Visual, audiovisual and audiovisual-tactile modes in the perception and production of non-native sounds by children

Abstract

The effects of cross-modal input when learning non-native sounds is explored in a study with 5-year-old L1 Catalan/Spanish children tested on their perception (AX task) abilities with respect of the /æ-?/ vowel contrast (eg. 'cat' - 'cut'). Results show that while audiovisual tactile input was not detrimental for learning, it was not significantly more beneficial than audio-only or audio-visual either.