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

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.