Perception of American Vowels by Russian, Spanish and Japanese Learners of English

这项研究调查了说西班牙语、俄语和日语的成年英语学习者在听力和发音方面存在的元音差异。英语包括11到12个不同的元音，而上面列出的三种语言只有5到6个元音。因此，例如，西班牙语、俄语和日语有一个元音(类似于“hot”中的[a]音)，而英语有三个不同的元音(“hat”、“hot”和“hut”)，它们彼此非常相似，并且与西班牙语、俄语和日语中的单一元音非常相似。其他令人困惑的元音还包括那些区分单词对的元音，如“运气--看”、“配偶--相遇”、“脚-适合”和“坑-宠物”。对于英语学习者来说，这些单词对可能听起来像同一个单词(即同音词)。如果不能正确读出这些元音，就会产生带有外国口音的语音，这可能会干扰交流。不太明显的是，未能察觉元音之间的差异可能会干扰英语学习者理解英语使用者的话语的能力。随着成年英语学习者在听和说新语言的过程中获得经验，其中一些感知和发音问题得到了改善；然而，即使在英语口语环境中沉浸了多年，一些元音仍然会被混淆，特别是在困难的听力条件下(在嘈杂的房间里，当语言学习者被占用或疲惫时)。这项研究项目考察了西班牙、俄罗斯和日本成年英语学习者使用更接近于真实生活听力条件的语音材料和听力条件的感知困难。感知处理的行为测量和大脑测量都将在不同英语语言经验的听者群体中获得。从这些结果可以确定这些英语学习者潜在的处理困难，以及非最佳听力条件对他们的感知和产出表现的影响。这些发现将有助于语音处理的基本理论，也将为改善移民人口的英语测试和教学奠定经验基础。在日益全球化的经济和政治世界中，了解和改善说不同母语的人的沟通问题非常重要。英语口语能力对于美国移民人口的教育和经济发展极其重要。

This research investigates the difficulties that Spanish, Russian, and Japanese speaking adult learners of English have in hearing and pronouncing differences among vowel sounds. English includes 11-12 distinct vowels sounds, whereas the three languages listed above have only 5-6 vowel sounds. Thus, for instance, where Spanish, Russian and Japanese have one vowel (similar to the [a] sound as in "hot"), English has three different vowels (the sounds in "hat", "hot" and "hut") that are very similar to each other and to the single vowel sound in Spanish, Russian and Japanese. Other confusing vowels include those that distinguish word pairs such as "luck-look", "mate-met", "feet-fit" and "pit-pet". To the English learner, these word pairs may sound like the same word (i.e. homonyms). A failure to pronounce these vowel sounds correctly leads to 'foreign-accented' speech that may interfere with communication. What is less obvious is that failures to perceive the differences between vowels may interfere with English language learners' ability to understand English speakers' utterances. As adult learners of English gain experience in listening to and speaking the new language, some of these perception and production problems are ameliorated; however, even after years of immersion in an English speaking environment, some vowel sounds continue to be confused, especially in difficult listening conditions (in noisy rooms, when the language learner is otherwise occupied, or is fatigued).This research project examines the perceptual difficulties of Spanish, Russian and Japanese adult English learners using speech materials and listening conditions that more closely simulate 'real life' listening conditions. Both behavioral measures and brain measures of perceptual processing will be obtained on groups of listeners who vary across a wide range of English language experience. From the results, the underlying processing difficulties of these English learners and the effects of non-optimal listening conditions on their perception and production performance can be determined. These findings will contribute to basic theories of speech processing and will also lay an empirical foundation for improving English-language testing and instruction for immigrant populations. In an increasingly globalized economic and political world, understanding and ameliorating communication problems by speakers of different 'mother tongues' is of great importance. Spoken English proficiency is extremely important for the educational and economic advancement of immigrant populations in the USA.