A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Does Studying in a Music-oriented Education Program Affect Non-native Sound Learning? — Effects of Passive Auditory Training on Children’s Vowel Production
Authors: Immonen Katja, Kilpeläinen Jemina, Alku Paavo, Peltola Maija S.
Publisher: Academy Publication Co., Ltd
Publication year: 2021
Journal: Journal of Language Teaching and Research
Volume: 12
Issue: 5
First page : 678
Last page: 687
eISSN: 2053-0684
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1205.06(external)
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/66666897(external)
Earlier studies have shown that children are efficient second language learners. Research has also shown that musical background might affect second language learning. A two-day auditory training paradigm was used to investigate whether studying in a music-oriented education program affects children’s sensitivity to acquire a non-native vowel contrast. Training effects were measured with listen-and-repeat production tests. Two groups of monolingual Finnish children (9–11 years, N=23) attending music-oriented and regular fourth grades were tested. The stimuli were two semisynthetic pseudo words /ty:ti/ and /tʉ:ti/ with the native vowel /y/ and the non-native vowel /ʉ/ embedded. Both groups changed their pronunciation after the first training. The change was reflected in the second formant values of /ʉ/, which lowered significantly after three trainings. The results show that 9–11-year-old children benefit from passive auditory training in second language production learning regardless of whether or not they attend a music-oriented education program.
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