Perceptual Identification of English Consonant Contrasts under Phonetic Positions and Acoustic Conditions

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  In Roundtable Session: Phonological and Morphological Instruction for Diverse Learners

Abstract

This study investigated how age and language background affect Malaysian-Chinese’s English consonant contrast perception under acoustic and phonetic conditions. A total of 92 participants, including 45 children and 47 adults with English or Mandarin as their dominant language,completed a perceptual identification task in both quiet and noisy settings. The experimental stimuli are /t/-/d/ (e.g., bet – bed), /f/-/v/ (e.g., fan - van) and /r/-/l/ (e.g., war – wall). A 2*2*2 mixed-design ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of acoustic condition, with reduced accuracy in noise. Adults outperformed children across conditions, particularly on word-final consonants. However, no significant interactions with language background were found. Findings support early perceptual plasticity theories and have implications for second language instruction in high-variability learning environments.

Authors

• Katherine Jiawen Ren, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Chuang Wang, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Christine Leong, University of Nottingham