Learning to recognize words in English as a second language: Study on the effects of spelling.

Abstract

In this study, we show that second-language (L2) spoken-word recognition is greatly influenced by phonemic differences between the native language (L1) and the second language (L2), and that the pairing of auditory stimuli with orthographic labels can help L2 learners, but it can also hinder their sound categorization. Spanish-speaking English learners (experimental group) completed two listening tasks: An AXB task to determine whether Spanish L2 learners show identification problem in the /b/ vs. /v/ in English and a word monitoring task, in which they monitored words containing either a /b/ or a /v/. Native English listeners (L1 control group) completed the same tasks. The results show a clear effect of L1 on L2 learners’ perception and word recognition, with the control group outperforming the experimental group. These results indicate that L1-L2 phonemic differences have pervasive consequences for spoken-word recognition, and that orthographic information may be either positive or negative in helping learners with categorizing L2 sounds.