Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LIPPS (Literacy’s influence on the production and perception of speech)
Période du rapport: 2020-01-01 au 2021-12-31
This project investigated the effect of word spellings (orthography) on the ability of bilinguals and monolinguals to produce and perceive speech sounds in their second or a foreign language (L2). Bilinguals often produce and perceive speech differently from monolinguals, and previous research identified several factors contributing to bilinguals’ success in producing and perceiving L2 sounds. These factors include the similarity between languages, the age at which they start learning the L2 and its context of use. Despite the prominence of orthography in daily life – and especially in foreign language classrooms – its influence on L2 production and perception is not well understood. Some previous studies found learning the written forms of words has a positive effect on L2 production and perception, while others found it has a negative effect. It therefore remains unclear whether orthography helps or hinders L2 speech production and perception.
This project systematically addressed whether orthography affects fine-grained phonetic detail in L2 speech production and perception, and thus contributes to foreign accentedness. I investigated this question in two studies which were each composed of several experiments. Study 1 focused on the initial stages of novel sound learning using controlled artificial language learning tasks. Here, monolingual Spanish-speaking participants were taught two novel sounds in the laboratory: the /y/-vowel (e.g. of the French word ‘sud’ (south)) and the /ɛ/-vowel (e.g. of the French word ‘est’ (east)). I tested whether mismatches between sounds and letters in Spanish – the participants’ native language (L1) – and the artificial language affected how participants learned to produce and perceive these new sounds. Study 2 focused on highly proficient bilinguals who learned the L2 in childhood. Here, I tested whether different sounds represented by the same letter in the L1 and L2 affect how adult bilinguals produce and perceive L2 speech sounds when they had acquired the L2 sound system before learning to read and write.
These studies are theoretically important because widely used models of bilinguals’ speech production and perception do not consider orthography. Once the role of orthography on L2 production and perception has been identified, it is crucial to incorporate orthography into these models to advance the research field and to deliver practical ways to improve foreign language teaching.
The practical implications of this project are of utmost relevance to policy makers, educators and foreign language learners in general. Advancing the current understanding of the impact of orthography on language learning will enable policy makers and educators to improve teaching strategies and curricula, for example, by specifically focusing on differences in sound-spelling relationships between the L1 and L2. Foreign language learners in general will then benefit from these improved teaching strategies and curricula, as they may lead to better foreign language skills.
This project systematically addressed whether orthography affects fine-grained phonetic detail in L2 speech production and perception, and thus contributes to foreign accentedness. I investigated this question in two studies which were each composed of several experiments. Study 1 focused on the initial stages of novel sound learning using controlled artificial language learning tasks. Here, monolingual Spanish-speaking participants were taught two novel sounds in the laboratory: the /y/-vowel (e.g. of the French word ‘sud’ (south)) and the /ɛ/-vowel (e.g. of the French word ‘est’ (east)). I tested whether mismatches between sounds and letters in Spanish – the participants’ native language (L1) – and the artificial language affected how participants learned to produce and perceive these new sounds. Study 2 focused on highly proficient bilinguals who learned the L2 in childhood. Here, I tested whether different sounds represented by the same letter in the L1 and L2 affect how adult bilinguals produce and perceive L2 speech sounds when they had acquired the L2 sound system before learning to read and write.
These studies are theoretically important because widely used models of bilinguals’ speech production and perception do not consider orthography. Once the role of orthography on L2 production and perception has been identified, it is crucial to incorporate orthography into these models to advance the research field and to deliver practical ways to improve foreign language teaching.
The practical implications of this project are of utmost relevance to policy makers, educators and foreign language learners in general. Advancing the current understanding of the impact of orthography on language learning will enable policy makers and educators to improve teaching strategies and curricula, for example, by specifically focusing on differences in sound-spelling relationships between the L1 and L2. Foreign language learners in general will then benefit from these improved teaching strategies and curricula, as they may lead to better foreign language skills.
The project included two studies, which addressed how sound-letter mappings affect speech production and perception. Study 1 focused on the initial stages of L2 learning, and Study 2 addressed highly proficient bilinguals who learned their second language before they started to learn how to read.
For Study 1, 75 L1-Spanish monolinguals learned novel vowels. Participants were divided into 3 groups who learned the vowels 1) paired with letters which map onto different sounds in L1; 2) paired with novel letters; 3) without letters. All participants came to the laboratory three times. During all sessions, participants were exposed to the novel vowels; groups 1 and 2 also saw the vowels’ written forms. At the end of the third session, I assessed their production and perception of the novel vowels. Results showed that participants in the first group, with orthographic mismatches between L1 and L2, produced and perceived the newly learned vowels in a less accurately: Their production and perception were influenced by the L1 vowel represented by the same letter as novel vowel. Learning the novel vowels paired with novel letters did not have a detectable influence on participants’ production and perception. For an exploratory analysis, I also tested participants’ L1 vowel production and perception before and after learning the novel vowels.
