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Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

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How Much Do We Imitate in a Non-Native Language? Explicit Versus Implicit Imitation in L2 Speech.

Arkadiusz Rojczyk¹, Pavel Šturm², Joanna Przedlacka³

¹Speech Processing Laboratory, University of Silesia in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Poland.

Language and Speech

|June 9, 2026

Summary

Explicit instructions did not improve L2 English speech imitation for Czech and Polish learners, contrary to L1 findings. Both groups showed similar convergence, suggesting instruction type may not significantly impact second language speech learning.

Keywords:

L2 speech Phonetic imitation explicit imitation implicit imitation vowel duration

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Area of Science:

Second Language Acquisition
Phonetics and Phonology
Sociolinguistics

Background:

First language (L1) imitation studies indicate explicit instructions yield better model convergence than implicit ones.
This finding lacks sufficient empirical investigation in second language (L2) speech imitation.
Vowel duration variability (vowel clipping) is a voicing cue in English but not in Czech or Polish L1.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effect of explicit versus implicit imitation instructions on L2 English speech learning.
To examine vowel duration variability convergence in Czech and Polish learners of English.
To compare the impact of instruction type across different L1 backgrounds.

Main Methods:

28 Czech and 28 Polish learners of English participated.
Participants completed baseline, imitation, and post-test tasks.
Explicit imitation group received direct instructions; implicit imitation group performed an oral identification task.

Main Results:

Convergence towards model stimuli occurred during imitation but decreased in the post-test.
Explicit instructions did not lead to greater convergence compared to implicit imitation.
Czech and Polish learners showed comparable convergence, irrespective of instruction type.

Conclusions:

Explicit instructions may not enhance L2 speech imitation as predicted by L1 research.
Instruction type appears to have a limited effect on L2 speech learning, even across different L1 backgrounds.
Further research is needed to understand the nuances of explicit versus implicit learning in L2 phonetics.