Perception and spelling of strange speech sounds by Polish-Canadian L2 speakers of English

grantor: University of TorontoWithin the context of the critical period hypothesis and the markedness differential (MD) approach of the contrastive analysis hypothesis (CA), this study investigated the perception and spelling of word initial and word final variants of the English voiceless interdental fricative /$\theta$/ in 35 Polish-Canadians (L2 group) and 35 native speakers of English (L1 group). Overall, the L2 group performed better on word final than on word initial /$\theta$/, whereas the L1 group performed equally well regardless of /$\theta$/ position. Results partially support the critical period hypothesis in that adult L2 learners can improve though not master completely their perception of non-native phonology. Even the highly proficient L2 speakers differ from the L1 speakers especially when task demands increase. Additionally, the current MD does not predict perception errors such as substitutions of /d/ for /$\theta$/. These may be explained by studying the entire syllable environment within which they occurred.M.A