Native dialect influences second-language vowel perception : Peruvian versus Iberian Spanish learners of Dutch

Peruvian Spanish (PS) and Iberian Spanish (IS) learners were tested on their ability to categorically discriminate and identify Dutch vowels. It was predicted that the acoustic differences between the vowel productions of the two dialects, which compare differently to Dutch vowels, would manifest in differential L2 perception for listeners of these two dialects. The results show that although PS learners had higher general L2 proficiency, IS learners were more accurate at discriminating all five contrasts and at identifying six of the L2 Dutch vowels. These findings confirm that acoustic differences in native vowel production lead to differential L2 vowel perception.