For Study 2, I tested 60 highly proficient Spanish-Basque bilinguals on their production and perception of Basque words containing the letter ‘z’, which corresponds to different sounds in Spanish and Basque. Half of the participants acquired Basque as L2; the other half acquired Basque as L1. Importantly, all participants started learning their L2 in early childhood before they learned to read. Results showed no orthographic effects on speech production, but on speech perception: L2- and L1-Basque speakers alike judged Basque words as correct when the letter ‘z’ they contained was mispronounced as the Spanish sound it corresponds to.
Taken together, these results show the robust effect that mismatched sound-letter mappings between L1 and L2 have on L2 speech production and perception. These effects were not only found in the initial learning stages but even in highly proficient bilinguals who learned their L2 in early childhood before learning to read. Unexpectedly, orthographic mismatches between L1 and L2 also affected L1 speech perception in these early bilinguals.
To further investigate the effect of orthographic forms on speech production and perception, I collaborated with other researchers in five studies. One research line investigated how orthography affects L1 and L2 production in highly proficient bilinguals who learned their L2 as teenagers or young adults. Preliminary results support strong orthographic effects on both L1 and L2. A second research line investigated how children, when they are learning to read, are affected by orthographic inconsistencies in their L1 (e.g. the sound /k/ can be spelled, or in Spanish). Results suggest that orthographic inconsistencies make it harder for children to process spoken language. A third research line (2 studies) tested the effects of orthographic inconsistency within the L1 in beginning readers (children) and experienced readers (adults), by comparing Spanish and French speakers. The results show that both beginning and experienced readers are affected by orthographic inconsistency in spoken language perception but not production, thus paralleling the findings of this project’s Study 2.
For Study 1, 75 L1-Spanish monolinguals learned novel vowels. Participants were divided into 3 groups who learned the vowels 1) paired with letters which map onto different sounds in L1; 2) paired with novel letters; 3) without letters. All participants came to the laboratory three times. During all sessions, participants were exposed to the novel vowels; groups 1 and 2 also saw the vowels’ written forms. At the end of the third session, I assessed their production and perception of the novel vowels. Results showed that participants in the first group, with orthographic mismatches between L1 and L2, produced and perceived the newly learned vowels in a less accurately: Their production and perception were influenced by the L1 vowel represented by the same letter as novel vowel. Learning the novel vowels paired with novel letters did not have a detectable influence on participants’ production and perception. For an exploratory analysis, I also tested participants’ L1 vowel production and perception before and after learning the novel vowels.
For Study 2, I tested 60 highly proficient Spanish-Basque bilinguals on their production and perception of Basque words containing the letter ‘z’, which corresponds to different sounds in Spanish and Basque. Half of the participants acquired Basque as L2; the other half acquired Basque as L1. Importantly, all participants started learning their L2 in early childhood before they learned to read. Results showed no orthographic effects on speech production, but on speech perception: L2- and L1-Basque speakers alike judged Basque words as correct when the letter ‘z’ they contained was mispronounced as the Spanish sound it corresponds to.
Taken together, these results show the robust effect that mismatched sound-letter mappings between L1 and L2 have on L2 speech production and perception. These effects were not only found in the initial learning stages but even in highly proficient bilinguals who learned their L2 in early childhood before learning to read. Unexpectedly, orthographic mismatches between L1 and L2 also affected L1 speech perception in these early bilinguals.
To further investigate the effect of orthographic forms on speech production and perception, I collaborated with other researchers in five studies. One research line investigated how orthography affects L1 and L2 production in highly proficient bilinguals who learned their L2 as teenagers or young adults. Preliminary results support strong orthographic effects on both L1 and L2. A second research line investigated how children, when they are learning to read, are affected by orthographic inconsistencies in their L1 (e.g. the sound /k/ can be spelled
These findings have a clear impact on the fields of bilingualism, L2 learning, speech perception and production. They demonstrate the importance of the writing system in the processing of a second and even a first language. The research also showed that sound categories established prior to learning to read get retuned once the links between sounds and letters have been learned. Broadly speaking, although speech is typically acquired naturally in earliest infancy and reading is learned as an explicit skill later, the link between letters and sounds still has a large impact on speech processing in the L2 and even in the L1. Understanding how the orthographic code affects language learning could have multiple implications for society, as it can inform teaching practices and guide policy makers in improving educational outcomes in foreign language learning settings.