# name
Effects of speech style on the use of temporal and spectral cues in the production and perception of a non-native vowel contrast

# metadata.dc.description[].value
Màster de Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües, Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2011, Supervisor: Dr. Joan Carles Mora Bonilla

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
This paper examined Catalan/Spanish EFL learners’ perception and production of the
English /іː/- /ɪ / vowel pair. The main objective was to see whether changes in speech style
affect the quality and quantity of the vowels and whether the non-native speakers’
perception and production were related. Little research has been carried out about the
effects of speech style in second language speech production and the research about the
perception-production relation has presented inconclusive results. It was hypothesized that
speech style would affect the spectral and temporal dimensions of the two vowels.
Spanish/Catalan EFL learners have been shown to rely on temporal properties in the
perception of this vowel contrast, whereas native English speakers perceive the contrast in
terms of spectral and temporal cues. It was expected that the non-native speakers’ reliance
on duration would be reflected in the production. The results suggest that the
Catalan/Spanish bilinguals had created categories for the English vowels, although
perception of the vowels was not native-like. A correlation between perception and
production was found for the non-native speakers. The non-native speakers were highly
affected by changes in the speech style, supporting the hypothesis that in fast speech
vowels became more centralized. The results are discussed in light of foreign language
phonetic training.

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Màster Oficial - Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Effects of speech style on the use of temporal and spectral cues in the production and perception of a non-native vowel contrast