The Revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r) Applied

要旨

This chapter reviews research examining the acquisition of English /r/ and /l/ by native Japanese (NJ) speakers from the perspective of the revised Speech Learning Model. The research shows that the English liquids can be learned after the end of the so-called critical period for speech learning, but that the two liquids are learned in different ways. This derives from the fact that the English /r/ is perceived to be more dissimilar phonetically from the Japanese liquid, /R/, than English /l/ is. NJ speakers who have received a substantial amount of English input produced and perceived English /r/ with high levels of accuracy due to the formation of a new phonetic category for English /r/. The lower level of accuracy observed for English /l/ is attributed to the formation of a composite Japanese /R/-English /l/ category based on the Japanese /R/ and English /l/ productions to which Japanese-English bilinguals have been exposed. The SLM-r predicts that bilinguals will continue to produce and perceive English /l/ less accurately than English /r/, regardless of how much English input they have received and that learning the English liquids will induce modifications in how NJ speakers will produce and perceive their native /R/.

主題