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Related Concept Videos

Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

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Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
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A Cross-Language Comparison of Length Perception in Italian-Learning Adults.

Andrea Pešková1, Kateřina Chládková2

  • 1Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Language and Speech
|May 29, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Adult learners

Keywords:
ItalianL2 phonologycross-linguistic influencediscrimination taskquantityspeech perception

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Area of Science:

  • Second Language Acquisition
  • Phonetics and Phonology
  • Psycholinguistics

Background:

  • Italian possesses distinctive consonant length, crucial for distinguishing word meaning.
  • Learners' first language (L1) phonological systems influence their perception of second language (L2) sounds.
  • Understanding L1 transfer in L2 phonology is key to effective language pedagogy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how adult learners with diverse L1 backgrounds perceive consonantal and vowel length in L2 Italian.
  • To examine the impact of L1 phonological properties, stress position, consonant type, and proficiency on L2 length perception.
  • To identify factors influencing the acquisition of phonological contrasts in L2 Italian.

Main Methods:

  • An AX discrimination task involving 45 pseudowords was administered to 104 adult learners.
  • Participants represented five L1 backgrounds with varying phonological quantity systems (Finnish, Czech, Slovak, German, Spanish).
  • Performance was analyzed based on L1 background, stress position, consonant type, and proficiency level.

Main Results:

  • L1 background significantly predicted sensitivity to consonantal length; Finnish learners exhibited the highest sensitivity, followed by Slovak, Czech, German, and Spanish learners.
  • Discrimination of vowel length was generally weaker and more variable across all learner groups.
  • Consonantal quantity perception was strongest in pre- and post-stressed syllables and easier for sonorants than obstruents, with L1-specific variations.

Conclusions:

  • L1 phonological background is a primary determinant of L2 Italian length perception, alongside prosodic and segmental factors.
  • Proficiency showed a trend towards better performance in advanced learners but was not a uniform predictor.
  • Perceptual training is crucial for acquiring novel phonological contrasts in L2 Italian.