Learning to perceive a smaller L2 vowel inventory : an optimality theory account

This paper gives an Optimality-Theoretic formalization of several aspects of the acquisition of phonological perception in a second language. The subject matter will be the acquisition of the Spanish vowel system by Dutch learners of Spanish, as evidenced in a listening experiment. Since an explanation of the learners. acquisition path requires knowledge of both the Dutch and the Spanish vowel system, the 12 Dutch and 5 Spanish vowels are presented in Figure 1. Along the vertical axis we find the auditory correlate of perceptual vowel height (first formant, F1), and along the horizontal axis the auditory correlate of perceptual vowel backness (second formant, F2), whose articulatory correlates are tongue backness and lip rounding. A third auditory dimension, duration, is implicit in the length sign ("Ë") used for 4 of the 12 Dutch vowels.