The Effects of L2 Experience and Vowel Context on the Perceptual Assimilation of English Fricatives by L2 Thai Learners

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of vowel context and language experience in the perceived similarity between L2 English fricatives and Thai sounds. The target English sounds being investigated were the sounds /v, f, w, θ, tʰ, s, ð, d, z, ʃ, t͡ ʃ/. These sounds were elicited from four native English speakers in words in onset position and followed by three vowel contexts: high, low and back. Subjects were 54 Thai students divided into two groups: English-major and non-English-major. These Thai learners were asked to identify the sounds they heard with the Thai sounds that were closest in their perception. The findings showed that 1) all shared sounds were matched with the same L1 categories, suggesting that the existence of L2 sounds in the L1 sound system supports the perception; 2) most non-shared sounds, except English /θ/ were matched to Thai sounds that were suggested in previous literature; 3) the perceived similarity of English /θ/ and the L1 Thai sounds showed the effect of the vowel context in that this sound was mostly matched with Thai /f/ in the high and low vowel contexts whereas in the back vowel context, it was matched with Thai /s/; 4) the perceived similarities of both shared and non-shared sounds were affected by vowel context and language experience. The findings of this study shed light on the importance exploring perceived similarities and differences in the phonetic level rather than the phonological one.

The Effect of L2 Experience on the Perceptual Assimilation of British English Monophthongs to Thai Monophthongs by L2 Thai Learners

“…Although some results are contrastive to the concept of the importance of the L2 experience in the L2 speech learning, many of them support this idea as shown in many previous studies (e.g., Kitikanan, 2017;Levy, 2009). For example, English /ae/ was mostly perceived as Thai /ae/ in the high-experienced group, but as Thai /a/ in the low-experienced group.…”

“…The results showed that English diphthongs were consistently perceived as closer to Spanish diphthongs than to Spanish monophthongs. Although there are many studies on the perceived similarity between the English vowels and the L1 vowels, the number of perceptual assimilation research that includes the experience of the L2 (e.g., Kitikanan, 2017;Levy, 2009) is small despite the L2 experience has shown to be important in the L2 phonological learning. For example, in the study of Kitikanan (2017), the perceived similarity between English fricatives and related sounds, and L1 Thai categories was investigated.…”

“…Although there are many studies on the perceived similarity between the English vowels and the L1 vowels, the number of perceptual assimilation research that includes the experience of the L2 (e.g., Kitikanan, 2017;Levy, 2009) is small despite the L2 experience has shown to be important in the L2 phonological learning. For example, in the study of Kitikanan (2017), the perceived similarity between English fricatives and related sounds, and L1 Thai categories was investigated. Many findings of this study showed the influence of the L2 experience over the perceptual assimilation patterns, such as when the high-experienced group perceived English /z/ as similar to Thai /s/ in a higher degree than the low-experienced group in all vowel contexts.…”

The Impressionistic Study of English /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ in Initial Position by L2 Thai Learners

“…Richards (1969) and Kitikanan (2016) also suggested that /ʃ/ was difficult for L2 Thai learners to appropriately pronounce because of its nonexistence in their L1. /tʃ /and /ʃ/ were often substituted with the Thai affricate sound "ช" /tɕʰ/ in both production and perception by L2 Thai learners as they phonetically share the most features with /tɕʰ/ as supported in previous studies (Kitikanan, 2017;Richards, 1969). Briere and Chiachanpong (1980) even directly employed /tʃ/ to symbolize /tɕʰ/ or "ช" sound in the Thai stimuli of their study since they share the most similar place of articulation.…”

“…In the impressionistic analysis, /ʃ/ was deemed to have been articulated as [tʃ], like the word "shop" /ʃɒp/ realized as [tʃɒp], suggesting that /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ are problematic sounds for L2 Thai learners. Several research studies (Anam, 2018;Brière & Chiachanpono, 1980;Kitikanan, 2016Kitikanan, , 2017Pansottee, 1992;Richards, 1969;Roengpitya, 2011) have been put forward to address the production or perception of /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ sounds of L2 Thai learners. However, none of them have been conducted to explore the production of /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ sounds by L2 Thai learners by comparing them with the production of the Thai "ช" /tɕʰ/, and focusing on other factors such as vowel contexts and L2 learner's experience.…”