discrimination for the majority of L2 vowel contrasts, consistently underperforming in comparison to the control group. Intriguingly, the study did not provide substantial evidence in favor of more accurate discrimination of L2 contrasts by Greek participants with high PSTM compared to those with low PSTM. However, the study yielded compelling evidence indicating that Greek participants with higher IQ demonstrated superior accuracy in discriminating most L2 contrasts compared to their lower IQ counterparts. The limited influence of PSTM on speech perception suggests the need for further exploration, considering the potential impact of test methodologies and the intricate interplay of other confounding factors. Furthermore, the study uncovers a noteworthy relationship between nonverbal IQ and L2 speech perception, likely linked with the association of high IQ with enhanced attentional capacities, information processing abilities, and learning skills—all of which are pivotal for accurate speech perception.

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“…The results confirmed the predictions of UPM concerning the discriminability of sound contrasts based on their overlapping degree. In another study, Georgiou ( 2022b ) found that both cross-linguistic acoustic similarity and UPM could predict the accuracy of the challenging English /iː – ɪ/ vowel contrast as discriminated by Cypriot Greek speakers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of Dutch vowels by Cypriot Greek listeners: To what extent can listeners’ patterns be predicted by acoustic and perceptual similarity?

Georgiou,

Dimitriou

2023

Atten Percept Psychophys

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There have been numerous studies investigating the perception of non-native sounds by listeners with different first language (L1) backgrounds. However, research needs to expand to under-researched languages and incorporate predictions conducted under the assumptions of new speech models. This study aimed to investigate the perception of Dutch vowels by Cypriot Greek adult listeners and test the predictions of cross-linguistic acoustic and perceptual similarity. The predictions of acoustic similarity were formed using a machine-learning algorithm. Listeners completed a classification test, which served as the baseline for developing the predictions of perceptual similarity by employing the framework of the Universal Perceptual Model (UPM), and an AXB discrimination test; the latter allowed the evaluation of both acoustic and perceptual predictions. The findings indicated that listeners classified each non-native vowel as one or more L1 vowels, while the discrimination accuracy over the non-native contrasts was moderate. In addition, cross-linguistic acoustic similarity predicted to a large extent the classification of non-native sounds in terms of L1 categories and both the acoustic and perceptual similarity predicted the discrimination accuracy of all contrasts. Being in line with prior findings, these findings demonstrate that acoustic and perceptual cues are reliable predictors of non-native contrast discrimination and that the UPM model can make accurate estimations for the discrimination patterns of non-native listeners.

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The Acquisition of /ɪ/–/iː/ Is Challenging: Perceptual and Production Evidence from Cypriot Greek Speakers of English

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

Classification of English vowels in terms of Cypriot Greek categories: The role of acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds

Classification of English vowels in terms of Cypriot Greek categories: The role of acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds

Discrimination of Second Language Vowel Contrasts and the Role of Phonological Short-Term Memory and Nonverbal Intelligence

Perception of Dutch vowels by Cypriot Greek listeners: To what extent can listeners’ patterns be predicted by acoustic and perceptual similarity?

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