Adaptation to an Unfamiliar Accent by Child L2 Listeners

Area of Science:

• Second Language Acquisition
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Understanding how school-aged learners adapt to unfamiliar second language (L2) accents is crucial for effective language pedagogy.
• Learner-specific variables may influence the degree and nature of accent adaptation.
• Previous research has primarily focused on adult L2 learners or different L2 phonological contrasts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the adaptation of school-aged L2 listeners to an unfamiliar L2 accent (Indian English).
• To identify learner variables that predict adaptation to L2 accented speech.
• To examine the effects of repeated exposure and talker variability on accent adaptation.

Main Methods:

• Fourth-grade Mandarin L1 English learners (N=117) were exposed to a story in either a single-talker Indian English (IE) accent, a multi-talker IE accent, or a Mandarin-accented English control.
• Referent selection tests assessed children's interpretation of IE words and nonwords before and after story exposure.
• Phonological awareness, phonological memory, and vocabulary were measured as potential predictor variables.

Main Results:

• Repeated exposure improved recognition of IE words but impaired reinterpretation of IE nonwords similar to existing words.
• Exposure to the IE-accented story boosted word recognition, but only for words presented in the story.
• Stronger English phonological awareness, phonological memory, and vocabulary predicted better reinterpretation of accented forms.

Conclusions:

• School-aged L2 listeners can adapt to unfamiliar accents by adjusting recognition criteria, especially with better existing phonological and lexical knowledge.
• Adaptation appears to involve perceptual flexibility rather than precise tuning to the specific phonetic categories of the new accent.
• Individual differences in language learning aptitude significantly impact the capacity for L2 accent adaptation.