EFFECTS OF ACOUSTIC VARIABILITY ON SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY LEARNING

• Published in: Studies in second language acquisition Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 387 - 414
• Main Authors: Barcroft, Joe, Sommers, Mitchell S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.09.2005
• Subjects: Acoustics; Auditory perception; Auditory Stimulation; Comparative Analysis; Conversation; English; English as a second language learning; Experimental psychology; Experiments; Foreign language learning; Indexicality; Language Research; Linguistic Theory; Linguistics; Listening; Memory; Memory recall; Native Speakers; Phonemes; Reaction time; Recall (Psychology); Rotation; Second Language Learning; Second language vocabulary learning; Spanish; Spanish as a Second Language Instruction; Spanish as a Second Language Learning; Spanish language; Speech; Studies; Training; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary; Vocabulary Development; Vocabulary Instruction; Voice Quality; Word Recognition; Words
• ISSN: 0272-2631; 1470-1545
• DOI: 10.1017/S0272263105050175

This study examined the effects of acoustic variability on second language vocabulary learning. English native speakers learned new words in Spanish. Exposure frequency to the words was constant. Dependent measures were accuracy and latency of picture-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English recall. Experiment 1 compared presentation formats of neutral (conversational) voice only, three voice types, and six voice types. No significant differences emerged. Experiment 2 compared presentation formats of one speaker, three speakers, and six speakers. Vocabulary learning was superior in the higher-variability conditions. Experiment 3 partially replicated Experiment 1 while rotating voice types across subjects in moderate and no-variability conditions. Vocabulary learning was superior in the higher variability conditions. These results are consistent with an exemplar-based theory of initial lexical learning and representation.Portions of these data were presented at the 143rd meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Cancun, Mexico and at the Fourth International Conference on the Mental Lexicon in Windsor, Canada. The authors would like to thank Paola Rijos for help in data collection and scoring and the anonymous SSLA reviewers.