The effect of L1 variety on the perception of interdental fricatives by Italian learners of L2 English

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the perception of the English interdental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ Italian learners of L2 English. The two sounds are allophones in Florentine Italian but not in Standard Italian. The primary objective of the study was to investigate whether the Florentine phonological inventory has an impact on the perception of these sounds. Subsequently, the research had two specific goals. First, to assess the extent to which perceived similarity of second language sounds predicts the accuracy of identifying non-native consonants. This was measured through a within-language perceptual similarity task. Second, to explore whether the phonological inventories of the listeners' first language played a role in influencing perception and identification accuracy. In order to gain insights into potential learning difficulties, the study employed the Speech Learning Model theory. By doing so, it aimed to further understand the underlying processes associated with acquiring the target sounds. Two groups of native Italian listeners, differing in dialect, participated in the study: Florentine speakers and non-Tuscan speakers. In Experiment 1, the participants were asked to rate the similarity of selected pairs of English sounds. The results of this experiment provided predictions for the identification accuracy of these English sounds, which were then examined in Experiment 2. Overall, the outcomes of the study demonstrated that the phonological inventory of an individual can significantly influence their perception of the target sounds /θ/ and /ð/. It is important to note, however, that perceived similarity did not predict identification accuracy, as both cohorts exhibited a comparable distribution of errors.